According to Article 23 of the Belgic Confession, a Church Order should pay attention to at least one matter — church discipline — because those who practise discipline put into practice what can be called the heart of the Gospel: forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. Discipline and forgiveness belong together. The one cannot exist without the other. Forgiveness has always been the motivation for discipline. Its purpose is to reconcile the sinner with God and his neighbour (Article 72, Dutch Church Order). And so this remains the level at which to work. Only someone who knows the meaning of forgiveness is authorized and in a position to apply discipline.

In this article we want to elaborate on this theory.

Forgiveness without Christ⤒🔗

In the minds of many, forgiveness and discipline do not belong together. When as a church you observe someone doing wrong, you can let it go (and that is forgiveness), or you can decide to take action (and that is discipline).

This makes sense if forgiveness indeed means to just let sins be. And within our non-Christian society it has this meaning, because, make no mistake about it: You do not have to be a Christian to value forgiveness. There are plenty who want nothing to do with God but value forgiveness in relations with people. They can list all kinds of noble reasons for this: 

1. People who make mistakes often do not mean any harm. When you get to know a malefactor, you find out that he is a diamond in the rough: “They are people like you and me.”
2. Special circumstances can force a person to certain acts which are morally reprehensible, but at the time unavoidable. You can not blame them: “That is just the way things go.”
3. If you want to blame someone, you have to realize that you yourself are not without sin: “If you point an accusing finger, then three are pointing toward yourself.”
4. It will not do to impose your own norms and values on someone else. Let everyone determine for themselves what they think is good: “We accept you as you are.”

When you preach forgiveness proceeding from these motives, when not tackling other people’s transgressions, there remains little room indeed for church discipline. In practice, conscientious elders let themselves be discouraged by these thoughts: “Who am I that I can talk to someone about his sins? As if I am so much better? I am sure he could not help himself. One does not do something like that just out of the blue!” Or we fall prey to one of the dangerous deceptions of our time: “Does God not accept you as you are as well?”

Forgiveness only in Christ←⤒🔗

But that is not true. God only accepts you when you come to him in Christ’s uniform, because with him, forgiveness does not mean to let sin be. He took great pains! His own Son had to bleed for it. You can never explain forgiveness as God capitulating to sin. Forgiveness is the miraculous — and, for man, unfathomable — manner in which God in his own way forces sin to capitulate to him. Big words, for an even bigger matter. Anyone who reflects on forgiveness increasingly discovers that it is God’s work, and can not be captured in words, but also that it is  very powerful (Canons of Dort Chapter I, Article 13; Canons of Dort Chapter V, Article 12). God’s grace does not entice someone into carelessness, but rather stimulates those who receive it to new fervour in obedience of faith.

Church discipline is part of this. You may say that discipline is meant to prevent us experiencing forgiveness in the worldly, dulled way of corrupt people seeking only to cover each other’s backs. Discipline places us before the only man who was perfect: Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Forgiveness by him means that no sin is left undisturbed anymore.

Indispensable discipline←⤒🔗

Where discipline is omitted, Jesus Christ as the only Redeemer fades out. Then you are left with a horizontal gospel of a God who loves all people, who loves them as they are. That he gave his Son as sacrifice for the sin of man, is nice to know, but a bit redundant. If God wants to forgive, let him just go ahead and do it, and not make a fuss about it, because we never do when we witness someone’s transgressions.

But God does make a fuss. He is terribly displeased with our sins. He gave everything he had, including his own Son, to free us from our addiction to wicked desires. Whoever, through the Holy Spirit, sees this, cannot leave his own sins as they are, and cannot let another go under. The ardour of discipline is the ardour to safeguard each other in forgiveness, as the amazing process God came up with, where everything revolves around Christ.

Merciful←⤒🔗

Church discipline is therefore more merciful than unchristian forgiveness. Outside of Christ forgiveness is only up to a certain level. You should not take it too far, not rape children for example, otherwise forgiveness will end and society will drop you hard. But God’s mercy in Christ is stronger than any serial killer ever. He can transform the filthiest criminals into loving friends. You have experienced this and you may pass this on to others in your work as an elder. Church discipline is a magnificent business!