As a follow-up on my previous post on Church Discipline I thought we ought to further develop the other part of church discipline; the part that happens constantly within a body of Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. In my research I came upon this excerpt from an old church constitution that says it fairly well.
Formative church discipline is the church edifying and disciplining itself in love. It is the sanctifying mutual ministry and influence of each member to one another, both private and public (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:7-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-14; 1 Peter 4:10-11). This is done by the use of and submission to the gifts of those both old and young, office bearer and member, which Christ graciously gives to it. If formative church discipline is well understood and practiced, and every member is satisfied with his God appointed place, all shall live to the glory of God and grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[...] the past one of the signs of a true church was that it practiced discipline. There is formative discipline that we receive directly through the Word and the Spirit mainly through the preaching of the Word. [...]
Left by cigar-theology.com » Blog Archive » Church Discipline on May 30th, 2008