APPEARING BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT---- VERY MISUNDERSTOOD

 

JUDGMENT SEAT FOR ALL

Righteous or Sinful

A VERY MISUNDERSTOOD TEACHING -- HERE IS THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER

by Keith Hunt The below is taken from the little booklet "Our Daily Bread" one of the 2007 editions. "Out of the depths" the psalmist cries to God (Ps.130:1). His problem surfaces: terrible guilt for things done and undone in the past. "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" (v.3). But, thankfully, God forgives. He does not keep an account of past sins, no matter how many and how grievous they have been. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rum. 8:1). God's forgiveness then leads us to fear Him (Ps.130:4). We worship and adore God, for grace and forgiveness cause us to love Him all the more. But what happens if we slide back into old sins? What if sin lingers? We are to rent and "wait for the LORD" and be patient while God works (vv.5-6). We are not hopeless cases. We can "hope" in the One who will deliver us in His time. We now have these two assurances: God's unfailing love - He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb.13:5). And God's promise of full redemption in due time - He will redeem us from all our iniquities (Ps.130:8) and present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jude 24). We're forgiven! We're free! With the psalmist, let's worship the Lord as we await His coming. - David Roper How blest is he whose trespass Has freely been forgiven, Whose sin is wholly covered Before the sight of heaven. - Psalter    WHEN WE'RE FORGIVEN, NO RECORD IS KEPT OF OUR SINS. Now, this above teaching is wonderfully correct! Most of Christianity teaches this great and glorious good news. We, as repentant sinners, are FORGIVEN of our sins through the shed blood of Christ Jesus our Savior. What is also taught by the Word of God is that when our sins are washed away, God does not REMEMBER THEM, if He did, then as we have read above, who would be able to STAND. Maybe someone like a Job, would have a good chance of standing, BUT few indeed are a Job. The rest of us could not stand before God. The good news is that God does not keep an account of our sins, if we are a humble repentant child of His with Jesus as our interceding High Priest and Savior. Note these verses: "Blessed is he whose transgression is FORGIVEN and whose sin is COVERED. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth (remembers) not iniquity...." Ps.32:1-2 "Hide thy face from my sins, and BLOT out all mine iniquities. Ps. 51:9 "Thou hast FORGIVEN the iniquity of Thy people, thou hast COVERED all their sin" Ps.85:2 "As far as the EAST IS FROM THE WEST, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." Ps.103:12 "'Come now, let us reason together' says the Lord, 'though your sins be as SCARLET they shall be as WHITE as snow; though they be RED like crimson, they shall be as WOOL." Isa.1:18 "I, EVEN I, an He that BLOTTETH out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and WILL NOT REMEMBER your sins. " Isa. 43:25 "...for they shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will FORGIVE their iniquity, and I will REMEMBER their sin NO MORE." Jer.31:34 "If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he hath robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity, he shall surely live, he shall not die. NONE of his sins that he hath committed SHALL BE MENTIONED unto him ... he shall surely live." Ezek.33:15-16 "I will be MERCIFUL to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities WILL I REMEMBER NO MORE." Heb.8:12 PLAIN AND WONDERFUL The teaching of the Scriptures is CLEAR! When a person REPENTS and is from that point on a humble repentant child of God, then their sins are FORGIVEN, washed away in the blood and interceding work of Christ Jesus. The Father looks upon His child as white as snow, as white as wool. Sins are blotted out, washed away, cleansed and in the book of life. Those sins God will NOT REMEMBER or hold against us ... EVER! They are GONE! They are not there! They do not exist! I give EMPHASIS to all this simple and plain truth, because the some parts of the Christian world have another teaching that CONTRADICTS this. I have in the past heard the same church and the same teacher, weeks apart maybe, but nevertheless the two teachings coming from the same church or fellowship. We have on the one hand, all the teaching of a FORGIVING God that washes away sin form the life of the repentant believer, yet at the same time it is preached that one day we must all stand before the judgment seat of God and be judged for all that we have done and said and thought. The latter teaching is usually backed up with such verses as: "I said, in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." Ecc.3:7 "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes, but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment." Ecc.11:9 "And God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." Ecc. 12:14 "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Mat.26:36-37 "For there is nothing hid, which shall not be made manifest; neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad." Mark 4:22 "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in the closet, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." Luke 12:2-3 "But why do you judge thy brother ... for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ ... So that everyone of us shall give account of himself to God." Rom.14:10,12 "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it ..." 1 Cor.3:13 "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor.5:10 "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb.9:27 "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it ... And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books, according to their works..." Rev.20:11-12 There maybe other verses that are used, but I think you get the sense of it all. First, we are told correctly that God FORGIVES and FORGETS - does not REMEMBER our sins, if we are truly His child (how we are His children is fully and in-depth, explain in many studies on this Website), then we are told by some, that one day when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that all of our good and bad things come up to be judged. Many people have the idea that when they come before the judgment seat of Christ, there will be something like a GIANT TV screen, and all things we have done, in body, mind, thought, action, will flash up on the screen for ALL TO SEE! It will be to some, kinda like the old TV series "This is Your Life" but with the title "This WAS your life" and everything we have said and done and thought, will be made manifest for all to see and hear. Then adding all the events up from the record books of our life, we shall be rewarded accordingly. We have LIFE ETERNAL and a pretty good REWARD but nevertheless our sins (body and mind) and righteous deeds are COMING UP BEFORE the Lord on a judgement day. This idea to me is not only frightening, but will be TERRIBLY EMBARRASSING!! I sure do not want to see all my sins (body and mind) from my entire life, being brought forth to ME, never mind the rest of the universe. I can think of nothing more embarrassing to have ones sins shown to the universe. Yet, some teach that this is what Scripture tells us will happen to each and every one of us. It is enough for me to have recorded some of David's sins, and other sins of the children of God, in the Bible. I sure do not want to see up on some heavenly TV screen ALL the sins of David that he committed in his life (body, and mind). I sure do not want to see all of mine flashed before me and everyone. A FALSE DOCTRINE Fortunately, this idea of judgment for the saints, is totally false, and will not happen. Our sins will not be broadcasted for all the universe to see and hear. First, we need to have the clear picture of SALVATION. We have seen above, the plain verses that tell us that a child of the Father, a child with a humble repentant mindset, is clean from sin, is to God, as white as snow, as white as wool. All sins are not only forgiven through the total work of Christ, but they are also NOT REMEMBERED by God. This is the very truth of the matter, this should be very good news to all true Christians. Our sins will not appear, not be flashed up on some heavenly TV screen for all to see, in the judgment day. So what is judgment day all about? The Scriptures do say ALL will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. But the children of God NOW in this life, are BEING JUDGED. Yes, our judgment is NOW. This truth is told us in 1 Peter 4:17, "For the time IS COME that judgment must begin at the house of God ..." Salvation is by GRACE, not works. God is not judging or accounting in some book, adding up our good works and bad works to determine if we qualify for salvation. If we are a true child of God (by our attitude of repentance and having Jesus as our personal Savior) then salvation for us is not a judgmental matter that God still has to tally up. Salvation does not depend on having more good works than bad works. We are not SAVED by works, but by GRACE. This wonderful truth is fully expounded in my study on this Website called "Saved by Grace." But, the Bible makes it also clear that our REWARD that we get at the coming of Christ in glory, when we shall stand before Him, before His judgment seat or throne, is determined by our WORKS. One verse to prove that is Revelation 22:12. There are other verses that say the same thing, but one should be enough. God is not obliged to have to repeat it two or three or a dozen times to make it stick. So with all this basic truth laid down, it should be evident that the judging NOW upon the house of God, the church of God, the children of God, is a judging that will determine our REWARD that is given to us when Jesus returns, handed out to us at His judgment seat. The book of Revelation says it is when we appear upon the sea of glass before and with Him, that we receive our reward - see Revelation 11:15-18; 14:1-5; 19:1-16; 20:1-4. Notice in Revelation 19:1-8. The servants of the Lord, the WIFE to marry the LAMB - the Church of God to marry the Son of God is granted that she should be in CLEAN AND WHITE fine linen - the RIGHTEOUSNESS of the saints. There is NO DIRTY linen connected to this marriage. The Lamb's wife does not have a mixture of clean and unclean linen, she does not have linen that is both white and black. She ONLY APPEARS to marry Jesus the Lamb in CLEAN AND WHITE LINEN! The sins of the Church of God, the people that make up the church, ARE NOT THERE!! I guess not, for we have seen the Scriptures tell us that God's true children have been FORGIVEN of their sins, have had their sins WASHED AWAY, and God does NOT REMEMBER them any longer! Nothing could be clearer than this in the Bible. I will not see your sins, and you will not see mine, in the day of standing before the seat of Christ. PRAISE THE LORD! Now the picture should becoming clear. All will appear before Christ, that is made plain to us by many verses in the Bible, and the New Testament especially. You will either appear before Him with NO SIN, as His clean Bride, dressed in white linen, or appear before Him WITH sin. There are TWO basic classes then. This is what Paul was saying in Romans 2: 6-8; "Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath." This is the same truth recorded for us way back in Ezekiel's day. "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall NOT be MENTIONED unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live (true repentance in humility and a mindset to serve and follow the correct pathway of God's life gives you LIFE where none of your sins are remembered)....But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall NOT BE MENTIONED: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." Ezekiel 18:21-24. There it is friends. You do the right about face - repent and serve the ways of the true God, you will have life, and NO SIN mentioned or remembered. If you will not repent or you turn away from serving God back into a life mindset of sin, you die, with no righteousness that you may have done remembered. Kind of SOBERING is it not. Yes, but GLORIOUS and WONDERFUL for those who are the children of God. For them the day of standing before the judgment seat of Christ, means NO SIN mentioned, not even remembered. What LOVE, from the Father, what JOY and FREEDOM for His children! If you are a practicing sinner, one who was not called in this life, or one who turned down his calling, or turned away from his calling at some point, then as Paul said, there is indignation and wrath. Only sins will be remembered. For those in sin who were not called and chosen in this life time there is HOPE, but that is another truth of God that is expounded in another study "The White Throne Judgment" - or "The Last Great Day Feast" - "the 8th day" as in Leviticus 23.  So I refer you to it, and will not take the time here to go over that truth. If you are one that has been called and you rejected that calling, or one who turned away from that calling, who did not endure to the end in that calling, then indeed WRATH will be yours. Hebrews chapter 10:26-31 is about those who have rejected salvation. They will have no righteousness they may have done mentioned. They will have only sins before them and before the judgment seat of Christ. TWO categories exist before the judgment seat, or in the judgment day of the Most High God's time table. You are either righteous, in clean white linen or you are filthy, in unclean linen of sin. Jesus spoke about this a number of times during His ministry. "When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory (the righteous and judgment throne). And before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from the other, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats..." Mat.25:31-32. The parable Jesus continues to give is pretty clear. The sheep are on ONE side, the goats are on the OTHER side. The sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left hand. You will notice the sheep ONLY HAVE GOOD things said about them. The true children of God are NOT perfect, they do sin in this life time, the rest of the New Testament makes all that very clear (see 1 John 1:6-2:6). But their sins are washed away through Christ, their sins are REMOVED, NOT REMEMBERED, and hence they have only good things said of them. They have only a clean and white garment for the wedding, they are a bride clean and white to be presented to Christ, when He comes to marry them, when He sits upon the throne of His glory. The others, on His left hand, the goats, they have only bad things to remember them by. No good deeds are mentioned in Matthew 25. They go into the judgment seat, the throne of Jesus' glory, with only sins, and they are punished accordingly. Now, many of the sinners group, will shout out and say to Jesus that they had many fine righteous acts in their life-time, that they even called Jesus "Lord." See it in Matthew 7:21-23. They will proclaim they did this or that in Jesus' name, they will try to give forth many "works" to say they qualify to be in the Kingdom. But the BASICS were not there (covered in my study called "Saved by Grace") - and so ONLY the fact that they are still considered by the Lord to be workers of iniquity, or as the Greek really is, "lawlessness." You have TWO categories - those that built upon the ROCK and those that built upon the SAND. Those that built upon the rock have no sand brought up to them. Those that built upon the sand have no rocks brought up to them. You are either dressed in clean fine and white linen, of righteousness, or you are in filthy rags of sin. There is no mixture! IT'S ALL OVER THE GOSPELS Jesus gave another parable at another time. It is recorded by Luke in chapter 19 of his Gospel. It starts in verse 11 and ends in at verse 27. A nobleman goes into a far country and gives out to his servants a certain number of pounds or dollars. He comes back eventually and wants to see what his servants did with what was given them to work with. Those that used the gift given to them were given more and were said to be good and faithful servants. Nothing bad is said of them. But the one who did nothing with what he had been freely given, was classified as "wicked" - no good things were said of him, and for those who just would not let the master reign over them, were classified as "enemies" and were to be slain - they were to live no longer! We have the parable of the fish, the wheat and the tares, the seed cast forth by the farmer, the reaping of the harvest by the angels at the end of the age. We have Jesus telling us over and over again this important truth. JUDGMENT - the day of showing forth to the universe the children of light and the children of darkness, will be just that - light or darkness! If you have walked in the light given you, if you have been called and you lived in that calling with the mind of Christ in you (Phil.2:5), you will come before Christ as part of the Bride of Christ. You will only be in white, clean linen. Only your light and righteousness will be seen and revealed to the universe - no sin - no unrighteousness - you may have done, will be mentioned or brought up in any specific way. But, if you denied your calling, if you practiced sin, lived a life with a mindset of not wanting God to reign over you - you will have none of your righteousness mentioned - you will only be shown to be unrighteous and still in sin. This is the simple and yes, wonderful (to the children of God that is) truth of your Bible. For the children of God there is no FEAR in judgment, there is no condemnation. We are free from the accusations of Satan the Devil. We shall be free from his accusations he may want to bring up about us in that day of judgment, when we shall stand before the seat of Christ as His Bride. We shall only be dressed in clean and white linen. OUR REWARDS ARE BEING JUDGED NOW Jesus said we shall be rewarded according to our WORKS! So there is a judgment that will VARY between the children of God. We shall not all have the same reward. You may remember David said in one of his psalms that he would rather be a "door-keeper" in the house of God than dwell with the kings of this earth. So, someone in the family of God will be door-keepers. But the important thing to remember is that THEY WILL BE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD, IN THE FAMILY OF GOD!! They will still be SAVED, and in the very FAMILY of God. And that my friends is MORE than you have probably every been shown. That mind-bending truth is all expounded upon in my study called "A Christian's Destiny." If you have not studied that study, PLEASE DO SO! You will be stunned at what the Father and Jesus are going to do with us humans. The apostle Paul was inspired to tell us about "judgment to rewards." It is found in his epistle to the Corinthians - his first epistle too them, chapter 3, starting in verse 11. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." It all begins and ends with Christ Jesus - He is the foundation to eternal life. Paul goes on to say that we build upon that foundation. We can build gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. We can all see the progressive decline downwards from gold to stubble. Paul says every man's work will be made manifest; for indeed the day will declare it - judgment day or reward day when we shall all appear before the throne of Christ. As we build on the foundation fiery and tough things will come along to determine our work, of what sort it is (gold or stubble). Notice verse 14, "If any man's work ABIDE which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a REWARD!" Paul is talking about building on the basic salvation in Christ FOR A REWARD - NOT to gain eternal life, but the reward we get when we enter eternal life. Verse 15 proves this. "If any man's work shall be BURNED, he shall SUFFER LOSS, but he himself shall be SAVED, even coming through the fire (the tests, trial, ordeals of life)." The issue here is NOT "being saved" but what our REWARD shall be when we are saved, when we inherit salvation, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, upon His coming to earth in glory, to establish and set up the Kingdom of God on earth. We are to build upon our salvation (that is a gift from God through grace and faith not of works). With what we are given (one talent, two talents, three talents etc.) we do something with it all - we produce certain fruits - we do certain works. Under the fiery tests of life we may bear up doing things very well (gold) or well, or not very well, or even very little (stubble), but we do SOMETHING (the person with one talent or pound, or dollar, went out and gained another talent or pound or dollar - not necessarily in the literal money way) with what we have been given. All through our life we are being judged, going through life's fiery ... whatever. At the end of it all, God judging us NOW (remember what we read in 1 Peter 4:17) determines our REWARD for work done - maybe gold, maybe silver, or maybe stubble, but we did do something so we do get a reward. Even though we may not have done a lot in life, maybe we could have done more works, and have received precious stones reward instead of a hay reward, we SHALL BE SAVED, we shall inherit the Kingdom of God. We may end up as a "door-keeper" in the House of God, but we WILL BE THERE! And that is FAR GREATER, WAY FAR GREATER, than dwelling in the house of a king on this earthly and physical habitat. GIVE ACCOUNT OF EVERY IDLE WORD Now Jesus did say that we will give account of our words, of our every idle word that comes from us. Are we to take Jesus' statement and figure from it that there will be this HUGE TV screen before the judgment seat of Christ, on which every word we have ever spoken will come up, and Jesus will point out to us (and the whole universe) all our idle words. Here we are again, back to this idea of all our sins and worthless words being shown to us and all the other saints and angelic beings. I do not think we are to take Jesus' words about our accountability for idle words, and understand it all with the above idea. We shall in a very real sense be judged now in all our works (and words from our mouth is one of our works) - God will take into account what comes out of our mouth in words from the tongue. James chapter 3 tells us about the importance of the tongue in our Christian life. I think if we get a reward of say "hay" (not literally of course), then we shall know that we did not possibly do as much good work as we maybe could have done. We may have been a sincere Christian, salvation - no question, and being saved - no question, but we were somewhat loose with our tongue at times, just not careful enough as to the words that came out of our mouth at times. We maybe did not take to heart the instructions James gave to us in his epistle concerning the tongue. We shall be SAVED - no question, but with a little more care with our words and tongue we may have received a reward of "wood" instead of "hay." Do you see then how we can be judged now, give account of every idle word, yet NOT have some reward ceremony on the sea of glass before Jesus' throne, that goes through all we have thought, said, done, practiced, be it good or be it bad. I speculate here. We get a reward of hay, we say to Jesus, "I thought I might have gotten a reward of at least wood. Where did I fail? What was it that kept me from getting wood?" Jesus may simply say, without going into any details, or pulling up the details on some TV screen, "You had too many idle words, you could have been more careful with your tongue." I think most of us would "get the picture" pretty quick, and not want Jesus to get into the nitty-gritty of amplifying His statement, to us or everyone around. THREE TYPES OF JUDGMENT The Church of God, its members, the individual saints, from all ages were (if now dead) and are (if still alive) JUDGED during their physical life. The truth of judgment must now begin at the house of God. Our sins are blotted out, God will not remember them. We are white as snow, white like wool. We shall not have any of our sins brought up to us per se when we stand before Christ. We shall wear only clean and white linen as His Bride. We shall receive our rewards according to our works. We shall know how well we did with what we were given when our reward is either gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble. I cannot see anything else about how God arrived at those rewards for His children having to be amplified. Surely the words "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord" is all we need to hear. God's saints surely do not want or need to have the sins of saints blasted out in front of everyone. Surely it is enough to know in this physical life that we are sinners, falling short many times, missing the mark of holy righteousness, without it being driven home to us in some embarrassing open judgmental disclosure. THANK GOD He teaches no such open shame will be put on His children on that day of judgment rewards. That day for the saints will be their WEDDING DAY - a marriage to Christ Jesus. It will be a wonderful, happy, joyous, exhilarating day. We shall be PERFECTED in resurrection, as John said, "We shall be like Christ for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:1-3). We shall have no human nature only perfect holy nature, we shall not be angry or upset or jealous at others who received a silver reward when we got wood. There will be no vain "puffed out chests" and a "look at me all of you, I got a gold reward." There will be saints of humility, you will not be there if you can't be humble - see Isa.66:1-2. The saints will have had judgment rewards handed out and there will be only peace, joy, laughter, love, gentleness, kindness, and praises, at that marriage feast of the Lamb and His Bride. A SECOND JUDGMENT Many will not be in the first resurrection (Rev.20:4). They will rise in the WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT RESURRECTION, a thousand years after Jesus has been on this earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This will be the time for all people, children, and all who were not called by God in their life time to know and understand the truths of salvation through Christ. They also will be saved by grace through faith, and be rewarded and judged for reward according to how they relate to the "books" - the Bible books. So it will be the same for them concerning rewards as for us. How you work with what you have been given to work with, determines your reward. God knows all the facts and all the situations we live in and work in, the rewards are just and good and correct for us and so it will be for those who are in this second resurrection. I have written an in-depth study on this important judgment resurrection. It is on this Website, and is called "The White Throne Resurrection" or the the catagory of the FEASTS it is "The Last Great Feast Day." This great general resurrection is depicted by the LAST GREAT FEAST DAY, in the Festival Salvation plan that God has for all peoples from all ages. It is a wonderful Feast Day and you need to KNOW what it pictures for a HUGE part of mankind, if fact the majority of mankind. JUDGMENT TO DEATH The last verses of the last book of the Old Testament gives it to us with no punches pulled. "For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yes, and all that do (practice as a way of life) wickedness, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. but unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts" Malachi 4:1-3. The Bible is full of verses that says the end result of those who will not repent of sins, and will not have the Lord reign over them, those who will reject the calling to salvation, will be that they shall DIE ... be BURNT UP, BE ASHES under the feet of the righteous. Those sinners will not live, ever again, they will be gone from the universe, forever! Those who deliberately and knowingly reject God's offer to salvation by grace through faith, those who will not have THE God as their Lord and Savior, will be destroyed by fire, as in an oven that burns them up into ashes. Not pleasant at all, the apostle Paul tells us about it in Hebrews 10:26-31. Jesus got at times pretty frustrated with some of the religious leaders of His day, and said, "...How shall you escape the damnation of hell" (Mat.23:33). The Greek word often simply translated as "hell" in the KJV translation is "gehena" and is connected to the trash heap of fire that burned outside of Jerusalem. It was the city land-fill for trash and rubbish, only it was a fire burning up the garbage and not a land-fill as we think of land-fills in our western world. The truth is that those who do not want salvation as God offers it, will be burnt up into ashes and be no more. The in- depth study of this you will find in other studies on this Website. Those willful sinners will be judged in the lifetime they are given to live on this earth. If they have been called, if God has indeed set His hand to call them to salvation, and they have rejected it, they will face (by being resurrected - Jesus said that ALL in the graves would one day be resurrected - John 5:25- 29) the punishment fitting for such - DEATH in the fires of gehena. By reading the Gospels you will find Jesus talking about the judgment of gehena - the judgment for sinners who will not repent. It is a fact and truth of the Bible that there is coming a condemnation day, a judgment to death, for the rebellious wicked. So, the judgments are complete. We have now come to the end of Revelation 20. Now the time has come for the NEW heavens and the NEW earth. The time has come for God the Father to dwell on the new earth with all His children. The holy city, heavenly Jerusalem will also come to earth, and all that we read about in Revelation chapters 21 and 22 will be a reality. Now even death is judged, and is cast away from the universe. Only light, truth, holiness, and righteousness, will remain. Judgment for all humans is no more. Judgment itself has been judged, it served its purpose on the human race, now those humans who did accept salvation are in the very family of God, and no judgment is needed on the God family. All is perfect and holy.               Let me give emphasis again. We are saved into eternal life by faith and grace;            not by works. We are rewarded by our works, what we are doing with what             we were given. We are NOW being judged for that reward, to be handed out            before Christ when He comes. We the church of Christ will marry Him at His             coming. And only have pure white garments on, as we shall be sinless, for            our sins will be washed away through Christ Jesus, forgotten by God the Father.            We shall indeed on that day be perfect, pure, and holy. .................. Written September 2007

 

Called and Chosen When?

Here is the general process we all go through when God calls and chooses a person to accept salvation

Jesus said: "Many are called but few are chosen." What did He mean? Some teach that if you can just get to pronounce the name of Jesus to anyone they are called and chosen to salvation, if they do not accept Christ then as savior they are doomed to hell fire. Others believe everyone is doomed to burn in hell if they do not hear the name of Jesus in this life. What about those who do have the scriptures, have been taught them, have read them, who hear about God in one way or another, are they all being called and chosen NOW in this life time? This article will only come from one side of this somewhat large question about the salvation issue for EVERYONE. The overall plan of God's salvation for all people that have ever lived is given in full detail in my article called THE WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT. I will cover here the question of WHEN is God calling and choosing a person in this lifetime to accept or reject His mercy, grace, and salvation. Is it AFTER they have the Spirit IN them, after Baptism and the Laying on of hands, or is it BEFORE that time, when God's Spirit is working WITH them, but not yet IN them? There are a number of ways from the word of the Eternal to answer that question, but I have chosen just ONE way in this article. And that is with the LIFE and WORDS of the example of the apostle Paul. Did Paul have the scriptures of the Lord growing up? Was he HEARING about God from his parents? Was he taught in school about the word of the Eternal? Let him answer: "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinks he has whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee........I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus......yet brought up in this city(Jerusalem) at the feet of Gamaliel(a famous teacher of one of the Pharisee schools), and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous towards God......." (Phil.3:4-5; Acts 22:3). So Paul heard about God, read the scriptures inspired of that God, was taught about Him, and was in his own Pharisaical way - zealous towards the Eternal. The next question is was Paul understanding with full unblinded knowledge the TRUTH about what he was reading and was he being taught CORRECTLY about this God of his fathers? He answers: " And profited in the Jew's religion above many my equal in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. BUT WHEN IT PLEASED GOD......AND CALLED ME BY HIS GRACE, TO REVEAL HIS SON IN ME...... touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. BUT what things were gain to me, those I COUNTED LOSS FOR CHRIST. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the EXCELLENCY OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST JESUS my Lord......and do count them but DUNG, THAT I MAY WIN CHRIST. And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the FAITH OF CHRIST, the RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS OF GOD BY FAITH: that I MAY KNOW HIM, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made comfortable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.........And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, for He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was BEFORE a BLASPHEMER, and a PERSECUTOR, and INJURIOUS: but I OBTAINED MERCY, BECAUSE I DID IT IGNORANTLY IN UNBELIEF. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I AM CHIEF. Howbeit for this cause I OBTAINED MERCY, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to LIFE EVERLASTING......" (Gal. 1:14-16; Phil.3:6-11; 1 Tim.1:12-16). In Ephesians chapter three Paul shows that the MYSTERY of God had been HID from the world in the main, and only revealed to the "church" of God through His Spirit as planned by the Eternal through Christ Jesus and faith in Him. In Romans chapters 9 through 11 Paul clearly shows that GOD HOLDS PEOPLE IN BLINDNESS even when they may HEAR THE WORDS of the Lord being PREACHED AND TAUGHT! It is only the ELECTION OF GRACE that have the BLINDNESS REMOVED. Yes indeed as Jesus said: "many are called but few chosen." Many MAY hear the word of God, hear Jesus being taught, even have the Eternal's word in their homes and even read it, BUT THEY CAN STILL BE IN COMPETE BLINDNESS as to the very TRUTH of God, just as Paul himself was! He served God with a zeal but as he said to many Jews in Rome, "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, BUT NOT ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGE. FOR THEY BEING IGNORANT OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND GOING ABOUT TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, HAVE NOT SUBMITTED THEMSELVES UNTO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD......." (Romans 10:2-3). Paul knew exactly what this was all about, as he himself had BEEN THERE, having a zeal towards God, but really not knowing WHAT HE WAS DOING! A zeal that was BLINDED and FALSE and going in the WRONG DIRECTION, and actually FIGHTING AGAINST THE TRUTH OF GOD! Oh, yes, Paul had been called to HEAR the word, but he had NOT been CHOSEN to UNDERSTAND IT UNTIL GOD HAD MERCY UPON HIM AND REVEALED CHRIST IN ALL TRUTH TO HIM! Now let's see HOW Paul was CHOSEN to UNDERSTAND and WHEN. THE CHOOSING OF PAUL TO SALVATION Saul or Paul as we know him today was out zealously doing his things against the church of God - breathing out threatenings and slaughter, obtained letters of permission from the High priest to go to Damascus and if he found any of "this way" (Christians serving the Lord Jesus) in the synagogues, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem( Acts 9:1-2). Off he set towards the city of Damascus with fire in his eyes towards the Christians who may be there. We are all familiar with the story of how Jesus appears to him and blinds him as he tells him what to do. Nobody else with Paul could see or hear Christ, ONLY Paul was being spoken to, ONLY Paul was being called and chosen by Christ to be a disciple of all the men at the scene. The POWER of the Spirit of God was working its MIRACLES! Yes, this was a special miracle of REVELATION about THE truth of Jesus, to Paul. Most of those called and chosen by the Lord are not given this exact type of miracle, yet to be called and chosen, to be DRAWN by the Father to KNOW Christ(John 6:44,65) through the Spirit, IS A MIRACLE! Let's get this CLEAR. This was a real and genuine calling and CHOOSING! No MAYBE here, no possible here, no probable but.......Paul was being CHOSEN by the Father through Christ via the Holy Spirit of power, to SALVATION, to have the BLINDNESS REMOVED. He was chosen to SEE (while being physically blinded) the PLAIN TRUTH of Christ, sin, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Spirit and on into a life of sanctification, and being saved by grace through faith in Jesus. This we shall see without DOUBT from other chapters in Acts WAS THE START of Paul's choosing. If it is true, as it is, that all are in blindness as to WHO Jesus really is, what is real SIN, and real REPENTANCE, together with the CORRECT way to salvation and LIVING as a begotten son/daughter of the true God the Father in heaven. Then GOD MUST START AT SOME POINT TO REVEAL HIMSELF AND HIS TRUTH TO YOU VIA HIS SPIRIT OF POWER, IN WHATEVER MIRACULOUS WAY HE DECIDES TO CHOOSE YOU. It is a MIRACLE whichever way the Eternal decides to SHOW you His Son in "spirit and in truth" so you can worship Him in "spirit and in truth." With Paul it was the way we read about in the book of Acts. But it was an absolute, no question about it, CHOSEN to be given his time of salvation in this physical life. It was not going to be a "half" choosing, or "well let's kind of see if Paul will possibly take the bite." This was God saying Paul was going to receive his day of salvation in THIS life time. Jesus in full truth that this was the truth being given to Paul, COMES! Jesus had knocked on the DOOR of Paul's house. Christ STOOD WITHOUT and was KNOCKING, just as He states He will do to those He is choosing(Rev.3:20). Jesus has NOT YET ENTERED THROUGH THE DOOR. The door has NOT YET BEEN OPENED. But when Jesus knocks to choose, He has chosen, it is THE DAY of salvation for that person. If God has chosen as He did with Paul, the Spirit of power is used WITH that person to TAKE AWAY the BLINDNESS and reveal the BASIC REQUIREMENTS of KNOWING JESUS is alive, is SAVIOR, what is SIN, that Christ died to take away sins, what is true REPENTANCE, and what needs to be DONE (baptism for one) to go ON to receive the Spirit IN them, and enter the PROCESS of BEING SAVED through GRACE, sanctification and final INHERITANCE. Jesus knocked on Paul's door. Paul had NO QUESTION in his mind but that it was the REAL Jesus NOW talking to him. That BLINDNESS was removed ALREADY. He knew that he knew. He knew he had been GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION! He knew he had not known the truth. He knew he had been WRONG! He knew he had been IGNORANT - DECEIVED! He now knew he had a zeal for God NOT ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGE! That was NOW VERY CLEAR TO HIM! His BLINDNESS in this first step to salvation HAD BEEN REMOVED!! But was Paul NOW A ROBOT? Had he now lost his FREE AGENCY? Was it IMPOSSIBLE for him to have said: " I don't care Christ, I do not want you or your salvation, I'm quite happy the way I was. I'm not going to change my ways, so get out of here and leave me alone. I refuse to open the door and let you in." Paul, and anyone chosen by God when He chooses them, and reveals His Son and Sin and Repentance, to them, when that blindness is removed, CAN STILL KEEP THE DOOR SHUT! They can still at this time REFUSE to walk to FIRST BASE after being thrown no balls. They are still FREE AGENTS that God will NOT FORCE, or turn them into robots. How can it possibly be any other way? The Father wants children who will FREELY because they CHOOSE LIFE and not death(Deut.30:19), to love Him with all their heart, and soul, and mind. He cannot force anyone to MOVE ON to salvation once He chooses them for salvation. He could not force Paul to accept once that part of spiritual blindness had been removed. But if God has set His hand to CHOOSE someone then there is no turning back, their day of salvation is here in this life time, refusing at ANY TIME from when the blindness is being removed AND never repenting WILL LEAD TO THE SECOND DEATH and no resurrection in the White Throne Judgment! Paul COULD HAVE NOT OPENED THE DOOR, BUT TOLD JESUS TO GET LOST! He was FREE to accept the choosing or reject it, RIGHT THERE ON THAT ROAD TO DAMASCUS, BEFORE BAPTISM AND HAVING THE SPIRIT IN HIM! Paul was not baptised on the spot. No one else there was being chosen. He was not baptised when they took him into the city, immediately. He was LEFT FOR THREE DAYS to see, to meditate, to fast with no food or water, to pray, to CRY, to see SIN, that he was a sinner, to understand THROUGH THE POWER of the Spirit working WITH him, what TRUE REPENTANCE was all about. What giving himself to the real God, that had now taken away this blindness and revealed this first step to being saved and salvation, WAS GOING TO ENTAIL. The Father was MOVING, was WORKING WITH him, was LEADING him with His Spirit to these truths. God was SHOWING him certain parts of His WILL, what He wanted him to do, but He was not going to FORCE him to do anything if he did not want to choose life but wanted to choose death. Paul did WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THING! His attitude of seeing himself as a sinner, needing the grace of God, wanting to accept Jesus as savior, wanting to, willing to REPENT, was THERE IN HIS MIND. I'm sure he literally CRIED to the Lord to have mercy upon him, to save his deceived and once blinded heart and soul. The Eternal came through the door Paul opened. He walk in to sit and eat with him. Paul was given a vision of one Ananias coming to help him in the name of the Lord(Acts 9:10-12). Turn to Acts 22. Paul is re-iterating the things we have been reading about in chapter nine. Notice what he tells us here about some of the words spoken by Ananias. Let us pick it up in verse 14. " And he said: The God of our fathers has CHOSEN(ah, there's that word) you, that you should KNOW HIS WILL, and SEE the JUST ONE, and should HEAR the voice of HIS MOUTH......." When did Paul SEE and HEAR the JUST ONE? Why on the road to Damascus! When did Paul START TO KNOW HIS WILL, have the blindness removed, see the TRUTH of SIN and REPENTANCE? Why, when Jesus REVEALED Himself to Paul with those truths, on the road to Damascus and for THREE DAYS in the city of Damascus as Paul fasted and prayed. Could Paul have REFUSED the knocking of Jesus on the CHOSEN DOOR? Oh, indeed he could have! He could have told Jesus he was not going to open the door. He could have REMAINED in his sins, could have remained UN-repented, could have turned his back on GRACE and mercy at THIS TIME and he could have REFUSED to ever repent and walk on to receiving the Spirit IN him through baptism. God was working WITH him through the Spirit, but Paul was free to choose DEATH if he wanted. Remaining un-repented and not willing to move on into sanctification by the Spirit, would have meant the SECOND DEATH for Paul, no White throne Judgment resurrection for him in that event ONLY the second death. Paul was CHOSEN even BEFORE his baptism to KNOW THE WILL OF GOD, at least in this part of the will of God, not that he knew everything about the truths and doctrines of the Lord in all its completeness(that was to come later in Arabia - Gal.1:15-17 with 11-12). Yet Ananias was inspired to tell him God had BEFORE BAPTISM taken away blindness and revealed His WILL to him. It is clear that the truth or parts of the truth of God CAN AND IS revealed to people BEFORE they are baptised, before the laying on of hands, and the receiving of the Holy Spirit IN them as a begettal. God does work WITH His Spirit on people's minds. He does REMOVE some blindness, so they clearly see the first BASICS to salvation. The Eternal does CALL and He does CHOOSE a person to be given their day of salvation BEFORE baptism, before the Spirit is IN them. They are BEGINNING TO BE JUDGED for salvation AT THIS POINT in their lives, just as Paul was in his life. Any refusing at this point, and staying in that refusing state of mind, when God has determined to choose them to salvation in this life, means only the second death awaits them. Just as anyone who does accept and moves on to base one, baptism and receiving the Spirit IN them, being sanctified and living the process of salvation, can at any time, because free agency is never taken away, TURN AWAY from that calling and choosing, and end up in the second death. So it is for those who are called and CHOSEN and refuse to move on to the first base. Paul did NOT REFUSE! He did ACCEPT Jesus! Ananias was sent to BAPTIZE him and that he might "be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17). His SINS were washed AWAY and through baptism he had the Holy Spirit IN him. He continued on the pathway and in the process of salvation from the time Jesus spoke and chose him on that road to Damascus. He continued to fight the good fight, to watch himself, lest that after preaching to others he should be a cast away (1 Cor.9:27). He knew Jesus had taught that "he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved." One more time Paul was to witness about his calling and choosing by Jesus on that road to the city of Damascus. It was to be before King Agrippa. We find it in Acts 26. We are hear given a little more that Jesus said to him, that was not given in the earlier accounts. It is often as the Lord has said, a little here and a little there. We must find all the scriptures on any subject to get the whole picture, and the whole truth. He tells Agrippa what Jesus had said to him. Notice verse 18. "To open their eyes, and to TURN THEM FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT, and from the POWER of Satan UNTO GOD, that they may RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, and INHERITANCE AMONG them which ARE SANCTIFIED by FAITH that is IN ME." Do you see the natural PROGRESS in what Jesus states here? Paul was to be used to LEAD people, JUST AS he was led. 1. Blindness removed in basic ways, the first step ways. Eyes OPENED, spiritual eyes opened, from being in DARKNESS to see the LIGHT. To see TRUTH. To bring people out of the power of Satan, not seeing the true God, not seeing what SIN is, not understanding what real REPENTANCE is, to where they DO SEE THESE THINGS IN ALL BASIC TRUTH AND BEGIN TO KNOW THE TRUE GOD! 2. All that is done FIRST. The Spirit working WITH people, but not IN them. It is done so they can MOVE ON from the dug out, to the batter's base. That they may go ON as Paul himself did, to RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF SINS! As Ananias said to Paul: " And now why tarriest you? Arise, and be BAPTISED, and WASH AWAY YOUR SINS, calling on the name of the Lord "(chapt.22:16). Then by so doing God has promised to put His Spirit WITHIN the repentant, newly baptised individual (Acts 2:38). Both the Father and Jesus now come to LIVE within that person via the Holy Spirit (John 14:23). Sins are forgiven through Jesus at baptism(Rom.6) and we come up to walk in newness of life, to live as Jesus now lives. That is our aim and our goal. 3. Then we move ON from the batter's base to the first base of joining those that went before us. We move on into the inheritance among the saints who are NOW BEING SANCTIFIED by FAITH in Christ Jesus. We now are WITHIN the very BEGOTTEN children of the family of God. Those who have the Spirit IN them, united with their mind and heart. Those who through CONTINUED FAITH look to Jesus not only as Savior from past sins, but High Priest on the Father's right hand in heaven, to secure CONTINUAL GRACE AND FORGIVENESS of sins that the sanctified Christian may commit as they walk the salvation road to the Kingdom of God. Those are the THREE basic steps to salvation. I elaborate in great detail those steps in my article called SAVED BY GRACE. I will be happy to send it to anyone who requests it, either regular mail or e-mail. When God has decided that a person is CHOSEN, it is DONE, it has been decided. The Eternal is not DOUBLE MINDED as men are. When someone is CHOSEN to salvation in this life time, he/she is chosen. Jesus will not knock on the door and then run away. He does not play games. Those having been called and CHOSEN to be in the FIRST resurrection at the coming of the Lord, are being given their DAY of salvation in this life time. How shall we escape if we NEGLECT so great salvation (Heb.2:3). From the moment God chooses as when He did with Paul on the road to Damascus, from that moment on it is our day of salvation, and it is the time to make a choice to choose either LIFE or DEATH. We become unblinded, we walk from darkness to light. We become in the eyes of the Eternal different from all others who are still in blindness. We have been CHOSEN to be a part of the very church and body of Christ Jesus at that very time. We are then beginning to be JUDGED to see what we shall do with what God has given us to do with. There is only then in this life time for such individuals, TWO CHOICES. They have come to the cross roads. They are like Paul on the road of life having to acknowledge they see truth and must make a choice either for the first resurrection or for the second death. God is then, at that choosing time crying out to them: " I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have SET BEFORE YOU LIFE and DEATH, blessing and cursing: THEREFORE CHOOSE LIFE....." (Deut.30:19). "Therefor I will JUDGE YOU......everyone according to his ways, says the Lord God. REPENT, and TURN yourselves from all your TRANSGRESSIONS; so INIQUITY shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you ALL your TRANSGRESSIONS, whereby you have transgressed; and MAKE YOU A NEW HEART AND A NEW SPIRIT; for WHY will you DIE.......For I have NO PLEASURE in the DEATH of the him that dieth, saith the Eternal God: wherefore TURN yourselves and LIVE" (Ezek.18:30-32). ........................... Written April 1997

DISFELLOWSHIP-- WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES #1, #2.

  DISFELLOWSHIP !!

                WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY?


Should people be put out of the Church for disagreeing on the
meaning of a Biblical verse or a policy of administration? Are
Church members allowed by God to think for themselves without the
threat of excommunication? What did Christ mean when He said:
"....If he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an
heathen man and a publican?" Why should someone be
disfellowshipped? If someone is excommunicated, are the ministers
and other Church members NEVER to talk to that person again? All
these questions and others will be answered in this in-depth
study article. The truth about the subject that most do not want
to talk about....DISFELLOWSHIPPING, may not be as you have
thought or been taught. But the word of God  will make the truth
PLAIN!

                                                 by

                                          Keith Hunt


     Regrettably, there may be a time when a person has to be
disfellowshipped from having fellowship with the members of the
Church.
     Paul speaking to the Church at Corinth wrote: "...and you
are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that has done
this deed might to TAKEN AWAY FROM AMONG YOU........But now I
have written unto you NOT TO KEEP COMPANY, if any man that is
called a BROTHER be a.........WITH SUCH A ONE NO NOT TO EAT" (1
Cor.5:2,11).
     He goes on to say in verse 13, "....Therefore PUT AWAY from
among yourselves that wicked person."
     Writing to the Thessalonians Paul said: "Now we command you,
brethren,  that you WITHDRAW YOURSELVES from every BROTHER that
walketh disorderly and if any man obey not our word by this
epistle, note that man, and have NO COMPANY with him....."
(2 Thes.3:6,14).
     Writing to Titus, Paul said: "A man that is an heretic after
the first and second admonition REJECT" (Titus 3:10).
     Then we have the words of Christ on this matter of putting
someone outside the fellowship of the Church. Speaking about the
person who is obviously walking or living in an unrepentant
manner, Jesus said: ".... If he neglect to hear the Church, let
him be unto you as an heathen man and a publican"(Mat.18:17).
     What Christ meant by that statement in specifics we shall
look at in more detail later. Suffice to say now, it does mean
that a person may have to be excommunicated from fellowship with
the Church.   
                   THE METHOD TO DISFELLOWSHIP

     Christ did not leave His Church in any doubt about HOW to
disfellowship someone if it was necessary. Anything Paul wrote on
this matter would not have contradicted the outline given by
Jesus.
     Paul was taught by Christ (Gal.l:11-12). When Paul wrote on
disfellowshipping of a brother/sister he gave the overview of the
subject NOT the specific details of how it was to be
accomplished.
     The one, two, three steps that were to be taken leading up
to disfellowshipping, if the person would not listen to the
Church, was laid down by the Lord Jesus, in Matthew 18. Starting
in verse 15, we read: "Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass
against you..." (a one to one, member to member, or minister to
minister, or minister to member, or member to minister),
continuing, "go and tell him his fault between YOU and HIM
alone: IF he shall hear you, you have gained your brother."
     When a serious matter, let me emphasize the word serious
(Jesus is not talking about getting upset with your brother
because they do not open the car door for you when you have your
arms full of parcels), when a serious matter arises between
BROTHERS in Christ, it is FIRST of all to be a one to one meeting
to discuss the problem. As God is love(1 John 4:8) and brothers
in Christ are to love each other (1 John 4:7), this meeting
should be carried out in deep Godly love, with humility and
prayer, and remembering the words of Paul, ".....lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a
castaway" (1 Cor.9:27).
     There can be no lynch mob action, no going behind a person's
back to some supposed higher Church authority to have this or
that other person disfellowshipped - no three or four getting
together to see if someone else will do what you PERSONALLY
should be doing; that is, discussing the matter with the
particular individual involved with you and the problem.
     It must first be ONE TO ONE. Any other way is not scriptural
and is not following the way Christ gave us. It is therefore
contrary to the way of the Lord.

     In most cases the problem will be solved this way. If it is
not, Christ went on to instruct us: "But if he will NOT hear you,
THEN take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or
three witnesses every word may be established" (verse 16).
     If the person in the wrong, AFTER OBEYING THE ABOVE
INSTRUCTIONS, still will not listen, Jesus said: "tell it unto
the Church...." Bring it before the Church as a whole, the
ministers as a whole, the members, and let them give their
decision on the matter. Christ did not say tell it to the ONE
individual (if there indeed was ever to be one) who is head of
the Church and let him disfellowship this person. Christ said,
"......But if he neglect to hear the CHURCH, let him be unto you
as an heathen man and a publican" (verses 15-17).
     Paul said to the CHURCH, not just the ministers at
Corinth(the book of 1 Corinthians was written to the Church -
verse 2) "......Do not YOU judge them that are within" (1
Cor.5:12).
     Paul was writing concerning the case of open incest being
done within the Church, and he tells them THEY - the CHURCH - had
the right to decide and disfellowship that person so sinning. As
Christ said, if the sinner will not hear on a one to one basis,
then it must be two or three to one. If he/she still refuses to
hear, then the CHURCH as a whole have the right to speak, and if
he will not hear the Church, then and ONLY THEN can they be
disfellowshipped.
     ANY OTHER METHOD IS CONTRARY TO THE TEACHING OF CHRIST. And
remember, all of this is to be done in LOVE.
     Disfellowshipping of a person must come finally from the
CHURCH - not from an individual - and only after the correct
procedure given by Jesus has been carried out.

     One minister is not the Church. The ministers as a whole are
not the Church. They are only PART OF the Church. The CHURCH(all
called out ones. Every member constitutes the Church of that
particular congregation) must have the case presented before it,
and judgement then made. If the person involved will not listen
to the Church, then he or she can be put out of its fellowship.

     How simple it is when one will just BELIEVE and OBEY the
words of Christ. I have known and talked to some leaders of
various religious organizations that follow the instructions of
Jesus regards this subject, for the most part, when done in love,
it brings about the desired repentant attitude from the person
overtaken in a sin.

                   WHY DISFELLOWSHIP SOMEONE?

     Did Christ give the Church the right to put a PERSON out of
its fellowship so the Church could delight in so doing, so it
could have an "holier than thou" attitude?
     No! Indeed NO!
     For the Church to have to disfellowship someone it should be
a VERY SAD occasion. Deep sorrow should be felt by all.
     Why then is it sometimes necessary?
     Paul gives us the answer: "To deliver such an one unto Satan
for the destruction
of the flesh" - to put them outside the spiritual protection of
the Church - "that the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Cor.5:5).
     Hopefully, they will repent and turn again to God and walk
in the right path.

     The second reason for disfellowshipping is to keep the
Church from corrupting into
OPEN SIN against God: "......Know you not that a little
leaven(type of sin) leaveneth the
whole lump" (1 Cor.5:6).
     In the case in which Paul was talking about in 1 Cor.5, a
member was having sexual intercourse with his father's wife(verse
1). This was directly breaking the law of God. The Church knew
about this man's activity, and by doing or saying nothing they
were then condoning it(verse 2,6). Paul could see that if
something was not done, soon others in the Church would be
practicing open sin, until the whole Church would be corrupted.

     The example in 1 Corinthians 5 leads us to our next
question. What would the reasons be for having to disfellowship
someone? 


                 REASONS FOR DISFELLOWSHIPPING

     Has the Church the right to disfellowship someone because
he/she humbly disagrees with a point of doctrine or understanding
of a verse of scripture? Should a person be put out of the Church
for not agreeing fully with certain policies or ways of
administration?
     When you become part of the Church, do you give up the right
to "think for yourself"? Is your thinking to be all done for you
by the ministers?
     Your Bible says you are to be servants of God. You are to
give yourself as a living sacrifice to God(Rom.12:1). You are to
have Christ's MIND in you(Phil.2:5), not the mind of some other
man. You are bought with Christ's blood and are not to become the
servants of MEN(1 Cor.7:23). Your salvation is only answerable to
God(Rom.14:4,10-12).
     You do not stop "thinking for yourself" when you become a
Christian. Nobody should ever be disfellowshipped for what he
SINCERELY believes or because he wants to "think." If he has a
genuine disagreement over doctrine, policies, or ideas, he should
always feel that he can, in the right attitude, air his thoughts
and be heard, listened to and considered.
     We have already seen an example in 1 Corinthians 5:1-7, an
example of incest in the Church that was not just a private
personal sin(we all have those - Rom.7:13-15; 1 John 1:8-10) but
a sin that could effect the whole Church and lead people into
outright disobedience towards God.
     Paul gives us other reasons for having to disfellowship
someone in verse 11. "But now I have written unto you not to keep
company, if any man that is called a brother be a FORNICATOR, or
COVETOUS, or an IDOLATER, or a RAILER, or a DRUNKARD, or an
EXTORTIONER, with such a one no not to eat."

     Let's apply the principle of the case of incest we've
already noted to these other sins that Paul mentions.

FORNICATION:

     A young man or woman in the Church starts having sexual
relations with another young person of the Church. This
relationship is regular. Word gets out in the manner that
such things do become known by many in the Church, but nobody
says anything to them. Soon the offenders could have set the
example for others to do the same. If the instructions of Mat.18
were not followed, open practice of sexual immorality would
spread through the Church.
     If the couple would not repent of "sleeping around" as we
call it today, then the Church as a whole could make the decision
to disfellowship them.

COVETOUS:

     An individual starts to covet say the "office" held by
another in the Church. He does not have any office, or not the
one he wants to have. The office of deacon, board member, or
minister that HE WANTS is held by another. So he starts to gossip
and slander the person holding that office. He says ugly lies
about them, starts assassinating their character. He gets others
to listen and poisons their minds. This kind of talk becomes his
life style.
     This covetous manner could effect the whole Church, unless
the instructions of Mat.18 were followed.

IDOLATER:

     Let's put ourselves back with Paul and the Church at
Corinth. The members had just recently come out of pagan worship
to serve the true God in "spirit and in truth."
     One Sabbath in walks someone with a statue of say, DIANA(a
false pagan god, that was really no god) and sets it up in the
meeting place and proceeds to pray before it.
     The following Sabbath the original member is joined by
another member in praying before this idol. As the weeks go by
more and more join in with the idol worship.
     Can you see where all this would lead? Paul says the Church
does have the right and the authority to judge such a person who
would want to start such idolatry in the Church.
     Do you see the principle? Can you understand what Paul is
saying here in 1 Cor.5?

A RAILER 

     Would be someone who openly wants to stand up in the Church
meetings and argue the word of God in an unbecoming attitude,
shouting at or against other members or the ministry, maybe using
a foul tongue or slander(see the Amplified Bible).

A DRUNKARD

     Would be a member who turns up at Church functions drunk,
and does it often as a habit. Maybe they are living as a drunkard
around their home and causing all kinds of trouble.

AN EXTORTIONER 

     Would be a person who is a swindler or robber or siphoner of
Church funds, or money from his place of employment. It is a way
of life with him, possibly encouraging others to do the same.
     Paul is here, in these verses of 1 Cor.5, talking about
persons who LIVE/PRACTICE a lifestyle that is contrary to the
commandments of God, and want to bring it into the Church,
wanting all to allow them to so live. They are not repentant of
their actions.
     Paul is NOT talking about people who are loving God with all
their mind and heart, who are wanting to obey God's law, who are
fighting sin within themselves, but honestly and sincerely do not
agree with the Church's teaching on a given doctrine or verse.
Paul is not talking about people who disagree on certain Church
policy or ways of administration, but have the true spirit of God
within them. He is NOT talking about one minister disagreeing
with another minister on how things should be done.
     Paul IS talking about a lifestyle - the WAY a person LIVES
contrary to the plain easy to understand COMMANDMENTS of God, and
HOW THAT WAY could effect the whole Church by leading many others
into open sin.

     Did Paul ever have any differences of 'administration'
opinions with other ministers?
     Oh, indeed he did! If you turn to Acts 15:36-41 you will
read how Paul and Barnabas had a difference of opinion, and,
"......the contention was so sharp between them that they
departed asunder one from the other.." (verse 39).

     Now, did Paul try to have Barnabas disfellowshipped? Did
Paul run off to the apostles at Jerusalem to get them to put
Barnabas "out of the Church"? Or, did Barnabas run to Peter with
a few other ministers and try to have Paul excommunicated? NO!
There is not one word anywhere that even suggests they tried to
do any of that.
     Both men knew they were called to do the work of the Lord.
This heated difference was not over basic fundamental doctrines
of God, or the practice of unrepentant sins on someone's part. It
was a difference of opinion on "who should go with them to do the
work" - a difference in the area of Church Administration in
which there is no "thus says the Lord."
     On another occasion Paul DISAGREED with what Peter was DOING
- PRACTICING in his life. Paul had the God given right and
freedom to stand up to Peter and tell him he was
WRONG(Gal.2:11-14)!

     Notice two things about this incident:

     FIRST - Paul obeyed Mat.18:15. He went to Peter directly and
withstood him in his wrong way. He did not "gang up" on him and
go to someone else to have him corrected or put out of
fellowship.
     SECOND - Peter did not condemn Paul for doing what he did.
Peter knew it was Paul's given right to exercise correction when
needed. Peter did not try to have Paul disfellowshipped over what
he did.
     It is also interesting to note and remember that Peter was
with the Church from its beginning. Peter was one of the Church's
founding members and prominent persons. And here was Paul, a
relative newcomer to the ministry, standing up to Peter's face
and declaring he was wrong - and he WAS!
     None claimed that anyone got in a "bad attitude" or had
"disrespect for authority," or "disrespect for one of the
original apostles" and so should be disfellowshipped.
     Putting someone out of the Church because an INDIVIDUAL
claims that some member is in a "wrong attitude" (when they are
probably not), or is reading literature from another church
group, or not "agreeing" with all the fine print of
administration, is not following the teachings of the head of the
Church - Jesus Christ.
     This kind of disfellowshipping is from the doctrines of
demons. It is Satanic - it is not of God.
     There are churches that teach and practice this cultic
dictatorial way of correction and disfellowshipping.
     Further, the idea that when someone has been
disfellowshipped, the ministers/elders and congregational members
are NEVER to speak to or have any communication whatsoever with
that person, is also just as Satanic, as we shall now proceed to
see.

                 "AS A HEATHEN MAN" AND LOGIC

     Some groups take the words of Christ and Paul, such as:
"....if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an
heathen man and a publican.......that he that has done this deed
must be taken away from among you.......with such a one no not to
eat .......that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that
walks disorderly.......and have no company with him...." to mean
that the Church members are not only to not keep company in ANY
WAY with the disfellowshipped, but they are not even to SPEAK to
or have any communication at any time with that person.
     Members of such groups that teach this form of
excommunication will even avoid the meeting of former members on
the street by quickly walking the other way, or crossing the
street. Disfellowshipped members are treated as if they were
carrying the death plague itself, a plague that would kill
instantly upon coming within twenty feet of the one time member.
     Is this how you should treat the disfellowshipped member?
Was this the way Christ and Paul wanted you to act towards those
the Church had to correct and discipline?
     God says to us, " Come let us reason together "(Isa.1:18).
So, let's first use our logical reasoning powers God gave us to
apply this teaching of some to everyday circumstances.

     A wife finds herself married to a disfellowshipped husband
one day. Her church teaches that you are not to eat with, keep
company with, or speak to such a person any more. God still says
you are one flesh and his wife. What a dilemma! What a PARADOX!
     I have known of instances where this has happened. The
church group involved will usually allow their teaching at this
point to change. Yet the same allowance may, or may not, be
applied to a father-son, or mother-daughter SITUATION.

     Let's take another example. Two families live next door to
each other. One family is "put out of the church" (we shall
assume in this example it is for correct and just reasons). The
other family now finds itself in the most uncomfortable situation
of avoiding, not speaking to the other family. Maybe they have
children who play together, or to make it a little more
complicated, a son and daughter of each family are engaged to be
married. Still add another twist - only the husband of one family
is disfellowshipped. The church will allow his wife to
communicate with him but the church neighbors cannot. They must
avoid and not speak to the one, while showing brotherly
fellowship with the other.

     Two men work alongside each other in a factory, shop, or
what have you. They are members of the same church, until one is
disfellowshipped. For the job to be done both men have to work as
a team and communicate together. According to the teaching of the
church, the man in good standing is not to have company with, or
talk to, or eat meals together in the lunch room, with the
disfellowshipped man.  You figure that one out!
     Maybe the one disfellowshipped is the owner or foreman of
the company the other member works for, or the church member is
the right-hand man of the man excommunicated. Maybe the man "put
out" is the right-hand man of the church member.
     The situations are endless! Reason and logic should tell you
that such understanding of Christ's statement "let him be unto
you as a heathen" is erroneous.
     But God's word leaves us in no doubt about how to treat the
disfellowshipped. 

     The groups who preach the "avoiding, not speaking to"
doctrine have THREE scriptures they find very hard to explain, if
not impossible. Here they are from the AMPLIFIED BIBLE.

                   THREE IMPORTANT VERSES

     "Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin
of any sort, you who are spiritual - who are responsive to and
controlled by the spirit - should set him right and restore and
reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all
gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should
be tempted also" (Gal.6:1).

     Paul is NOT here talking about brethren going about prying
into each other's misconduct or personal sins, so we can set each
other right. The word of God nowhere teaches that idea. The
"faults" we are to confess to each other spoken about in James
5:16 are physical faults - sickness or physical infirmities - so
we can pray for each other and be healed (v.13-15). Our spiritual
sins we confess to God(Heb.4:15-16; 1 John 1:8-9; Mat. 6:9-12).
     Sins, errors, offenses, we commit against each other should
be dealt with personally and individually as Jesus gave us
instruction in Matthew 18:15.
     We are certainly not to "go looking for" the speck of dirt
in our brother's eye, as there could very well be a huge plank in
our own - Mat.7:3.
     Paul IS here teaching about a brother who is overtaken
(becomes taken over by a life of misconduct) - as the person
practicing incest in 1 Cor.5, which may lead to the Church having
to put them out of its fellowship, or his voluntary leaving the
Church, and what WE (ministers and/or members) should then try to
do to restore them to repentance and the Church.
     The compilers of the AMPLIFIED Bible understood what Paul
was saying. The CHURCH'S responsibility is, with humility and
gentleness, to try to set him right and RESTORE and REINSTATE him
to the fellowship again. This then requires that the Church WORK
WITH and still COMMUNICATE WITH such an individual.

     The idea to "avoid and never speak to" a disfellowshipped or
former brother/sister is the complete antithesis of Paul's
teaching to the Christians in Galatia.

     The noted MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTARY on the Bible has this
to say on Galatians 6:1.

"We here are taught to deal tenderly with those who are overtaken
in a fault. THEY WHO ARE SPIRITUAL; by whom is meant, not only
the ministers (as if none but they were to be called spiritual
persons), but other Christians too; especially those of the
higher form in Christianity. These must RESTORE SUCH AN ONE WITH
THE SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS. Here observe: 
1. The duty we are directed to - to restore such. We should
labor, by faithful reproofs and pertinent and seasonable
counsels, to bring them to repentance. The original word
'katarizo' signifies TO SET IN JOINT - as a dislocated bone is.
Accordingly, we should endeavor to set them in joint again, to
bring them to themselves, by convincing them of their sin and
error, persuading them to return to their duty, comforting them
in a sense of pardoning mercy thereupon, and - having thus
recovered them - confirming our love to them.
2. The manner wherein this is to be done - WITH THE SPIRIT OF
MEEKNESS; not in wrath and passion, as those who triumph in a
brother's fall, but with meekness - as those who rather mourn for
them. Many needful reproofs lose their efficacy by being given in
wrath; but when they are managed with calmness and tenderness,
and appear to proceed from a sincere affection for them(and
concern for their welfare) they are likely to make due
impression.
3. A very good reason why this should be done with meekness -
CONSIDERING THYSELF, LEST THOU ALSO BE TEMPTED. We ought to deal
very tenderly with those who are overtaken in sin, because we
none of us know but it may sometime be our own case."

The SECOND TEXT we need to study and understand is 2
Thessalonians 3: 6,14-15. The Amplified Bible translates these
verses as:

     "Now we charge you, brethren, in the name and on the
authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, that you
withdraw and keep away from every brother (fellow believer)
who is slack in the PERFORMANCE OF DUTY and is DISORDERLY, LIVING
as a shirker and not walking in accord with the traditions and
instructions that you have received from us But if anyone (in the
church) refuses to obey what we say in this letter, take NOTE of
that person, and do not associate with him; that he may be
ashamed. DO NOT REGARD HIM AS AN ENEMY, but simply ADMONISH and
WARN him as (being
still) a brother" (emphasis mine). 
     Now there are possibly TWO explanations of what Paul is here
saying to the Church at Thessalonia:

     1. A self-imposed censorship by the people of the Church
towards those whom Paul says to note - a censorship then WITHIN
the Church.

     2. A censorship by the Church - a DISFELLOWSHIP.

     Possibly BOTH views are here meant to be understood, BUT
whichever we want to side with, the CONCLUSION as to what the
Church must DO is the SAME for either case.

     Let us note what KIND of individual Paul is telling us to
censure. 
     The Matthew Henry's Commentary says: "There were some who
walked disorderly, not after the traditions they received from
the apostles (v.6). Note, the King James version says 'received
of US' - not just Paul, but others also. Paul did not set himself
up as chief apostle or pope of the Church of God They did not
live regularly, or govern themselves according to the rules of
Christianity in particular, there were among them IDLE PERSONS
AND BUSYBODIES (v.11). This the apostle was so credibly informed
of that he had sufficient reason to give commands and directions
with relation to such persons, how they ought to behave, and how
the Church should act towards them. There were some among them
who were IDLE, NOT WORKING AT ALL, or doing nothing. It is a
great error, or abuse of religion to make it a cloak for
idleness, or any other sin. There were BUSYBODIES among them: and
it would seem, by the connection, that the same persons who were
idle were busybodies also, most commonly, those persons who
have no business of their own to do, or neglect that and busy
themselves in other men's matters.......Busybodies are disorderly
walkers. The apostle warns Timothy(1 Tim.5:13) 'to beware of such
as learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and are
not only idle, but tattlers also, and busybodies, speaking things
which they ought not.' "

     The persons Paul was telling the Church to censor were
LIVING, PRACTICING, a life style WITHIN the Church that would
have profoundly bad influence on the membership. It was a corrupt
way of LIVING they were promulgating. It was a lifestyle that
could be put alongside the fornication, covetous, idolater,
drunkard, extortioner, of 1 Corinthians 5.

TWO FORMS OF CENSORSHIP

     1. Censorship within the Church

     This view is taken from verse 14 as to be understood that
what is said does not necessarily mean to disfellowship. The
language used by Paul is not as strong as he used in 1
Cor.5:1-13. The words "note that man" is NOT synonymous with
"disfellowship that man" or "put him away." The Greek word here
used for "note" means simply to DISTINGUISH, become acquainted,
recognize who the idle busybodies are, and once you have
recognized them - STAY OUT OF THEIR WAY - do not be a
"buddy-buddy" with them, do not have them as close friends.

     2. Censorship with-out the Church - disfellowship

     If verse 14 is taken to mean Paul is here saying to
disfellowship these persons, there is still NO CONTRADICTION with
the rest of God's word and Christ's instruction of Matthew 18.
Paul is writing to the brethren (v.6) - the CHURCH, not to a man
or men as head of the Church. The brethren as a WHOLE - the
CHURCH at Thessalonia would have to follow Jesus' instructions of
Matthew 18 to disfellowship such as noted here by Paul.
     At times point number 1 above is often naturally taken by
the members of a congregation, until the outline of Matthew 18 is
followed in dealing with the offender. Most of the time an
offender such as here described will repent upon one or more
persons lovingly correcting them for their lifestyle sin. If they
do not repent after the first and second admonition, then the
Church as a whole would have to take corrective action, even to
the point of disfellowshipping them until repentance was
forthcoming.

THE CONCLUSION BY PAUL

     Whichever of the above views you want to take, Paul has only
ONE conclusion: "Yet count him not as an ENEMY, but ADMONISH HIM
AS A BROTHER."
     He is not to be shunned as you would an enemy - as you would
someone who is out to kill you. The Greek word here used for
enemy is echthros. Strong's Concordance says on this word: " from
the prim. echtho (to hate); hateful (pass. odidus, or act.
hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (especially Satan): -
enemy, foe."
     This Greek word is used as referring to the Devil in
Mat.13:39. Christians are to get as far away from Satan - our
enemy - and his works as possible. The brothers here noted by
Paul are NOT to be counted as ENEMIES, but they are to be
admonished - be worked with as BEING STILL (as the Amplified
Bible puts it) a BROTHER!

     Now, those who hold that Paul is telling the Thessalonians
to disfellowship such persons, and that excommunication means to
avoid and never speak to that person, can hardly reconcile verse
15 with verse 14. It would then be plainly a contradiction.

     Again, we quote some pertinent passages from the Matthew
Henry's Bible Commentary:

     "His commands and directions to the WHOLE CHURCH - regard,
their behavior toward the disorderly persons who were among
them......The directions of the apostle are carefully to be
observed in this matter. We must be very cautious in Church
censures and Church discipline. We must, FIRST, NOTE that man who
is.......charged.......this is, we must have sufficient PROOF of
his fault before we proceed further. We must, SECONDLY, admonish
him in a friendly manner.......and this should be DONE PRIVATELY
(Mat.18:15). Then, if he will not hear, we must, THIRDLY,
WITHDRAW from him. That is, we must avoid FAMILIAR CONVERSE and
society with such; for two reasons - namely, that we may not
learn his evil ways (for he who follows vain and idle persons,
and keeps company with such, is in danger of becoming like them).
Another reason is - for the shaming and so the reforming, of them
that offend: that when idle and disorderly persons see how their
loose practices are disliked by all wise and good people, they
may be ashamed of them, and walk more orderly. Love, therefore,
to the persons of our offending brethren........should be the
motive of our withdrawing from them; and yet those who are under
the censure of the Church must not be ACCOUNTED AS ENEMIES
(v.15)" (emphasis his and mine).

     There is, I venture to say, a great deal of truth in those
comments of Matthew Henry.

     The THIRD TEXT as to what our attitude and work should be
towards those who have either left the Church because of sin in
their lives, or have been put out of its fellowship by the Church
for their open unrepentant practice of sin, is found in James
5:19,20.

     The Amplified Bible reads: "(My) brethren, if anyone among
you strays from the truth and falls into error, and
another(person) BRINGS HIM BACK (to God), let the (latter)
one be sure that whoever turns a sinner from his evil course will
save (that one's) soul from death and will cover a multitude of
sins (that is, procure the pardon of many sins committed by the
convert)" (emphasis mine).

     Note carefully verse 19 - "BRETHREN, if any of YOU...."
James is writing to converted Christians. He says that if any
true Christian "err from the truth" - God's word is truth(John
17:17) and one who converts him brings him back to God's truth,
many sins will have been forgiven.
     What kind of a person is James talking about? Is it just
someone who has "slipped'' along life's Christian road? Or is it
not someone who has known the truth, has lived in it, walked in
it, practiced the true way as a lifestyle, but has now in the
present TURNED AWAY, turned to living a life that is contrary to
the commandments of the Lord?
     This person has rejected the truth. They had to know it
before they could turn from it. They have chosen to practice a
life of sin, living as the unconverted. The passage talks about
the sinner being again converted from the error of his way - his
life, his living, and being saved from death because he will
again find mercy and his sins forgiven.

     Once you have become a truly converted person, your sins
forgiven by the blood of Christ - once you have received God's
Spirit and your heart and mind is wanting to do God's will,
living by His every word, once you are in a constant attitude of
humility and repentance, not wanting to sin but to live as God
and Christ live, you are not under the death sentence but under
the grace of God. Your mind set is to obey God, to say as Jesus
said: "not my will be done but your(the Father's) will be done."
You may slip up and fall at times, miss the mark and sin, but you
are not deliberately and willfully rebelling against the way of
the Lord, so you have passed from death to life, the second death
can not touch you.
     The only way you can come under the sentence of death again
is to set your mind to knowingly, deliberately, with clear intent
and purpose, turn your back on the truths revealed to you, set
your course to walk away from the pathway of righteousness, leave
holding the hand of God, and walk in the lifestyle of Satan, the
unconverted world and carnal human nature.
     This basic truth is what Paul spent so much time explaining
to the Church at Rome in his letter to them (see Romans chapters
three to eight).

     James is saying that if a Christian BRINGS BACK to God a
brother, who has again become a slave to sin (has come under the
sentence of death), he does a great work. He will be partly
responsible for saving a sinner from death.
     The type of sinner here understood must be someone who has
turned his back on God - left the Church and truths of the Lord;
or someone whose life in the Church was such that the membership
had no choice but to impose correction and censorship from their
fellowship.
     Whichever the case, to CONVERT someone back to God requires
a certain amount of contact!
     You will never bring a person back to the way of the Lord if
you avoid them at all costs, never write or speak to them again.

     THE KIND OF DISFELLOWSHIPPING TAUGHT BY SOME RELIGIOUS
ORGANIZATIONS CANNOT BE RECONCILED WITH THESE VERSES IN THE BOOK
OF JAMES!

                  WHAT JESUS REALLY TAUGHT

     "....... but if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be
unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." This is what Jesus
said in Mat.18:17. The RSV translates the last phrase
as......"let him be to you as a gentile and a tax collector."
     A footnote in the LIVING BIBLE says: "Literally, 'let him be
to you as the gentile and publican.' "

THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE AT THE TIME OF CHRIST

     In the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary(page 835) we
read this:

     "Entering the temple area one came to four successive walled
courts, which surrounded the temple, each more exclusive than the
one outside it. The first was the court of the GENTILES. It was
not holy ground and non-Jews were permitted there. Here buying
and selling went on; it was here that Jesus cleansed the temple
(John 2:14-17). Within the court of the Gentiles were situated
the Temple and Inner Courts, built on a platform 22 feet above
the floor of the outer court. Stairways led up to this platform.
A stone wall surrounded it, on which wall were placed stones with
inscriptions in Greek and Latin FORBIDDING NON-JEWS FROM ENTERING
ON PAIN OF DEATH. Several of these stones have been found "

     Most Bible Commentaries have taken Matthew 18:17, together
with how the temple was constructed, regarding the keeping of
Gentiles OUT of the temple area proper, to say that the Church
does have the right to excommunicate undesirable persons (we have
already seen what types of sins they would be openly practicing
and promulgating) that would not repent of living in open sin.

     AND THIS IS TRUE - the CHURCH as a congregation, does have
this power. Paul makes that plain in 1 Cor.5 regarding the man
practicing incest. He told them, THEY, had the right to judge
that matter (v.l-2) and put that person out of their fellowship
(v.5-13).
     This they apparently did, as most commentators agree is thus
stated in 2 Cor.2:5-8 (see the Amplified Bible). The punishment
of disfellowshipping that person was of MANY, not just a few or
of one man.

     The FIRST truth Jesus is giving is that the Church does have
the authority to exercise excommunication as warranted.
     The SECOND truth is that only the CHURCH has this right. It
was never given to only ONE man. The CHURCH as a collective local
congregation of members is the only authority that can impose
disfellowshipment on any person. Here we see checks and balances,
and the acting out of the proverb that says, "in the multitude of
counsellors there is safety."

     Here is what the Interpreter's Bible Commentary has to say
in part on this:

     " This is one of the two passages in the gospels where the
word CHURCH is used, and here it denotes the local
congregation.......It is also clear that as yet in the average
congregation there is NO OFFICIAL who wields FULL DISCIPLINARY
POWER" (emphasis mine).

     Commenting as a whole on this passage in Matthew 18, the
same commentary says:

     "....... Robert Louis Stevenson has written of our quarrels
-  ' With a little more patience and a little less temper, a
gentler and wiser method might be found in almost every case.'
Here Christian patience is described in gentleness and wisdom. A
friend is to go to the offender, thus making the first advance.
He is to point out the fault, but PRIVATELY and in lowly
friendship. His purpose is not to humiliate or condemn, but to
GAIN A BROTHER - to gain him for friendship and for the Church of
Christ. Even if the private plea fails, the culprit is not to be
branded publicly; but two or three men, chosen for Christian
grace, are to be told of the failure, in order that their urgings
may be added. Only if they fail is the WHOLE congregation to
know; and even then they must not thrust the sinner from their
comradeship except in his continued obduracy. We gain thus a
glimpse into the problems of the early Church. There were, even
then, careless and wayward members; and sometimes there was OPEN
SCANDAL. The epistles confirm this picture " (emphasis mine).

     Now, let us ask ourselves: How did Jesus treat GENTILES and
PUBLICANS? Did He completely avoid them? Did He never speak to a
gentile or publican? Did Christ look upon them as enemies - to
avoid at all costs?

     Jesus Christ is our EXAMPLE. We are to follow His steps (1
Peter 2:21). We can do no better than to see how He regarded the
Gentile and tax collector.

     Jesus TALKED about salvation to a Samaritan woman (John
4:3-26). He SPOKE to, did good to a Gentile centurion (Matthew
8:5-13). He CONVERSED with a Gentile woman and healed her
daughter (Mat.15:21-28). One of Jesus' 12 disciples was a tax
collector - a publican (Mark 2:13). He at times ATE MEALS with
publicans and sinners (Luke 5:29-32).
     Christ did NOT AVOID AT ALL COSTS the Gentile. He did at
times have CONVERSATIONS with and do GOOD to the Gentile and
publicans. Why, it is recorded that He was a FRIEND of publicans
and sinners. He was not their ENEMY!
     This same Jesus said we were to LOVE and DO GOOD to even our
enemies.
     Oh, how could we read these accounts of Jesus' friendship,
conversing with and helping Gentiles and publicans, and then use
Christ's own statement in Matthew 18:17 to say that He is there
teaching a doctrine of "avoid completely, never talk or speak to
a disfellowshipped member of the Church of God."
     HOW MISUNDERSTOOD HAS THAT STATEMENT BY JESUS BECOME TO
SOME RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS!

     The Gentiles in Christ's day were, as Paul put it: "At that
time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no
hope, and without God in the world" (Eph.2:12).
     In today's Christian language the Gentiles would have been
called the "unconverted of the world."
     How are Christians to treat the unconverted? Are they to
avoid them? Are they to shun them, never speak to them, never
write to them?
     Paul gives us the answer: "I wrote unto you in an epistle
not to company with fornicators: yet NOT ALTOGETHER with the
fornicators of THIS WORLD, or with the covetous, or extortioners,
or with idolaters; for then must you needs go out of this world"
(1 Cor.5:9,10).
     A Christian must not COMPLETELY cut himself off to the
people of this world - to the unconverted - or he would have to
become a hermit dwelling in some cave in the earth.

     Jesus said that those who would not listen to the Church and
repent, should be treated as the unconverted Gentile and
publican. Paul was inspired to say that we should not cut
ourselves off completely to the unconverted world.
     Obviously the company we should not keep with open
rebellious sinners within the context of the Church of God, is a
"buddy-buddy" relationship, where you spend hours with them just
"shooting the breez"' or going to social functions with them,
thus giving the impression to all that you allow their life-style
of sin as no "big deal" and okay with God.
     This "company" keeping was going on by the members of the
Church at Corinth towards the man guilty of practicing incest, so
his open sin was not being rebuked. Maybe they thought that by
showing grace to him, he would be redeemed out of his sin, but
Paul was inspired to instruct that was not the way to handle the
situation.
     Christ taught we were to be the LIGHT to the world. We were
to do good to those who did us evil, to pray for those who
despitefully used us, to LOVE our enemies. And those whom the
Church had to discipline were to be looked upon as the Gentile -
the unconverted.
     And the unconverted are prospective members of the family of
God, if and when they repent; SO HOW MUCH MORE someone who has
known the truth and way of God, but is for the moment taken by
the wiles of Satan and sin.
     Are we just to forget about them, hang them out to dry and
wither up to die? Some would teach so. Is that what Paul taught?

     He answers us with words concerning the man put out of the
Church for incest: "But if someone (the one among you who
committed incest) has caused (all this) grief and pain, he has
caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too
severely (has distressed) all of you. For such a one this censure
by the majority (which he has received is) sufficient
(punishment). So, (instead of further rebuke now) you should
rather turn and (graciously) forgive and comfort and encourage
(him), to keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow and
despair. I therefore beg you to reinstate him in your affections
and assure him by your love for him" (2 Cor. 2:5-8 Amplified
Bible).

     This does not sound like Paul is teaching any "avoid and
never speak to" doctrine of disfellowshipping. It certainly does
not sound like Paul had the attitude of "let him hang out,
shrivel up and die."
     But it does show that AFTER the censorship by the MAJORITY
has been applied to someone, the Church should do all it can to
show him affection, encouragement, and assure him of their love.

     Oh, indeed, the teachings of Paul are not at variance with
the greatest of all teachers, the one who said: "..... you pay
tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have OMITTED the
WEIGHTIER matter of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; THESE
OUGHT YOU TO HAVE DONE, and not to leave the other undone"
(Mat.23:23).

     Some have seen that the Church has the power and authority
to exercise censorship at times (though most do not understand
for what and how it should be done) and do so, but OMIT the most
important part of this law - LOVE! Love when applying it and the
assurance of love after it is applied.
     You cannot show love if you NEVER speak or write to the
disfellowshipped; or if you avoid them at all costs.

     The Spirit of the Lord inspired Paul to write: "If a man be
overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such an
one....... count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a
brother."

     The Spirit of the Lord inspired James to say: "....he which
converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul
from death..."

                      THE LOST SHEEP

     Jesus taught us the parable of the lost sheep - Luke 15:4-7.
I will give you an explanation of this parable that is not the
common one usually given, but an explanation that is backed up by
an Old Testament prophecy.

     Sheep are often used as a type and representation of the
righteous children of God, and goats as a type of the wicked or
unconverted, see Matthew 25:31-46. The "sheep" then in Luke
15:4-6 are the righteous - the children of God, ones already
filled with the Spirit of God. But some along the way get lost,
wander away from the truth and the fold of the Church, they are
overcome by Satan, and sin. Does the shepherd just forget about
them or say he'll leave them alone until they find THEIR way back
to the fold and THEN receive them?
     No! The shepherd goes to SEEK for them! So the Church is to
patiently seek for those who have wandered away into open sin, to
find and try to bring them back into the fold of God. The Church
must speak to and communicate with the lost sheep. And what great
rejoicing there is in heaven when just one sinner repents and
returns to the fold.
     There is no teaching in this parable of letting the
disfellowshipped or those who have turned again back into the
world of habitual sin, just "wither up and die." But there is the
example of LOVE, CONCERN, and a desire to FIND and SEEK the lost
sheep.

     There is a prophecy in Ezekiel 34 that the Church of God
needs to heed, needs to apply to the Church, needs to listen to
and be correct by.
     The Church of God has not always in its history, understood
correctly the doctrine of "Church Disfellowshipping" and so much
harm as been the result. Some at times have been excommunicated
when they should not have been, for the wrong reasons, performed
in the wrong manner, with a hateful or holier than thou attitude.
Many were left to dry up and die spiritually, without any thought
given to restoring them. Shame on the Church of God!

     It is time to REPENT of such wrong doings and heed the
warning of God from the mouth of Ezekiel.

    "Son of man, prophecy against the shepherds of Israel (the
leaders of the Church of God, for our lesson) prophecy, and say
unto them, thus says the Lord God unto the shepherds; woe be to
the shepherds of Israel that do FEED THEMSELVES! Should not the
shepherds feed the flock? The DISEASED have you not strengthened,
neither have you HEALED that which was SICK, neither have you
BOUND UP that which was BROKEN, neither have you BROUGHT AGAIN
that which was DRIVEN AWAY, neither have you SOUGHT that which
was LOST; but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them"
(Ezekiel 34:2-4 emphasis mine).

     Truly, on this topic we have studied, the time is now when
"he that has an ear to hear with, should hear."

     May all ministers and members of the Church work together to
ensure that this doctrine of the word of the Lord is correctly
taught and is not abused, so the Church of God can go forward in
holiness unto the coming of our Savior Christ Jesus, Amen.

                      .................

Written first in 1980. Slightly revised in 1995


To be continued with more in-depth study from the writings of
Paul.

DISFELLOWSHIP !!  

                         PART 2

                             by
                     Keith Hunt 

                  DID PAUL CONTRADICT CHRIST?


     A Christian is told by Paul not to "keep company........NO,
NOT TO EAT WITH" a brother who is a fornicator, covetous,
idolater, railer, drunkard, extortioner - 1 Cor.5:11. We have
discussed earlier the type of person who would be doing these
things(a person who practices openly, as a way of life with no
remorse or sorrow or attempt to overcome these practices) and
that the church may have no choice but to dis- fellowship them.
Yet, is Paul saying here that the church brethren should not
attempt to bring this person back to Christ and Godliness - that
they should never speak to or write to such a person in Christian
love and concern?

     Let's look at what Paul said. He told the brethren "not to
keep company" but he did NOT SAY, "Do not keep company and NEVER
SPEAK to such brothers." He did not say, "NEVER WRITE to them."
He did not say, "You must leave them alone - neither write or
speak  to them, even in an attempt to win them back to Christ."  
     OF COURSE HE DID NOT SAY THESE THINGS to the Corinthians,
because Paul KNEW we should endeavour to restore such persons to
the brotherhood of Christ. He wrote so, as we have seen in
Galatians 6:1 and 2 Thes.3:6,11,14-15. The apostle James also
taught this truth(James 5:19,20).
     Paul did not contradict James or Christ.

     Paul was telling the Corinthian Christians that they should
not have CLOSE FAMILIAR contact with such people. They were no
longer to be BUDDY - BUDDIES. They were not to associate with
them as they once did. They were not to SOCIALIZE with them -
attend parties, cookouts, weekend campouts, backyard barbecues.
The church was to censure them from its social functions,
picnics, dances, and feasts.
     BUT NOWHERE in this verse or any other writings of Paul,
does he teach that the church is to treat these brothers or
sisters as ENEMIES - which must be shunned and never spoken to.
     On the contrary, Paul taught Christian brethren to try to
win back the wayward brother, just as James taught, just as
Christ taught in the parable of the Lost Sheep. And just as God
inspired Ezekiel to write to the shepherds of Israel(Ezek.34).
     To DO THIS will necessitate, AT TIMES, a certain amount of
speaking to, or writing to, the brother you want to see back in
the fold and true way of the Lord.

     ROMANS 16:17-18

     Paul says to MARK those which cause the church troubles and
avoid them.  The Greek word for "mark" simply means - regard,
consider, take heed, look at. It is the same Greek word used in
Phil.3:17, where Paul tells us to MARK those who follow Christ
and use them as your example. The Greek word itself does NOT mean
"disfellowship."
     Paul does say to AVOID them.

     But HOW?

     This instruction by Paul can be rightly taken in TWO ways.

  1. Censorship WITHIN the church. Such troublemakers you will
soon discern by their spirit of dissention and division in
conversations and life style. They will be ever trying to divide
and destroy unity. From such Paul says WITHDRAW - stay out of
their way, do not be a buddy-buddy of theirs. Then, God willing,
they may come to see the error of their tongue and ways. Kind
loving correction will often solve the problem as others withdraw
from them. 
2.  Censorship OUTSIDE the church. The problem these
troublemakers bring may become so large and offensive to all the
members of the church that they may have(in order not to fall
into confusion and disarray) no choice but to put these people
out of its fellowship. If this be the case, then we are to avoid
them as previously stated under 1 Cor.5:11. But using love,
endeavour to bring them to the unity that is in Christ.

     If the number 2 way be the only course of action left for
the church, HOW is it to be done?

     We have already seen Christ's instruction in Mat.18. Does
Paul here say any differently? Does Paul here give the local
minister - one man - as many congregations only have one minister
or Elder - the right and authority to disfellowship these
persons? Does Paul say it is only the elders(plural) who have
this right? Did he say Peter or James or some HEAD apostle(who
claims headship and/or is put as head by others) only had this
authority?

     Let us notice carefully what Paul said:

     "Now I beseech YOU, BRETHREN. Mark them...."(verse 17).

     He did NOT say: "I beseech you, minister" or "I beseech you,
elders" or "I beseech you head elder."
     He said: ".....You, BRETHREN."

     Yes, he addressed ALL the brethren to whom he was writing.
We read in chapter one, verse 7, that Paul was writing to ALL the
Christians at Rome; and he says this MARKING of certain ones must
be done by all.

     The word of God does not contradict itself. Paul does not
oppose what Christ taught. If these verses are used to say we
must disfellowship those who cause divisions and walk contrary to
Christ, then it must be the BRETHREN(THE MAJORITY DECISION OF THE
CHURCH CONCERNED) WHO ARE TO EXERCISE THIS CENSORSHIP!
     Not one man!  Not one minister or elder!  Not even a
collection of elders!  It is the church as a WHOLE that have this
authority!
     This is clearly what Christ taught, and this is what Paul
taught!

     1 COR.16:22 "IF ANY MAN LOVE NOT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST LET
HIM BE ANATHEMA MARANATHA."

     The Greek word for ANATHEMA is, as Strong's Concordance
says: "a (religious) ban or(concr.) excommunication(thing or
person) :- accursed, anathema, curse, x great."

     The LIVING BIBLE translates: ".....That person is
cursed...."   The RSV says: ".....Let him be accursed...."    
The MODERN LANGUAGE renders it:  ".....He shall be accursed...."

     The one Greek word for the English "Let him be" is in the
PRESENT IMPERATIVE tense.  
     The present tense denotes action now going on or a state now
existing.  The imperative denotes the mood of a verb that
expresses a command, request, or advice.
     The Greek word is in the command, request or advice mood,
and in the present (not past or future) continuous tense.

     How we translate the Greek word "anathema" will give us a
few alternatives as to how to understand what Paul is saying. If
we translate it as ACCURSED or CURSED, then we go with how the
LIVING BIBLE renders it: "....that person IS cursed."

     Paul is giving advice. Those who do not love Christ are NOW
presently under a curse. To love Christ is to accept Him as your
saviour and keep His commandments. Then we are not under the
penalty of the law - death. We are not cursed to die as sinners,
but free from death to life. Those who do not love Christ(and His
word) are presently under a curse of death until they repent of
their sins and accept Christ as their saviour. 
     Those who once loved Christ but have made shipwreck their
faith, who now no longer love Jesus and His way of life, are
again presently cursed by the penalty of sin - death. 
     Paul is thus advising them that LOVE is the important thing.
To love Christ is to love what He taught, to love to obey  Him,
to love to serve Him, love to follow in His steps. As Paul had
already said in chapter 13, though a person has great gifts and
deeds, if he did not have love it was to no avail. His gifts and
deeds would not save him without love. A true sincere humble
attitude and motivation towards Christ, and loving concern for
fellow man, is an essential for not being under the curse of
death.

     If we translate "anathema" as meaning BAN or EXCOMMUNICATE,
then we stay with the KJV of "Let him be(advice, command - now
be, present action) anathema(banned, excommunicated).

     So then we have another verse which would teach that the
church has power to censure certain individuals. 
     But nothing in this verse gives ONE man this right or
authority, not even a group of  elders.
     Nothing contradicts what Christ taught in Matthew 18:15-17
(or anything else Paul wrote)  that the CHURCH(the collective
members as a whole) ONLY HAVE THIS POWER.

     Who would be the ones so censured? Why, only those who do
not love Christ. The expression "love not" is in the present
tense. Paul is talking about persons who LOVE NOT Jesus as a
present continuous way of life. We have already seen the types of
persons and life styles that could come under "not loving the
Lord Jesus Christ."

     Paul finishes by saying "Maranatha" - which is a Syriac
phrase, and signifies "THE LORD COMETH."
     The very Lord they do not love, is coming - coming to
execute judgment, and to say to the wicked, those who will not
repent: "Depart from me you workers of iniquity."  For if you
never come to love Christ you must be censured to the eternal
curse of eternal death.

     GAL.5:10,12. "HE THAT TROUBLES YOU SHALL BEAR HIS JUDGMENT,
whosoever he be ...... I would they were even cut off which
trouble you."

     Is there anything in these verses that gives ONE minister,
or a group of ministers, the power to excommunicate? Does Paul
say: "These troublemakers I will PERSONALLY disfellowship" or
"When I find out who these people are that trouble you, I will
put them out of the church" or "Find out who these persons are
and have your Elder/s disfellowship them." ?
     No!  There is nothing said to contradict what has been
already said by Jesus, that only the CHURCH as a whole has the
authority to disfellowship anyone. Paul did not even know WHO
these troublemakers were. He said they would bear their
punishment, "WHOSOEVER he be."  And verse 12 should be better
translated from the Greek to read: "I wish those who unsettle and
confuse you would(go all the way and) CUT THEMSELVES
OFF"(Amplified Bible).
     The INTERLINEAR GREEK-ENGLISH also gives the sense as Paul
WISHING that these troublemakers would cut THEMSELVES OFF. See
also the PHILLIPS translation.

     If you wanted to stay with the translation of the KJV, at
best, Paul is only giving the churches of Galatia(the book was
written to churches of Galatia - chapter 1:2), his WISHES, his
desires, his advice - that the churches themselves would bear the
responsibility of ACTION. 
     This is the understanding taken by most Bible commentaries.

     1 THES. 5:14. "NOW WE EXHORT YOU, BRETHREN, WARN THEM THAT
ARE UNRULY..."

     Here Paul and others (now WE exhort)  did not immediately
cast out those who were unruly, but told the brethren to warn
them. Paul obviously did not take it upon himself. He probably
did not even know who these unruly people were. He gave the
BRETHREN the power to warn them, which is exactly what Jesus
Christ Himself taught, as recorded in Matthew 18:17.

     TITUS 3:10,11. "A MAN THAT IS AN HERETIC AFTER THE FIRST AND
SECOND ADMONITION, REJECT; knowing that he that is such is
subverted and sinneth, being condemned of himself."

     The Greek for "heretic" used here denotes "to take for
oneself, a schismatic" (see Strong's Concordance). A person then
who causes DIVISION, who has a mind set on dividing, whose
purpose and aim is to divide and conquer. The Greek for
"subverted" is correctly translated PERVERT.  The Greek word for
"sinneth" is in the present tense.
     The men(could be a Christian brother or could be just an
outsider wanting to cause trouble) here spoken of are HABITUAL
sinners. They live a life style of this sin. They are perverted
as a present continuous action in this sin. What is their sin?
Why, constantly working to disunite and divide the church.

     These verses and Romans 16:17-18 are related.  

     Notice!  Paul is teaching Titus exactly the same thing as
Christ taught His disciples - one admonition, two admonitions,
third admonition (by the whole church - Mat.18:17) - reject.

     There is no conflict between Paul and Christ - only HARMONY!

     1 TIM. 6:3-5. "IF ANY MAN TEACH OTHERWISE, AND consent not
to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
to the doctrine which is according to Godliness, he is proud -
knowing nothing - but doting about questions and strifes of
words, whereof comes envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the
truth, supposing that gain is Godliness. FROM SUCH WITHDRAW
YOURSELF."

     It should be evident from the plain language Paul uses here
as to the character and lifestyle of the people here described.
It does NOT describe a person who loves God and his fellow man
with sincerity and humility, but has a few differences of opinion
on church administration, policy or understanding of some Bible
verses.
     
     The person Paul describes is DESTITUTE OF THE TRUTH! These
refuse God'sword and will not live by it!

     What does Paul say to Timothy(a minister of God)?  Does he
tell him to use his PERSONAL authority to cast them out of the
church - to disfellowship them?  Does Paul instruct Timothy to
get some other ministers and together censure these people?  Does
he tell Timothy to go to a higher ranking elder(maybe Peter,
James, or Paul himself) with their names and evil deeds, and
obtain authority from them to excommunicate these fellows?
     No!  He tells Timothy none of these things.  He does tell
him to do a PERSONAL thing, something all true followers of
Christ should do.  When confronted with these types of
individuals - FROM SUCH WITHDRAW YOURSELF!  Do not be a buddy of
theirs.  Stay out of their way.  Don't be a close friend of such
persons.

     Such people here described by Paul to Timothy may very well
come under the verses of Romans 16:17-18 and Titus 3:10,11.  And
so the instructions of Matthew 18:15- 17 would need apply.

     1 TIM.5:19,20. "AGAINST AN ELDER RECEIVE NOT AN ACCUSATION,
BUT BEFORE TWO OR THREE WITNESSES. THEM THAT SIN REBUKE BEFORE
ALL, THAT OTHERS ALSO MAY FEAR."

     If Timothy did not have any PERSONAL power to disfellowship
anyone, then what authority did he have in regard to other
ministers or elders?

     The letters to Timothy are known as PASTORAL letters -
instructions to a minister or elder.
     It is evident from these verses that an elder can act as a
mediator between problems within the eldership itself and that of
the membership of the church.
     Paul was instructed by Christ. He knew the teachings of
Jesus as given in Mat.18:15-17. Paul would have instructed
Timothy likewise. If a minister had aught against another
minister he should go to him alone and try to solve the problem.
If that doesn't work, then two or three can go together to the
one involved in the dispute. Now, if no satisfaction can be
reached between these ministers, then Paul would ADD ONE MORE
STEP to be taken in eldership problems: bring in a MEDIATOR. 
Paul is instructing Timothy that he should not be a mediator in
eldership problems until the first TWO STEPS of Matthew 18 have
been taken.

     If it is a member of the church having a problem with an
elder, then the same rule of Matthew 18 still applies - personal
talk first to try and solve the problem, then if not rectified,
two or three go to the elder involved. If still no satisfaction,
then another elder/s brought in to mediate. 

     If the Elder is in the wrong, does Paul then say Timothy had
the power to "disfellowship" or "cast out" or "excommunicate"
these sinning ministers?  No!  All the PERSONAL authority that
Timothy is given is to REBUKE the sinning minister before all -
to rebuke those who are clearly to be blamed and will not repent.

This is the power that is given to the servants of God - a power
that Paul himself had to use against Peter when Peter was clearly
and obviously in the wrong for racial prejudice at one time in
his life(see Gal.2:11-14).

     If the Elder would continue in the sin with no repentance
then the final actions of Mat.18 would need be applied by the
whole church - disfellowship.

     Nothing here in 1 Tim 5. gives any minister the personal
power to mark and disfellowship another minister.

     1 TIM.1:19-20. "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which
some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: of
whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto
Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme."

     Here at last (some will say) we have a passage which says
Paul himself PERSONALLY marked and cast out of the church two
individuals.

     If this is so, then truly we have found a contradiction in
the scriptures. But Christ said the scriptures CAN NOT BE BROKEN!

God does not contradict Himself!  So let us carefully and humbly
search for the truth as to what Paul is saying here. Remember
also what Peter said about some of the writings of Paul(2 Peter
3:16).

     Paul is talking in verse 19 about individuals who have CAST
OFF or REJECTED (as the Greek word for "having put away"
signifies) THE faith (the word "the" is in the original Greek,
see the Greek-English NT by Berry).  They had turned away from
Christ, from following in His steps. These two named individuals
had made ship wreck their faith in Christ.  The tense for the
Greek word translated in English as "have made shipwreck" is in
the AORIST INDICATIVE, which signifies an action taken in the
PAST.

     Paul says SOME(even more than those named) - indicating that
they, of their OWN will and determination, have already(at some
point in the past) cast away the faith - no longer walking with
Christ. Paul does not say that he himself cast away their faith
by putting them out of the church.  He does not say that he
"marked" and disfellowshipped them and by so doing has caused
their faith to be broken and rejected. After all, can ANY MAN by
his decree nullify your faith - claim you are no longer a child
of God?  Or is it YOU ONLY, by your own mind and life, who can
terminate your relationship with God and Christ?

     These people of their OWN SELVES - their own deliberate,
willful determination, decided to turn the other way and no
longer follow the faith of Jesus. They were not "put out" by some
MAN. They turned away from Christ by their OWN choosing.

     The MATTHEW HENRY COMMENTARY says: "As for those who had
made shipwreck of the faith - he specifies two.....who had made a
profession of the Christian religion, but had quitted that
profession."

     Now let us study verse 20. 

     Paul singles out two individuals who had quit the faith. As
this letter is written to a minister, it would not be wrong to
deduct that the two men named were also ministers, and were well
known by Paul and Timothy, hence he mentions them by name.
     The Greek for "I have delivered" is in the first person
singular aorist indicative. Here is what the ANALYTICAL GREEK
LEXICON says about the aorist tense: "The Aorist is strictly the
expression of a momentary or transient single action.....and in
the indicative mood it ordinarily signifies past time. It is,
however, used of a prolonged action, if there is no positive need
to make a direct expression of the circumstance. It is thus of
constant use in the narrative of past transactions."

     We could paraphrase this statement by Paul to read:

     "I personally on an occasion in the past delivered them over
to Satan."

     The tense of the word is a single action done in the past.
But what about the MEANING of this Greek word? 
     Strong's Concordance says: "To surrender, yield up, entrust,
transmit, betray, bring forth, cast, commit, deliver, give,
hazard, put in prison, recommend."
     Matthew Henry comments: "Paul had delivered them to Satan,
and DECLARED them to belong to the Kingdom of Satan."
     Paraphrased, we could render this: "Whom I have entrusted,
committed - RECOMMENDED to Satan."

     Does this action of Paul - recommending someone to the power
of Satan, seem UN-Christian? We must remember that God does
chasten every son He loves(Heb.12:3- 11). And He may, if He
chooses, use the power of  the Satanic world to fulfil His
purpose. God did use and allow Satan to bring much trouble on Job
in order to humble him to real repentance.

     Paul is not out of order in asking God to deliver these two
men(he knew as one time servants in the work of the Lord) over to
Satan and his power. Why?  Paul goes on to tell us: "That they
may be DISCIPLINED(as the Greek is better translated) not to
blaspheme."
     He wanted them to come back to the faith - to repent - to
walk again with God.  So, even in this Paul shows CONCERN and
LOVE.

     Paul knew and obeyed the teaching of Christ, to LOVE your
enemies, PRAY for and do GOOD to those who persecute,
despitefully use, and hate you. Paul prayed now that these two
men who had left the faith and were now a part of Satan's world,
would be disciplined by the evil that Satan could bring upon them
so they would again be restored - converted back to God and the
faith of Christ.


     A HUMAN MAN - HEAD AND DECISION MAKER OF THE CHURCH?


     Some teach that Peter was made head of the church by Christ.

Others say that the true church today is headed by one man who is
able to make binding decisions, even to the casting out of the
church those he will.
     Those who teach this idea use Matthew 16:18-19 to give proof
to the supremacy of ONE authoritarian man as head of the church.

     But what is the real truth?  Let us examine these verses
very closely.

     Jesus said: "And I say unto you, that you are Peter(Greek
word - petros; meaning a "stone"), and upon this rock(Greek word
- petra; meaning a "ledge" or "shelf of rock" or "huge boulder")
I will build my church (Mat.16:18).

     Now, since some claim that the rock on which the church was
founded refers to Peter - and not Christ - notice the true
meaning, as originally written by Matthew in the Greek language. 
     Peter was also called Cephas(Greek Kephas - from the Aramaic
Kepha).  In John 1:40-42 it is related how Andrew(Simon Peter's
brother) found Peter and brought him to Jesus.
     "And when Jesus beheld him he said: You are Simon, the son
of Jona. You shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation,
a stone"(verse 42).

     The English word "stone" is translated from the Greek word
petros, meaning a single stone or loose stone. Also the Greek
word "kephas" means such a stone, and Jesus used it when
referring to a human man - Peter.
     But when Jesus said: "upon this rock I will build my church"
the Greek word, as written by Matthew, was neither kephas or
petros, but P E T R A - which means a LARGE MASSIVE ROCK!

     The Greek PETRA can not mean the human Peter, but the
glorified Christ!  Speaking of the Israelites under Moses in the
wilderness, Paul wrote: "....For they drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them; and THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST"(1 Cor.10:4).
     The church is described in Ephesians 2:20 as "being built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets(including Old
Testament prophets), JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF
CORNERSTONE."
     Here Christ is plainly said to be the chief, or the HEAD!
     The real foundation of the church is Christ. "For other
foundations can no man lay than that is laid, which is JESUS
CHRIST"(1 Cor.3:11).
     He is shown in Revelation 1:13,18, to be the living HEAD,
spiritually in the midst of the church.
     Read it also in Eph.5:23; 4:15; 1:22-23; Col.1:18,19; 2:19.

     Now, what about Peter being given the power to make BINDING
DECISIONS for the church?  Was he given authority to decide
DOCTRINE - the change of doctrine - make binding decisions as to
what the church members were to read, who to listen to, who was
to be IN the church or who was to be CAST out?

     The AMPLIFIED BIBLE translates Matthew 16:19 as follows:

     "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and
whatever you bind(that is, declare to be improper, and unlawful)
- on earth MUST BE ALREADY BOUND IN HEAVEN; and whatever you
loose on earth(declare lawful) MUST BE WHAT IS ALREADY LOOSED IN
HEAVEN" (emphasis mine).

     A footnote gives you the reason why the compilers of the
Amplified Bible so translates verse 19.  "Williams:'perfect
passive participle; so things in a state of having been already
forbidden(or permitted)."

     The ANALYTICAL GREEK LEXICON says this:  "The PERFECT
conveys the double notion of an action terminated in the past
time, and of its effects existing in the present."

     So, contrary to popular teaching, Christ was NOT telling
Peter that he would be the head of the church with power to
decide great issues and make binding proclamations on the
brethren, BUT that HE, Christ, would be the foundation and head
of the church, and that Peter or any other disciple, minister,
elder, apostle, prophet, teacher, could only bind or unbind on
the brethren that which God had already declared to be lawful or
unlawful.  
     And how can anyone know what God has made lawful or not? 
Why, only by a study of God's revelation to man - the BIBLE!

     God does not leave man to decide for himself what is right
or what is wrong, what are the true doctrines of God, what
practices and customs to observe. What is SIN, and what is
RIGHTEOUSNESS. He does not leave mankind without instruction on
the LARGE, IMPORTANT issues of life.  Such doctrines as "church
government" or the doctrine about "church disfellowshipping"  and
how to settle disputes among brethren are all plainly revealed to
us in the word of truth - the Bible.
     Man, woman, elders, deacons, can only search the scriptures
to find out what God has already laid down as to the truth of the
matter on these and other subjects that are given to us to
understand.
     Christ was telling Peter that he did NOT have the authority
to rule the church with an iron hand or bind things of his OWN
choosing on the people of God.


     CAN A GROUP OF MINISTERS MAKE BINDING DECISION?

     
     If ONE man was not given this power to make binding
decisions, then surely a GROUP of God's servants can do so, is
what some will argue, giving Matthew 18:18 as proof.  And so the
Roman Catholic church has, to name one organization, used this
teaching to establish Sunday, the first day of the week, in place
of the 7th.  Also , it has been used to establish Christ-mass,
Easter, and other festivals from paganism, to dogmatize celibacy,
to prohibit the use of contraceptives in marriage, and other
doctrines.

     Can a group of men therefore decide to ADD to doctrine,
change doctrine, or make up doctrines and BIND THEM on the rest
of the church?  Can a group of ministers get together and decide
WHO can be in the church or who they can throw  out? Can some 
elders decide to disfellowship another elder?

     The AMPLIFIED BIBLE translates Matthew 18:18 as:

     "Truly, I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be
improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden
in Heaven; and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful
on earth must be already permitted in Heaven."

     The GREEK TENSE is again perfect passive - just as in
chapter 16:19.

     Surely, there are many decisions to be made as far as
administration, evangelism, spreading of the gospel via print and
TV etc., youth activities, church socials, office supplies, and
other day to day things in the life of a church. BUT binding laws
can only come from God - for only God is the lawgiver - James
4:12.
     All that man can do is humbly and diligently search the word
of the Lord to find what He has made lawful or unlawful.

     
     There is a certain area where elders do have some authority
regarding people and sins. 
     After Jesus was resurrected He appeared to His disciples and
in the context of the Holy Spirit, He said to them: "Whose soever
sins you remit, they are remitted unto them, and whose soever
sins you retain they are retained"(John 20:23).

     One clear area God's servants must use this power and
judgment is when an elder is counselling someone for baptism.
Room does not permit me to go into this subject of water baptism
here, needless to say it is a very important topic in the New
Testament. I have written on it in detail for those who want to
request the study.
     Water Baptism is a serious undertaking, with great spiritual
meaning. A minister/saint must be sure(as sure as an elder/saint
can be with the Spirit of God, allowing that he is still human
and can not see the depths of the heart) the person requesting
baptism is in an attitude of repentance and wanting to turn away
from sin.  Usually through a number of counselling sessions an
elder or elders or saints can ascertain if someone is ready to
truly yield and follow in the steps of Christ.
     I have known some situations where the person was wanting
baptism only because their friend was going to be baptized, or
their mate was ready for baptism but they were not really
repentant or wanting to forsake sin. So the elders/saints refused
to baptize them, and in so doing their sins were retained until
they fully came to know what accepting Christ as their personal
saviour was in truth and righteousness.
     There are, now and again, circumstances where an individual
comes in contact with the church, wants some of the things that
the church can offer, desires to have some of the great blessings
and gifts that come by being a true member of the true church,
yet their attitude of heart is FAR from the true God and His way
of life. Elders will often be able to see the truth of the matter
and may have to finally rebuke or correct such an attitude in
those persons.
     We have an example in the NT during the life of the apostles
Peter and John. It is found in Acts chapter 8, and beginning with
verse 14.

     Let me comment on verse 13 first.  Simon it is said
"believed" and was "baptized." His real deep attitude of heart
was soon to be manifested. The leaders and elders in the
church are human, and can from time to time be fooled by some
people who look and sound and act for a while as if they are
truly converted. But time and situations prove otherwise.
     Simon became a follower of "the work." Looking and wondering
at all the things being done - the miracles and signs.
     Now starting in verse 14, Simon begins to see one way in
which people receive the Holy Spirit.
     He offers the apostles money to buy this gift of being able
to give the Spirit to others. His attitude was ALL WRONG! He
wanted to use the Holy Spirit for his own ends, to feather his
own nest and fame. Peter could see through Simon's glass house
and paper walls. 
     Look at the words from Peter,verses 20 through to 23!

     Simon's heart was FAR from the righteousness and purity of
God. Peter could see it and responded accordingly. Simon's sins
were RETAINED, and could only be blotted out from the record by
true humble repentance.

     So, the servant's of the Lord do have some power, some
authority, when it comes to sin, but this is a separate and
different subject than the topic we are studying in this
exposition.

     Nothing is stated in Acts 8 that Simon was disfellowshipped
by Peter or John, both of them or any group of persons. Peter
tells Simon his sin and admonishes him to repent. We are given no
further information about Simon, his attitude after this incident
- nothing -  the NT is silent on the matter.

     The elders of the church do have some authority in matters
of sin as we have seen. They also have authority in some other
areas. Please read Matthew the 10th  chapter and Luke chapter 10.
     You will find the disciples called and sent forth to preach
and teach the word of God given authority or power over a number
of things, but not one or a collection of them as leaders and
elders, are given power/authority to cast out of the church
anyone - to disfellowship!

     As stated before in this study, the elders are PART OF the
church, but are NOT "the church" that Jesus said only had the
power to disfellowship(Mat.18:17). The elders can be part of the
body of believers, part of the process, leading to someone being
disfellowshipped, but only a part, not the whole.


                   A SERIOUS MATTER

     For the church to disfellowship anyone is a serious
undertaking. It should be done only when all else has failed, and
they had better make sure, with fear and trembling, that God's
word justifies their decision. For the Eternal God will
".....have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy; and
mercy rejoices against judgment"(James 2:13). So the church had
better speak and DO as, ".....They that shall be judged by the
law of liberty"(James 2:12).

     The Church of God should be filled with the fruits of God's
Spirit, which are: "....LOVE, joy(gladness), peace, PATIENCE(an
even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness, self-control
(self-restraint, continence)......" (Galatians 5:22,23, Amplified
Bible).

     Let us show love, patience, tolerance, to our fellow man.
Let us give the "benefit of the doubt" to our brother. 
     For love, ".....is not easily provoked, thinks no evil....."
and ".....is ready to believe the best of every person...." (KJV
and Amplified Bible - 1 Cor.13:5,7).


     Let the members of the Church of God get on their knees, and
pray that the church will never have to exercise its power and
authority to disfellowship anyone!


                    ....................


Written first in 1980. Slightly revised in 1995.
     



Footnote

     It was after the first writing of this study that I became
personally familiar with a number of church organizations that
employed in practice the truths given in the word of the Lord
regarding the doctrine of disfellowshipping an unrepentant
sinner. One such church organization was the Seventh Day
Adventist church. In learning from them how they went about
applying Matthew 18:15-17, I was pleasantly surprised to find it
was as written in this study of mine.
     The eventual decision to disfellowship a person from their
church is made by the WHOLE membership of that particular
congregation involved. Only the actual members of that
congregation have voting power - no outside members of another
congregation, no visiting members from another congregation, can
participate in the judging and decision.
     Such an event is very rare in the SDA churches,and is taken
very seriously, with much soul searching, deep sorrow, with
spiritual pain and even heartfelt literal crying on the part of
many. It brings the whole congregation very close together in
humility.