02.27. Object of Discipline
Object of Discipline
1. Maintenance of God’s Glory - Surely our first concern in the matter of discipline in the Assembly should be the maintenance of the glory of God and the honor of His holy name. He dwells in the Assembly and if evil is tolerated there, the holy name of Christ is thereby linked with it and that precious and hallowed name dishonored. The Assembly must be kept as a fit place for His holy presence and His glory and honor must be maintained by judging every form of sin and evil that manifests itself. This should indeed be the first object of Assembly discipline. By correcting the erring one and judging evil, His holy name is cleared before the world and His glory and honor maintained. An Assembly which refuses to judge evil in doctrine or morals is not an Assembly of God at all, but a disgrace and dishonor to His holy name.
2. Clearing of Assembly - Closely connected with the foregoing would be the clearing of the Assembly before the eyes of the world by discipline and judgment of evil. We are to shine as lights in the world, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). We have a testimony to maintain in this scene and the world watches the conduct of those associated with God’s Assembly. When a believer falls into sin and evil the Lord’s name is dishonored and the testimony of the Assembly is brought into disrepute. But if such evil is judged and discipline executed upon the guilty one, the testimony of the gathering is maintained in the eyes of the world in spite of the dishonor. For when it is seen that evil-doers are excommunicated and not fellowshipped in the Assembly, the respect of the world for the Church is retained and the gathering is publicly cleared of the evil which sprang up in its midst. The holiness of the name of the Lord, which is connected with the Assembly, is vindicated.
After the Corinthians had acted in discipline and put away the wicked one from the Assembly, Paul could write them, "In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter" (2 Corinthians 7:11) .
If another is going on carelessly in a lesser degree and is corrected in discipline and his walk thereby improved, this is also noticed by the world. The Lord’s name is glorified thereby and a good testimony goes forth from the Assembly. All this is an important and necessary object of discipline in the gathering of believers.
3. Correction of Offender - Another purpose of discipline is to correct the offender and to teach him what he ought to have learned from the Word of God. God has given us His Word and we are responsible to read it and to learn, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, what is His mind concerning our walk and behavior. The Scriptures are "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). But if a believer becomes careless and does not heed God’s Word, but walks contrary to it, he is awakened from his careless and sleepy condition and made to realize what he should have learned from God’s Word and what his walk should be by the discipline exercised in the Assembly upon him. Thus by discipline saints are trained in the ways of the Lord and taught obedience to His Word.
4. Profit and Restoration of Souls - As already stated, the great purpose of discipline is that the erring one may be corrected and restored to communion with the Lord and with His people. Discipline in all its varied aspects should ever have as its object the correction and blessing of its subjects. This is God’s purpose in chastening His children. Hebrews 12:10-11 says it is "for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness," and that it might yield to the exercised soul "the peaceable fruit of righteousness." So the Assembly should ever seek the profit and spiritual good of souls in the exercise of discipline. It may be instructive to the soul, preventive, corrective, or punitive, but is always profitable to the heart exercised thereby.
It is important to see that even when it comes to the severest act of discipline the act of excommunication from the Assembly and the cessation of discipline-the purpose of it, the apostle says, is that the flesh which caused the odious sin may be destroyed, broken down, "that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5). This is very precious and noteworthy and is the blessed result which we should ever have in mind and for which we should always look in exercising discipline. No other purpose than this should be in our hearts.
We should never put away evil-doers in order to get rid of a disgrace or to be done with a troublesome person who may have caused much sorrow and greatly tried the saints. Neither should there be the thought of executing vengeance upon a wrong-doer, but rather there should be deep sorrow that such discipline is necessary. And the one put away should be followed with much prayer, that the discipline might have the effect upon him of causing him to cease his wrong-doing and be restored to the Lord and to the communion of saints. This blessed result is seen in the man whom the Corinthians had to put away from among themselves as a wicked person. In his second Epistle to them the apostle says that the punishment inflicted upon him was sufficient and that they should forgive him and comfort him and confirm their love to him, lest he be overwhelmed with overmuch sorrow (2 Corinthians 2:6-8). The desired purpose of excommunication had been accomplished. He was now broken down, repentant, restored to the Lord, and ready to be forgiven and restored to the fellowship of the Assembly. Blessed result of discipline which we should ever aim and pray for!