![]() ![]() Now evidently, that is the level to which this church had come. If that approach is refused, then the third step is to tell it to the church, with the expectation that everybody in the congregation who knows the individual will go and plead with him to reconsider, to face the trouble and admit it, so that peace can be restored. If, however, there is resistance and unwillingness to face what is clearly wrongdoing, then, as Jesus said, we are to take one or two others so that there may be witnesses to the discussion, with the hope that that will help the one concerned, because the objective of discipline is not punishment, but recovery and restoration. We are to go only in those areas the Word of God has already said are clearly wrong. But we are not to go to one another in those areas where we merely feel irritated that someone is doing something in a different way than we would do it. That is all that needs to be said about it. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. Then usually, as Jesus went on to say, what should happen, happens: Someone goes to a person he feels is out of line with what Scripture says, and tells him his fault. Hardly a week goes by that someone does not act on that basis. Now you may not be aware of it - because this kind of thing is not publicized - but that is happening all the time in this congregation. That is always the first step that will keep a congregation at peace, and happier than anything else I know. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. We have already seen in other messages that the Lord Jesus is the one who instituted a form of discipline within the church. So this is a very helpful study on what a church ought to do when someone responds to discipline. The point is that some form of discipline had been exercised and now Paul is urging that, since the man had repented, it is time for a change of attitude toward him. (He had also written a very severe letter to them about matters in the church, so it seems unlikely to me that this matter was hanging fire all that time.) I personally feel, too, that this is a reference to some other situation in the church. I doubt that this is the case of the incestuous man, because Paul had not only written First Corinthians about that and urged the church to act, but he himself had been there since then. ![]() Some scholars feel that this was the follow-up on that, that we are dealing now with the case of a man who had repented and that Paul is urging that love and forgiveness be extended to him.īut other Bible scholars feel that this is another incident, that this man is more likely involved in some kind of rebellion, leading a schism against the apostle's authority, perhaps, and that this had created trouble in the church. Paul had written about that, rebuking them for not doing anything about it, and urging them to take action. There is a great deal of doubt among scholars as to whom the person in question is: Traditionally this has been linked with that incident in First Corinthians, where a certain individual was living in a form of incest with his father's wife. (2 Corinthians 2:5-8 RSV)Ĭlearly this is a case of some kind of judicial discipline going on within the congregation in Corinth. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. ![]() For such a one this punishment by the majority is enough so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. In Verse 5 of Chapter 2, Paul says:īut if any one has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure - not to put it too severely - to you all. Today we will be dealing with the problem of when discipline in a congregation should end. The second problem, which we looked at last week, was how to clear up a misunderstanding with someone. We saw that Paul's answer was the strengthening that the Spirit of God gives by which these pressures around and within may be met. The first problem was how to handle stress in your personal life. ![]() In our study of Second Corinthians this morning, we will be dealing with the third of three very practical problems which arose in the church there in Corinth, to which Paul is writing: (These problems frequently arise in California as well.) ![]()
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