The Primary purpose of church discipline is to pursue the twofold goal of restoration (of the offender to right behaviour) and reconciliation (between believers, and with God). [1]
— Wayne Grudem
The phrase ‘Church Discipline’ bring out a variety of reactions from the believers as it is, in a greater measure, misunderstood only as a punitive act. Its corrective aspect extensively is unfamiliar among the believers. Due to the depraved nature of a man, a natural tendency of the liberal-minded-church-goers in today’s churches is to argue for the wellness of human beings, not for the wellness of a soul’s relationship with creator. Thus, they react against the order which God has set forth through His written revelation as deposited in His Word. The church can see her discipline in the right sense of appreciation only when she can see it from God’s point of view. The ultimate truth is that God disciplines His children because He loves them and cares for their souls. Individuals in the history of the church, particularly liberal theologians have raised their questions against God’s love and His chastisement asking that how can a loving God punish His people based on His love? How can a God of love be a God of punishment? They arguably question God that if He is truly God of loving and He cannot exercise His love over the non-elect in all their situations, ultimately then, He cannot be a God of love as there is no love in Him for those continue in sin. Their main point of argument is that how is it possible to bring love and chastening together. According to liberals, God cannot be a God of love even if He chastens His dear children who are known as God’s elect. These liberals are incapable of grasping the significance of the truth on the topic that God’s chastening is based on His nature of love as fathers love their children and chasten them at the same time whenever required. This is masterfully crafted by the author of Hebrews in chapter 12: 5-11, “and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
These verses clearly speak of the truth on the chastisement of godly children. When godly chastisement follows in the life of a believer of Christ, should not be despised or fainted because all the children in God’s family will be chastised and scourged when they are in discipline. Our earthly father’s love is based on love and concern for this temporal happiness, and much greater than that, indeed, is the love and concern of the Heavenly Father as His chastisement does not belong to the temporal life on this earth alone but also to the eternal life on our heavenly home where member of God’s family enjoys eternal fellowship with our eternal Father forever. Oh the Church of God! If our Heavenly Father did not use a rod for correction, then the state of church would have been like “bastards, and not sons.” When the Church truly experiences the holiness of God, we always understand that it is because of His chastisement. How shall we be partakers of his holiness if we are not yielded to the divine chastisement? How shall we be partakers of his holiness if our holy God did not use His rod for our discipline? From the beginning of the world to the end of the world, all the believers of God at all the times will definitely honor the rod of God that led their lives to humility before God and apprehend the eternal bliss with our eternal God forever. If any believer of Christ not able to perceive the eternal results of the divine chastisement it is because he or she is blinded by Satan for not to see such everlasting happiness which follows in our eternal abode, and in fact, God chastens us, if the property and prosperity of this temporal world, at sometimes, has dazzled our eyes on the everlasting hope and joy found only in Christ in the eternal world. So the saints on the earth have always honored the rod of God in several respects as it edifies the godly souls in the humbleness and holiness of Christ. Calvin points out,
The saints have honoured the rod of God, by yielding their neck, and bowing low their head under his discipline. David had walked very uprightly, but yet he confessed that it had been good for him to be humbled by the hand of God. For which reason, as soon as we feel any chastisement, of whatsoever kind it may be, the first step should be to retire into ourselves, and well to examine our own lives, that we may apprehend those blessings which had been hidden from us: for sometimes too much prosperity so dazzles our eyes, that we cannot perceive wherefore God chastises us.[2]
While godly chastisement is based on the divine love for promoting holiness and righteousness in the godly family which is His church, the unfaithful members of today’s churches did not grasp these significant biblical truths as they should. Instead, the idea is negatively propagated by those who dislike it or did not learn it biblically. Rather than considering the church discipline as a guide to edify the members of the churches in godliness, holiness and righteousness; extremely sad to see the state of the churches reject the church discipline idea as they see it in a negative sense contradicting the Word of Christ.
[1] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 780.
[2] John Calvin, Calvin’s Selected Works, Tracts and Letters: Volume 5, Letters Part 2: 1545-1553, edit. Henry Beveridge and Jules Bonnet, Trans. David Constable, Still Water Revival Books, 259-260.