In Cleveland a few years ago, this banner proclaimed the virtues of a certain grade of motor oil: "A Clean Engine Always Delivers Power."
This is what church discipline is all about--a clean church. If we want to be a powerful church, we need to be a clean church, a holy people.
(1 Pet 1:13 NKJV) Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
(1 Pet 1:14 NKJV) as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
(1 Pet 1:15 NKJV) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
(1 Pet 1:16 NKJV) because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."
(1 Pet 2:9 NKJV) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
(1 Pet 2:10 NKJV) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
(Eph 5:5 NKJV) For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
(Eph 5:6 NKJV) Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
(Eph 5:7 NKJV) Therefore do not be partakers with them.
(Eph 5:8 NKJV) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(Eph 5:9 NKJV) (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
(Eph 5:10 NKJV) finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
(Eph 5:11 NKJV) And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
I. Elements of Church Discipline
A. The Place of Discipline - The place of discipline is the assembly of believers-- the church (Mat. 18:17).
B. The Purpose of Discipline
1.) Prevention – The fear of sinning
2.) Restoration - Restoring fellowship and service with God and the brethren
C. The Person of Discipline
Galatians 6:1 tells us those who are "spiritual restore such an one.” Those who are walking in the Spirit, who are obeying the Word, and who are in fellowship should restore the fallen brother or sister.
D. The Provocation of Discipline - What provokes or initiates church discipline?
It starts every day as one goes before the Lord in prayer and during the study of the Scriptures.
2.) It starts when we sin against a brother or sister or a brother or sister sins against us.
E. The Process of Discipline
Step One - Examine Yourself. (Self-Discipline)
Step Two - Tell Him His Sin Alone. (One-on-One)
Step Three - Take Some Witnesses (One or Two Others)
Step Four - Tell The Church.
Step Five - Treat Him as an Outsider.
We see an example of step five occurring in the Corinthian church:
(1 Cor 5:13 NASB) But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.
We need to take some time to learn what Paul means by this statement.
A. How are people "removed from the midst" of the assembly?
The New Testament uses other terms and expressions to describe the dismissal of a member from the care and discipline of the church. The way the New Testament puts it is:
1. Remove him from your midst (1 Cor. 5:2);
2. Clean out the leaven (1 Cor. 5:7);
3. Get him out of your midst (1 Cor. 5:13);
4. Deliver this person to Satan (1 Cor 5:5);
5. I have handed them over to Satan (1 Tim. 1:20);
6. Treat him as a heathen and a tax collector (Mat. 18:17b).
In step 5 you treat him as if he is not your brother because he isn’t conducting himself as a brother. He is simply treated as if he is not a member of the family.
B. How are members in the assembly to respond to this person?
We've already learned that when you treat a person “like a heathen and a tax collector” you do not ostracize or banish the person. You do not avoid speaking with the person treating him like public enemy #1..
When you treat a person “like a heathen and a tax collector” you treat the person as if he doesn't know Jesus Christ.
The person is acting like a non-believer in that he or she doesn't want to obey Christ, so you respond to them just like you would any other non-believer--you want to win them to Jesus Christ.
However, there are certain things a Christian cannot do with an unbeliever.
You cannot marry an unbeliever-- believers are to "marry in the Lord" (1 Cor. 7:39).
You cannot commune or have intimate fellowship with an unbeliever - "Get him out of your midst"
It would be difficult for this person to be your "best friend" - they don't love and obey your Jesus.
When you talk to him you have an obligation, just like you would with any other unbeliever, to evangelize him, that is to share the Gospel with him in hope that he would give his life to Jesus.
C. What happens to the person after they are removed or put out of the church?
There are three actions which can be found in terminating one's membership in the visible, organized church, i.e., the local assembly. The three actions can be found in these expressions:
(1) removing, cleaning, or getting him out of the midst (1 Cor. 5:13);
(2) handing him over to Satan (1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20); and
(3) treating him as a heathen-- (Mat. 18:17b)
…each of which emphasizes a distinct fact about his termination.
(1) removing, cleaning, or getting him out of the midst;
This expression, particularly the words, "getting him out of your midst" is a reference by the Apostle Paul to an Old Testament command.
Deu 17:2 "If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the LORD your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, by transgressing His covenant,
Deu 17:3 and has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded,
Deu 17:4 and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. And behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
Deu 17:5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed, to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death.
Deu 17:6 "On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
Deu 17:7 "The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
In each instance from the Deuteronomy passages, the perpetrator of the crime was to be removed from the midst and put to death!
It is interesting that the New Testament adoption of this principal shows the severity of the penalty of removal-- "Get him out of your midst" (1 Cor. 5:13);
Moreover, in Deuteronomy 17:8-13, failure to heed the authority of Israel exercised by the priest in God's name was considered rebellion, and the rebellious person was to be removed from the midst and put to death.
(Deu 17:12 NKJV) "Now the man who acts presumptuously (NIV-shows contempt) and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel.
(Deu 17:13 NKJV) "And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.
So in general, as well as in particular instances, anyone failing to heed God's authority was removed by death.
Also see Deut 19:19; 21:21; 22:24; 24:7.
It is important to note that Paul's use for the Deuteronomy formula for the removal of persons from the Corinthian church shows that this act is judicial-- the New Testament equivalent to stoning.
It was a pronouncement of the person's guilt-- not merely for chastisement or punishment-- that is, to make the offender feel the pain for his or her sin. It is an indictment of guilt and an official sentence being carried out by the local church.
We've entitled this series, Church Discipline – Spanking Ourselves so God Doesn’t Have To because when we don’t spank ourselves God does. This principal is found in the Old Testament.
(Exo 32:25 NKJV) Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies),
(Exo 32:26 NKJV) then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on the Lord's side; come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
(Exo 32:27 NKJV) And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'"
(Exo 32:28 NKJV) So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.
(Exo 32:29 NKJV) Then Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother."
(Exo 32:30 NKJV) Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."
(Exo 32:31 NKJV) Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold!
(Exo 32:32 NKJV) "Yet now, if You will forgive their sin; but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written."
(Exo 32:33 NKJV) And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.
(Exo 32:34 NKJV) "Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin."
(Exo 32:35 NKJV) So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.
When we don’t spank ourselves God does.
This principal is also taught in the New Testament. When an individual or a church failed to exercise discipline, God Himself did. In 1 Cor. 11:17-32 we read that God struck members of the body with illness, making them weak and even taking the lives of some of them (v. 30). In this section Paul says, "If we carefully judged ourselves, we wouldn't be judged."
Removing, cleaning, or getting him out of the midst is the first of three actions which can be found in terminating one's membership in the visible, organized church.
(2) handing him over to Satan
The second action of “putting him out of the church” is: "handing him over to Satan." The Bible says that he is to be handed over to Satan to be "taught" and "for the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit may be saved."
If you thought "removing the person from out of the midst" of the assembly was a strict response, think for a moment of the implications of "handing a person over to Satan."
In order for us to understand what is meant by this expression we need to peer for a moment into the goings on of the kingdom of darkness.
The Scriptures shed some light on what takes place in the kingdom of darkness when a brother or sister rebels against God-ordained authority; in this case the authority is His Word and His church elders.
In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul rebelled against the Lord (1 Samuel 15: 1-22).
1 Sam 15:22 And Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
1 Sam 15:23 "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king."
Samuel says to the rebellious King Saul, "rebellion is as the sin of divination (KJV-witchcraft), and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry."
In other words, when you rebel--it is like you are practicing witchcraft--you are submitting to demons as the authority in one's life.
Samuel also tells Saul that insubordination is as idolatry. Notice what the apostle Paul tells the Corinthian believers about idolatry:
1 Cor 10:19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
1 Cor 10:20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.
Paul says here that an idol is nothing--it is just a piece of wood or a stone. However, Paul goes on to say that it is what is behind the idol that one needs to be concerned with. Demons are behind the idol giving it energy.
Insubordination is as wickedness and idolatry so when you rebel against God-given authority, you are opening yourself up to demonic influences.
When a believer is turned over to Satan for the "destruction of the flesh, that their spirit may be saved", they are left in the domain they chose to be in as a result of their rebellion. Hence they are removed from the umbrella of God's protection that covered them while still under the care and discipline of the shepherding elders and the local church.
It is like removing a stubborn sheep from the flock so that having its life open to the possibility of being attacked and eaten might motivate it to come back to the flock.
The Bible tells us of God's special protection of Job; Satan could not touch Job without God's permission. (Job 1:12) So it is in the church. A believer is under the special protection and care of God only as he or she submits to the Word and care and discipline of the shepherding elders.
When a believer is turned over to Satan for the "destruction of the flesh, that their spirit may be saved", they are removed from the umbrella of God's protection and handed over to Satan.
This physical abuse by Satan may result in death (James 5:14-15, 19-20; 1 John 5:16). The intent is that it may motivate a believer to repent and come to be restored.
There is also a remedial or a teaching function in the "destruction of the flesh"-- Notice 1 Tim. 1:20:
1 Tim 1:18 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight,
1 Tim 1:19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.
1 Tim 1:20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.
The three actions which can be found in terminating one's membership in the visible, organized church are (1) "removing, cleaning, or getting him out of the midst", (2) "handing him over to Satan" and
(3) treating him as a heathen--
The third speaks of a manner in which the members of the church are to treat him-- the same way they treat unbelievers. We already have discussed this.
A. The Place of Discipline
B. The Purpose of Discipline
C. The Person of Discipline
D. The Provocation of Discipline
E. The Process of Discipline
F. The Power of Discipline
The context of Matthew 18 from which we get 4 of the 5 steps includes the following passage:
Mat 18:18 "Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Mat 18:19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
Mat 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst."
This passage has been often misinterpreted, this is because it has been taken out of context and used to encourage people in prayer and to validate the "name it, claim it" philosophy. The "binding and loosening" in verse 18 has also been used to authenticate the "spiritual warfare" movement.
However, these verses continue the thoughts of Jesus on church discipline. The binding and loosening were terms familiar to a Jewish audience and they simply refer to the rabbis' telling a person that either he was still under the bondage of sin, or was freed from it.
Jesus was telling the church that they can determine from observing a person who is not willing to repent that they are in bondage to sin. They can also observe when a brother repents with a broken heart that he is loosed from the bondage of his sin and he can be restored back into fellowship with the saints.
Jesus is also teaching the church that practices discipline, that whatever they observe--him being bound or loose, has already been determined by the Father in heaven.
The "two or three" He mentions here are the same two or three He mentioned in verse 16. Jesus is teaching us that whenever the two or three "agree" (sumphoneo, lit. "to produce a sound together) or are in harmony with regard to the person they are confronting, the Father also will be in agreement.
This verse isn't a blank check for prayer. Remember, the two here are two witnesses in a case of church discipline regarding a sinning person, and they really want God's will to be done--they want the person who they are confronting to be delivered from sin or they want it to be manifested that the person's true spiritual identity be know--whether the person is a saint or sinner..
Jesus is letting us know that after following the biblical pattern, we can be confident that God's will be done indeed.
III. Elements of Church Discipline - Part Three: Restoring a Sinning Brother
We have been emphasizing through this entire series of messages thus far that the whole purpose of behind steps 2 through 5 of church discipline is restoration.
Yes we would like to see a brother or sister who sinned to seek forgiveness from those they have offended. If the sin was public or discipline had to proceed to step 4 or step 5, we would like to see the offender forgiven by the assembly at large.
But now there remains a big question; What do you do when a person repents and turns from sin? You forgive that brother or sister in the fullest sense. Then what do you do after the person is forgiven? You restore him.
In Galatians chapter 6 Paul gives three important guidelines for this ministry of restoration:
symbol 183 \f "Symbol" \s 10 \h Pick Them Up
symbol 183 \f "Symbol" \s 10 \h Hold Them Up
symbol 183 \f "Symbol" \s 10 \h Build Them Up
(This outline comes from Dr. John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in California)
A. Pick Them Up
Gal 6:1 Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Paul is writing to fellow believers (brethren). It is the responsibility of believers-- the church family to restore a fellow believer that is "caught in any trespass".
The picture is introduced by the use of the word "caught" or "overtaken (KJV)". There are differences of opinion concerning what is meant by these words. The Greek word is prolambano, prol-am-ban'-o; (to take in advance, i.e. (lit.) eat before others have an opportunity; (fig.) to anticipate, surprise:--come aforehand, overtake, take before). One interpretation is that Paul is dealing with a hypothetical case of a Christian who is caught in a sin or better caught by a sin. The thought is that of someone running from sin but sin, being faster, overtakes and catches him (The Bible Knowledge Commentary).
The other interpretation is that the word “caught” or “overtaken” refers to a believer who overtakes someone who has sinned. In this scenario the offender has been “caught off guard” or “surprised”. He has been "caught with the goods."
The second interpretation is closer to reality. As with the first interpretation we do find ourselves running from sin or lust as the apostle Paul commanded Timothy to “flee youthful lust” (2 Tim. 2:22; cp. 1 Cor. 6:18). This interpretation moves us to compassion for the one who, as it were, couldn’t out run sin. Sin caught up with the person and he or she succumbed. Pity that person. This interpretation, however, removes personal responsibility from the person-- it wasn’t his fault, he tried to avoid it but it got the best of him.
As was said, the second interpretation is closer to reality. Most of us try to hide our sin. We, as the scriptures teach, sin in the darkness. But “light has come into the world and darkness could not overcome the light.” Many of us have been found more times in sin than running from it.
Sin doesn’t take us unaware, because if we’re walking in the Spirit, we have the faculty to discern its presence. Consequently, there is no such thing as unwilling sin. (MacArthur)
Restoring a brother is part of the responsibility of one who is walking the spiritual walk
The context in which Gal. 6:1 is set is “walking in the Spirit” (Gal 5:16, 18, 25). The picture here is that as you are walking in the Spirit you may come across someone in sin who needs your help. (No one should be acting like Sherlock Holmes with a magnifying looking for evidence of sin.)
The attitude of the Good Samaritan best describes our attitude if we should find someone in sin:
(Luke 10:33 NASB) "But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
(Luke 10:34 NASB) and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
We have to put things in proper perspective. “Hate the sin, love the sinner” Remember who is behind the sin; "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). Satan desires to sift the saint. When we come across a saint who has fallen in sin, we need to view him as a “sifted saint” who needs to be restored.
The word translated “restore” (Gk. katarizo) in Gal. 6:1 speaks of repairing something in the sense of bringing it back to its former condition. It is used of reconciling two arguing factions, of setting bones that are broken, of putting a dislocated limb back into its proper place, and of mending broken nets.
The purpose behind church discipline is restoration of the offending brother or sister-- bringing them back into a fruitful fellowship with Jesus Christ and His church. This begins with picking the brother up.
A lifeguard, a police officer or fireman has to be familiar with rescue techniques. It is very possible to put yourself in danger as you try to rescue another. There have been many times when someone has jumped into the water to save a person in danger of drowning and have instead become a victim too.
In Gal. 6:1, Paul is warning the believer who happens upon a believer in sin to be careful lest they also be tempted into the same sin. How is this possible? “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov 16:18 KJV)”. It is easy to look down on someone in shame and disgust reasoning within ourselves “This would never happen to me.”
Paul says to pick up the fallen brother in the “spirit of meekness.” Humility is the key ingredient in restoring a fellow believer. One day you could very well be this brother.
B. Hold Them Up
Galatians 6:2 continues: “Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ”. Paul, continuing the metaphor of walking, says that when you are going along the road and see someone who has fallen under a crushing burden too heavy for him, you should get under the load and help him carry it.
A burden is a spiritual weakness that threatens to induce a person to fall into sin--whatever chink Satan can find in a weakness of personality or character. Many times a person might sin and repent, and then be forgiven and brought back into fellowship. But if no one bothers to get under the load, the person continues carrying the same load of temptation under the same difficult circumstances and is apt to fall again.
There was a situation in a church where a young woman had several children out of wedlock. The woman was attending the church and a member of the choir when all of a sudden she would disappear. She would leave her children with her mother without any advance notice and literally live in the streets. After a few months, she would return in repentance, slip back into the church and sing on the choir. After a month or two she would leave without notice and repeat the process all over again--eventually coming back to church and singing on the choir.
This woman was never restored! She may have repented of her sin, but she never went through the process of restoration. She was still carrying her burden--whatever it was. Because of this burden she went through a vicious cycle of sin--repentance--and sin.
Maybe some of you are trapped in this cycle. In sin, out of sin; only to find out that you are back in the sin again. Some men (and women) struggle in their thought life; you rid your mind of evil, sinful thoughts only to find them to return. It is because you haven’t been restored. There has been no one to help you to bear your burdens-- no one to hold you up.
A pastor tells the story of a young man that had come to see him; he was distraught and tearful. He told his pastor "I've given my life to Christ, having been a homosexual before I was saved, but I still have terrible problems. I keep stumbling back into wrong relationships even though I repent and turn from them, asking God to forgive me."
His pastor, in an attempt to help him, told him "Every time you have a homosexual relationship over the next two weeks and cultivate ungodly thinking in that regard, I want you to write it out in a full paragraph and explain it to me. Then, in two weeks when we meet again, you can go through the list with me." Though he was stunned at what his pastor said, two weeks later he came back with a smile on his face. He reported, "I didn't have anything to write, because I didn't do anything-- and that's the first time in two weeks." What was the difference? He didn't want to have to tell his pastor about it. One way to carry a brother's load is to keep him accountable.
Restoration also means examining yourself through someone else’s eyes
Driver education courses teach that every driver has a blindside. The blindside is an area around your car that you cannot see with your mirrors. You have to physically look over your shoulder before you change lanes.
Christians have blindsides too.. Step 1 of church discipline is “examine yourself”. But sometimes self-examination doesn’t reveal everything. A function of "bearing one another’s burdens" is covering each other’s blindsides. Many husbands have blindsides. By the grace of God, their wives have become “blindside experts” and can point out things that they would have never seen themselves.
Sometimes we need to reach out for help.
When someone is drowning, they don’t just tread passively in the water waiting for the lifeguard to notice them. They are crying out for help! They are stretching out their arms in hope that they may find something to grab hold of or perhaps someone would grab hold of them and pull them to safety.
When you are in trouble you need to call some godly Christian for help-- right away!
Don’t give the world, the flesh and the Devil more of an opportunity to pull you down.
Sometimes we need to reach out to help.
Some of us Christians need to be more sensitive to each other in order to notice when someone needs our help.
The apostle James wrote: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (James 2:15-16)
We got to be about bearing one another’s burdens-- materially and spiritually. If a repentant brother or sister is to be restored, they will need our help.
(A) Pick the up, (B) Hold them up and
C. Build Them Up
A person who is recovering from a major injury, operation, or serious illness usually isn’t sent home from the hospital immediately. There is a period of recovery-- where the person is encouraged to rest and have a proper diet. Usually they are given antibiotics and other medicines to help the body to heal and prevent infection.
In the church when a person repents from sin, it isn’t proper to let them loose in Christian activity as if nothing has happened. There needs to be a recovery period-- notice I didn’t say a punishment or quarantine period.
The person needs to be encouraged and strengthened in the faith; particularly in the area he or she had the moral failure.
An example of this is in Ephesians 4:28:
Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.
The believer who had a problem with stealing should be encouraged to work and then to share with those who have a need.
According to Eph 5:4, the person who had a problem with a foul mouth should be taught how to praise the Lord with his lips and to use them now to give thanks.
The restoration process would be much more successful if someone in the local assembly and the repentant brother or sister would commit to spending a couple hours a week with one another over the next two or three months to nail down some biblical principles and bring about a lasting victory over the temptations this person may have to sin again.
In the restoration process, both the one who teaches and the one being restored are to share in the spiritual blessings resulting from that relationship. It is an ongoing, reciprocating kind of edification process. Both share in all the spiritual benefits of growing strong in Christ.
We are to pick up weaker brothers who have fallen, hold them up, and build them up.
As Matthew 18 tells us, the process begins with confronting them with their sin. That can be discouraging because sometimes those you confront don’t respond.
Second, we are to be forgiving. That also can be painful because the person you forgive may still not respond.
The third step is the ministry of restoration, where we bring the person back to a place of spiritual stability. This can be painful as well, because it involves carrying a heavy burden. But don’t let those realities prevent you from carrying out that vital ministry to which the Lord has called you.
There is no greater joy than obeying Him, and He will be by your side every step of the way as He uses you to help purify His church--This is what church discipline is all about. (Matt. 18:19-20).
