The Lord's loving discipline - Audio

Published: March 21, 2022, 1:34 a.m.

Church elders are shepherds who need to follow the perfect model \u2013 Jesus. One of the heavy parts that goes with this is church discipline, which is more than just excommunication. It includes all the steps taken to get someone to repent and be reconciled to the Lord and to their brothers and sisters. It\u2019s important that those disciplined not only say \u201csorry\u201d but that they turn and go the other direction. It\u2019s the difference of just having Jesus as Savior vs. having Him as both Savior and Lord. It\u2019s a \u201ccheap\u201d gospel vs. a gospel with both belief and action. None of us are above discipline and we are chastened because we are loved. Left to our own devices we will do what we want, and we need to be protected from this. Discipline is unpleasant but, in the end, produces a holy people different from the world.