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excluding those who depart from the truth or lead dishonorable lives. It is exercised especially
in matters of discipline.
(1) Scriptural teachings respecting discipline.
Among Israel unintentional sins could be atoned
for by a sacrifice, but sins committed “with a high hand” (intentional) were punished with
extermination. The cherem (the ban or that which is devoted) was not only an ecclesiastical,
but also a civil punishment. The uncircumcized, the lepers, and the impure, were not permitted
to enter the sanctuary, Lev. 5 f.; Ezek. 44:9. It was only after Israel lost its national
independence, and its character as a religious assembly became more prominent, that the ban,
consisting in exclusion from the assembly, became a measure of ecclesiastical discipline, Ezra
10:8; Luke 6:22; John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2. Jesus instituted discipline in His Church, when He gave
the apostles and, in connection with their word, also the Church in general, the power to bind
and to loose, to declare what is forbidden and what is permitted, and to forgive and to retain
sins declaratively, Matt. 16:19; 18:18; John 20:23. And it is only because Christ has given this
power to the Church, that she can exercise it. Several passages of the New Testament refer to
the exercise of this power, I Cor. 5:2,7,13; II Cor. 2:5-7; II Thess. 3:14,15; I Tim. 1:20; Tit. 3:10.
Such passages as I Cor. 5:5 and I Tim. 1:20 do not refer to regular discipline, but to a special
measure permitted only to the apostles and consisting in giving the sinner over to Satan for
temporary physical punishment, in order to save the soul.
(2) The twofold purpose of discipline.
The purpose of discipline in the Church is twofold. In the
first place it seeks to carry into effect the law of Christ concerning the admission and exclusion
of members; and in the second place it aims at promoting the spiritual edification of the
members of the Church by securing their obedience to the laws of Christ. Both of these aims
are subservient to a higher end, namely, the maintenance of the holiness of the Church of Jesus
Christ. With reference to diseased members of the Church, discipline is first of all medical in
that it seeks to effect a cure, but it may become chirurgical, when the well-being of the Church
requires the excision of the diseased member. It is impossible to tell when a process of
discipline begins, whether a cure will be effected, or whether the diseased member will finally
have to be removed. Probably the Church will succeed in bringing the sinner to repentance —
and this is, of course, the more desirable end—; but it is also possible that it will have to resort
to the extreme measure of excommunicating him. In all cases of discipline the Church will have
to figure with both possibilities. Even in the most extreme measure it should still have the
saving of the sinner in mind, I Cor. 5:5. At the same time it should always remember that the
primary consideration is the maintenance of the holiness of the Church.
(3) The exercise of discipline by the officers.
Though the ordinary members of the Church are
frequently called upon to take part in the application of discipline, it is generally applied by the