Church discipline is rarely the subject of conference banners or popular podcasts. It feels awkward, heavy, and (if we are honest) it can feel dangerous. In a culture that seems to be growing more suspicious of authority and is allergic to judgement, the very phrase ‘church discipline’ can sound harsh. Yet when we turn to the New Testament, we discover that church discipline is not a regrettable add-on to the local church. It is an expression of the holy love of the Lord Jesus for his church.
If we are to be biblical Christians in more than name, we must be biblical where the Bible is biblical. And the New Testament is unmistakably clear: loving discipline belongs to the life of a healthy church.
1. The Lord Jesus Commands It
Our starting point must be Matthew 18:15–20. The Lord sets out a process for dealing with a brother who sins:
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone… But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you… If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15–17, ESVUK).
This is not procedural bureaucracy. It is pastoral wisdom. Notice the movement: private, then small group, then church. At each stage, the goal is restoration. Jesus does not rush to public exposure; he protects reputation while seeking repentance. But there is also a line. Persistent, hardened refusal to repent leads to exclusion. The church is to recognise that someone who claims to follow Jesus but lives in open, unrepentant rebellion is contradicting that claim.
Significantly, Jesus grounds this in heaven’s authority “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven…” (Matthew 18:18).
Church discipline is not meddling in private morality. It is an earthly reflection of heaven’s verdict, exercised under Christ’s lordship.
2. The Apostolic Practice: 1 Corinthians 5
If Matthew 18 gives us the Lord’s command, 1 Corinthians 5 gives us apostolic application. Paul addresses a case of shocking immorality. “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you… a man has his father’s wife” (1 Corinthians 5:1). The scandal is not only the sin but the church’s complacency “And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?” (1 Corinthians 5:2).
The Corinthians seem to be proud of their tolerance. Paul calls them to grief and action “Let him who has done this be removed from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:2). Later he clarifies: “Purge the evil person from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:13).
Paul isn’t being vindictive, he gives two explicit purposes.
The Good of the Church
“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). Unaddressed sin spreads. Tolerated immorality reshapes the moral culture of a congregation. Just as yeast works invisibly but thoroughly through dough, so normalised compromise seeps into expectations, preaching, and discipleship. A church that will not discipline eventually ceases to distinguish between the world and the kingdom of God.
The Good of the Sinner
And then comes the most difficult verse “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5). What does this mean?
3. “Deliver This Man to Satan”, Judgement or Mercy?
At first glance, the language is severe. “Deliver… to Satan” sounds final and damning. But Paul’s stated aim is striking “so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” This is not an act of damning someone to eternal ruin. It is an act of severe mercy.
What Does “Deliver to Satan” Mean?
In the New Testament, the church is the sphere of Christ’s visible rule; outside is the world, which lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19). To “deliver to Satan” is to remove someone from the fellowship and protection of the church and place them back into the realm they are functionally choosing. Excommunication is not magical. It is declarative. The church says: “Your life contradicts your profession of faith. We can no longer affirm your claim to belong to Christ.”
“Destruction of the Flesh”
The phrase “destruction of the flesh” is best understood not as annihilation of the person, but as the mortifying of sinful nature, possibly through painful consequences. Paul envisions that the shock of exclusion, and perhaps the bitter fruit of sin itself, will awaken repentance in the individual. Paul often uses the word “flesh” in his writings to refer to mankind’s fallen, sinful nature (Galatians 5:19–21). The aim is that what is worldly and rebellious in the man would be broken, so that he himself would be saved.
Discipline and Salvation
Here is the crucial theological point to remember, church discipline does not cause someone to lose salvation, but it exposes the possibility that a profession of faith may not be genuine.
Reformed theology rightly insists on the perseverance of the saints. Those truly united to Christ will be kept by him (cf. John 10:28–29). But one of the ordinary means God uses to preserve his people is warning and discipline. Church discipline functions like a rumble strip on a motorway. Driving over it at 70mph gives you a jolt. It is jarring, uncomfortable, even frightening, but it may be the thing that prevents a fatal crash.
And it could be that the man in Corinth did repent. In 2 Corinthians 2:6–8, Paul writes “The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”
It could be that the discipline achieved its goal. Severe mercy can lead to saving repentance.
And church discipline is not confined to one chapter of the Bible.
In 2 Thessalonians 3:6, Paul commands believers “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us”.
In Titus 3:10, he instructs: “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.”
In 1 Timothy 1:19–20, Paul speaks of Hymenaeus and Alexander, “whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme”
The aim is corrective. The consistent New Testament pattern is clear – persistent, public, unrepentant sin that contradicts the gospel warrants decisive, loving action.
4. Why We Resist It
Why, then, do so many churches neglect discipline? We fear being labelled judgemental. We fear legal liability. We fear people leaving. We fear making mistakes. But perhaps most deeply, we have absorbed the cultural assumption that love means unconditional affirmation.
The New Testament offers a different vision. Love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). To refuse to confront destructive sin is not love, it is indifference with a facade up as kindness. A doctor who declines to diagnose cancer for fear of upsetting the patient is not compassionate. He is cruel. A church who lets people continue in their sin is not loving, but neglectful of their duty.
5. Guardrails for Faithful Discipline
But before we think that discipline can look like whatever we want, there are guardrails. For discipline to be biblical and healthy, several principles must govern it:
It must be word-governed – Not every disagreement or weakness is disciplinable. The New Testament focuses on serious, outward, unrepentant sin.
It must be procedurally careful – Matthew 18 gives us due process. Accusations must be substantiated (cf. 1 Timothy 5:19).
It must be pastorally motivated – The aim is always repentance and restoration, not humiliation.
It must be accompanied by self-examination – Galatians 6:1 reminds us to restore others “in a spirit of gentleness… keeping watch on yourself”.
In the end, church discipline is about the glory of Christ. The church is his bride (Ephesians 5:25–27). He gave himself up for her “that he might sanctify her… that she might be holy and without blemish.”
When a church tolerates what Christ died to cleanse, it misrepresents him. But when a church humbly, carefully, prayerfully exercises discipline, it displays both his holiness and his mercy.
In the UK context, where the church is often marginal and misunderstood, there is a temptation to soften our edges for the sake of credibility. Yet the early church grew not because it mirrored the culture, but because it was visibly different.
A disciplined church is not a harsh church. It is a church that takes sin seriously because it takes grace seriously.
And when discipline leads to repentance, as it appears to have done in Corinth, the result is not cold exclusion but warm embrace: “You should rather turn to forgive and comfort him… reaffirm your love for him” (2 Corinthians 2:7–8). That is the goal. Not expulsion, but restoration. Not shame, but salvation. Not institutional control, but Christlike love.
In an age of confusion about holiness, identity, and authority, we must recover the loving severity of Christ. For the good of the church. For the rescue of the sinner. And for the honour of the Saviour who disciplines those he loves (Hebrews 12:6).
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