As we focus on the purity of the church, and necessity to lovingly encourage all to live obedient lives. We have been looking at Matthew 18:15-20 to understand the process that Jesus set forth to help the church maintain a body that is living in obedience to the Lord. We have seen that the first two steps are private exhortation (v15) and Private Conference, if the person in question still refuses to repent of their sin, what do you do. The next step, is one that must be addressed carefully. That is Public Announcement. Here we are told that if a person has refused the quiet and consistent exhortation of those who have spiritual oversight over a person, the next step is to make the church aware of the behavior, and that those who are able can privately approach the sinner, and attempt to draw them back to Christ. How is this to be practice? A practical approach is to call a private “members only” meeting where you share the attempts that have been made to bring restoration to the sinning member. After working through the principles of Matthew 18, it has become apparent that the one living in disobedience … READ MORE

The restoration principle of Matthew 18:15-20 is designed by the Lord to bring help and harmony to the Body of Christ as we serve in the church. Yesterday, we saw that the first step outlined was a private conference with the one who has offended (cf. Matthew 18:15). Ideally, this would be enough to deal with the offense, and nothing more needs to be done. However, we live in a sin cursed world, where everything does not work ideally. So, that brings us the question, what do we do when this private meeting does not work. According to Matthew 18:16, the next step would be a PRIVATE Conference with the offender. In both of these situations the goal is to keep the information in as tight a circle as possible so that the behavior is not put on public display. Again the goal here is to resolve the issue and bring about restoration. The purpose of these witnesses is to verify that what is being done is being brought about by love and a desire to bring restoration and hide a multitude of sins. As a result, the “witnesses” spoken of in Verse 16, should represent the leadership of the … READ MORE

How are sinners supposed to live together in unity? Jesus addresses this issue in Matthew 18:15-20. This passage which has been referenced as “church discipline, is perhaps better identified as the restoration principle. The point of this passage is to help us understand how we encourage each other to remain faithful to the Lord, and what is the process by which we maintain the purity of the Church. Restoration from sin is the corollary of evangelism. Restoration deals with sin in the lives of those who have made professions of faith. Evangelism is the initial act of discipleship, whereas the restoration principle is part of the follow-up and shepherding of professing saints. This passage outlines four basic steps to achieve correction and restoration in the lives of believers. Allow me to share the first today, and develop the other three in the days to follow. First, is Private Reproof, found in Matthew 18:15. Here we see that the offended believer is responsible to arrange a PRIVATE meeting and share with the offender what sin they have committed. The word for “reprove” in this passage means “to bring to light”. Often people do not realize that they are caught up in … READ MORE