Disciplined Forgiveness

Church discipline as a mark of the true church has largely been lost in modern evangelical churches.

In 2 Corinthians, however, we see Paul's zeal to present the church as a pure bride to Christ (2 Cor 11:2).

In the painful letter of 1 Corinthians Paul had addressed laxity in the church at Corinth. They apparently took Paul's counsel to heart and began to exercise discipline. In at least one case (perhaps the man mentioned in 1 Cor 5) the church had swung to the opposite extreme and had been unwilling to offer forgiveness and love to a brother who had repented.

The church must exercise discipline and avoid the extremes of cheap grace, on one hand, and harshness, on the other.

The message closes with two illustrations of church discipline: one modern from the life of Ernest Reisinger and one ancient "true tradition" concerning the Apostle John as recorded in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History (Book III).