Recorded Books Inc. - Handbook of church discipline: a right and privilege of every church member

Resources by Jay E. Adams

The Christian Counselors Manual

The Christian Counselors Casebook

The Competent to Counsel

Handbook of Church Discipline

How to Help People Change

Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible

Preaching with Purpose

Shepherding Gods Flock

Solving Marriage Problems

A Theology of Christian Counseling

ZONDERVAN

Handbook of Church Discipline
Copyright 1874, 1986 by Jay E. Adams

Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition September 2016: ISBN 978-0-310-53547-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Adams, Jay Edward.

Handbook of church discipline.
(The Jay Adams library)
Includes indexes.
ISBN: 978-0-310-51191-5
1. Church disciplineHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.

II. Adams, Jay Edward. Jay Adams library.
BV740.A34 1986

262.9

86-23574

Unless otherwise indicated all New Testament quotations are from the Christian Counselors New Testament.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Edited by Joan Johnson
Designed by Louise Bauer

Contents

This book in your hand is just what it calls itselfa handbook. It is not a collection of anecdotes, nor an academically oriented tome that discusses the scholarly aspects of the subject. No. It is a handbook for youfor busy pastors and Christian workers who want to understand and faithfully carry out the task of church discipline. I have three objectives in view:

1. To present a clear, concise biblical description of church discipline. This book is designed to acquaint you with the major facts delineated in the Scriptures concerning the purpose and the process of discipline. The first objective, therefore, is to help you acquire a working knowledge of biblical church discipline.

2. To provide a ready reference to which you may turn for help in situations requiring church discipline. I have purposely kept the book as slim as possible. Besides the index, I have also strategically placed section headings throughout to make it maximally useful.

3. To convince the dubious that church discipline is not only a biblical requirement (and therefore feasible) but also a right and privilege of every member of the church of Christ, and therefore, a blessing that should not be withheld. This book is intended to encourage church leaders to reinstateor introducethe practice of church discipline in their congregations.

Much of the material has been presented orally at seminars of the Christian Legal Society and at various pastors meetings. It has been developed to meet the needs expressed at these gatherings. In part, I have written to meet a demand that these lectures be put in written form.

If, in any measure, the three objectives mentioned above are achieved as a fruit of this book, I shall be grateful. As I think of the homes that have been hopelessly broken, the estrangements that have permanently resulted, and the misery that has been unnecessarily caused by the failure of churches to practice church discipline, or to practice it biblically, my heart aches. Even more tragically, as I consider the ruins of many congregations torn by schismatic and factious persons who have been allowed to wreak havoc with Christs flock, and the sickness of many others weakened by the infectious toxin of unrepentant sin that circulates in Christs body of believers, I am deeply moved. And above all, as I think of the dishonor that has been heaped upon the name of our Lord because of the tarnished witness of churches that harbor glaring violators of His holy commandments, I am appalled.

May God use you to be one of those who in our time ministers His Word effectively to heal hurts, strengthen Christs people, and bring honor to His name through church discipline!

Mary has left Bill and announces to him she is going to divorce. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are taking the elders out for dinner each Sunday, trying to persuade them that they should withdraw the congregation from its present denomination to join another. After a loud and protracted argument, Sally and Jane have declared that they do not care to speak to one another again; it has been four weeks since the fight and they refuse to reconcile. Peggy knows she is pregnant out of wedlock. Harry has discovered that the church organist is a homosexual. What do all of these people have in common? In one way or another, they all need the blessings and the benefits of church discipline.

But if they belong to the average church, none, or at best few of them, would be able to profit from the healing, purifying balm of discipline. And discipline, in such churches, would not be considered a blessing or benefit, but an outmoded relic of the Dark Ages, unsuitable to a modern congregation. That is the tragedy of the church of our time.

Many of you who are pastors, elders, and church leaders know that your own congregation is remiss in the exercise of church discipline. Perhaps you say, Well, it is so tar gone, there isnt much hope of reestablishing it in my church. Or, possibly, in frustration you reply, Sure, I know we ought to have church discipline, but I wouldnt know where to begin. Besides that, I dont even know how to exercise discipline; they didnt teach me anything about that in seminary.

For all such personsfor the uninitiated in ministry and for the experienced who see a need to be more biblically effective in church disciplinethis book is written. To the timid, to the confused, to the willing but ignorant, I say, there is hope. You can indeed institute, reinstitute, or strengthen church discipline in your congregation.

How do I know that is true? Because the Lord Jesus Himself set forth the basic principles of church discipline, because He who stands amid the lampstands cares about your church and wants you to practice discipline. Whatever He requires of His people He gives both the wisdom and the strength to do. That is why I say it is possible to have discipline in your congregation; yes, in your congregation, if it is a church where the Word of God is preached and where, in spite of many irregularities, beneath all there is a fundamental desire to please the Lord.

There are many congregations across the land in which church discipline is being revived: this is a most encouraging sign. Indeed, it is evidence that the recent surge in evangelical thought and concern extends deeper than many have supposed. Since discipline is a primary means available for drawing a line between the church and the world, one of the chief ways of identifying Gods people, and a pivotal element in distinguishing a true church from a false one, it is of utmost importance to reestablish good discipline in this period in which there has been much confusion in determining the true churches of Christ.

Moreover, in the biblical counseling revival, those involved have discovered that church discipline is an essential tool. Indeed, it is this revival that has spurred the new interest in church discipline. Without it there is no way to bring many counseling cases to a satisfactory end. With discipline all cases can be resolved. That interest, of course, views church discipline from the counselors perspective. It thinks of discipline in its narrower sense as a tool for counseling. Looking at discipline from another, broader viewpoint, counseling may be thought of as an essential part of the processes of church discipline. Both perspectives are valid and important. But either way you look at itand we shall consider the matter from both sides in this bookcounseling and church discipline are inextricably intertwined; neither can be carried on effectively and biblically without the other.