EXCOMMUNICATION IS FOR THE GOOD OF THE UNREPENTANT: 1 Corinthians 5:3-5

DOCTRINE. Excommunication must be carried out by a visible church for the eternal good of professed Christians who are unrepentant of their sin.

Excommunication must be carried out, 

I. By a visible church (1 Cor. 5:3-4a), 

II. According to the word of Christ and for the glory of Christ (1 Cor. 5:4b),

III. As an exercise of the power of our Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 5:4c),

IV. So an unrepentant professed Christian may have their sinful flesh destroyed (1 Cor. 5:5a),

V. For the eternal salvation of an unrepentant professed Christians (1 Cor. 5:5b).

Christ bought his church with His own blood. Christ owns his church. Christ builds his church and he does that by working through his people. Christ leads His Church as the sovereign Chief Shepherd. As he builds and leads his church he tells us how to function for his glory. What to do, what not to do, and even what to do in certain situations. Christ has not left you and I without witness even concerning what to do when someone professes to be a Christian, yet lives in unrepentant sin. We are to carry out Church discipline on such a one, and if they remain unrepentant, we are to excommunicate them from the communion of the saints. 

The necessity and command of church discipline is so explicit in the Scriptures that the Protestant Reformers said the three essential marks for a visible church, without which you do not have a true church, are, 1) the preaching of the true gospel, 2) administration of the sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper), and 3) the carrying out of church discipline. If you did not have at least these three marks, the Reformers would say you were not truly a local church, because you are disobedient to the clearest teachings of Christ. They were and remain to be correct. 

QUESTION. What is excommunication?

ANSWER. Excommunication is the last step in church discipline, when a visible church removes a professed Christian from the communion of the saints for the good of the sinner, the purity of the church, and for the glory of God. Ordinarily, church discipline goes step by step and only culminates in excommunication when a professed Christian refuses to listen to one brother, multiple brothers, and then even to the entire church. This Christ lays out in Matthew 18:15-17: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 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.” Though the ordinary procedure of church discipline is laid out in Matthew 18, there are instances that the sin is so heinous, so public, or so obviously habitual that the Church needs to take immediate action and excommunicate the professed believer from the communion of the saints. This Christ lays out through Paul here in 1 Corinthians 5.

Now, church discipline and excommunication are carried out, if necessary, for at three reasons. Let me highlight them for you: Firstly, church discipline, and excommunication when necessary, must be carried out for the good of the unrepentant (1 Cor. 5:3-5). Secondly, church discipline, and excommunication when necessary, must be carried out for the purity of the church (1 Cor. 5:6-8). Thirdly, church discipline, and excommunication when necessary, must be carried out for the glory of Christ (1 Cor. 5:9-13). The first of those reasons is in our text of Scripture for today. Lord willing we will look at the second reason next Lord’s Day and the third reason the Sunday after that. 

Why should I care about this? Because the Church does not belong to you or me or anyone else. Christ bled and died to purchase the Church; Christ came back to life conquering Satan, sin, and death in order to claim His rights over the Church; Christ ascended to heaven and is sovereignly seated at the right hand of the Father in order to rule His Church. You need to know exactly how Jesus wants His church to function lest you be, by your neglect, disrespecting and dishonoring the purchaser, owner, and ruler of the Church who paid dearly to save and sanctify us. Who died for the Church? Who owns the Church? Who rules the Church? You need to know exactly what Jesus says in the Bible about how He wants His churches to be and what they are to do. 

Do you want to know how Jesus wants His church to function or are you already tuning out because you know this is a sermon about church discipline and Excommunication? Let me ask it another way: How would you respond if the King put you in His palace, among His family and even His wife, while He was away on a journey? If He told you specifically how He wants His family protected and provided for, and especially His wife, would you ignore what the King said? What would happen if you ignored the King’s instructions concerning how to treat His family and especially His wife, when He returned from that journey?

Now let us address the specific text of Scripture before us, but let me first remind you of the doctrine: Excommunication must be carried out by a visible church for the eternal good of professed Christians who are unrepentant of their sin.

I. EXCOMMUNICATION MUST BE CARRIED OUT BY A VISIBLE CHURCH. “For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled” (1 Cor. 5:3-4a).

I) Excommunication cannot be rightly carried out by an individual, no matter who they are. “For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing” (1 Cor. 5:3). It is called Church Discipline for a reason. It is not Pastor Discipline nor Deacon Discipline nor even Apostle Discipline. If the apostle Paul does not presume to excommunicate someone, but leaves it to the assembly of the church, then no individual can ever do that. 

II) Excommunication is an entire church matter. “When you are assembled” (1 Cor. 5:4a). All of the covenant body of believers are involved. “And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17, emphasis mine).

II. EXCOMMUNICATION MUST BE CARRIED OUT ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF CHRIST AND FOR THE GLORY OF CHRIST. “In the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present” (1 Cor. 5:3-4a). 

I) Excommunication must be carried out according to the Word of Christ. Christ has revealed in the Scriptures how he wants his churches to function. This is even why Paul wrote a letter to Timothy. “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15). It is not only in 1 Timothy that we find how to behave as family members of God’s household, it is also all throughout the Scriptures. He has not left us without witness. Therefore you and I are not allowed to make up reasons to bring someone under Church Discipline or to Excommunicate them. It must be clear in the Word of God that this person is living in unrepentant sin and will not turn from it. If it is not clear in the Scriptures, then it is not “In the name of the Lord Jesus.” The Church must follow the commands of Christ concerning how to carry all of this out. You and I cannot look to worldly wisdom or any such thing to determine how to deal with any sin issue in the church. All of this must be done, “In the name of the Lord Jesus.” The Scriptures are a sufficient to guide for us in how and how not to exercise Church Discipline. In Church Discipline we as a Church must not go beyond what it written, and we must not stop short of what is written. Consider, for example, 1 Timothy 5:20: “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.”

II) Excommunication must be carried out ultimately for the glory of Christ. The phrase “in the name of the Lord Jesus” does not simply mean it must be done according to the command of Christ. This also means it must be done ultimately for the glory of Christ. 

III. EXCOMMUNICATION MUST BE CARRIED OUT AS AN EXERCISE OF THE POWER OF OUR LORD JESUS. “With the power of our Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:4c). This seems to be so difficult for many in a highly individualistic society to understand. People think and often say, “My relationship is between me and Jesus. Just me and Jesus.” In one sense, yes. In another sense, no. The Lord Jesus Christ has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to the local church. Sadly, because the Papists have so misused these texts, that has led many Christians to ignore these texts. You and I cannot avoid or ignore them. This truth is confirmed in at least two separate texts. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19). “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18).

IV. EXCOMMUNICATION MUST BE CARRIED OUT SO AN UNREPENTANT PROFESSED CHRISTIAN MAY HAVE THEIR SINFUL FLESH DESTROYED. “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.” (1 Cor. 5:5a). This is what happens when someone is excommunicated from a local Church, according to the command of Christ, for the glory of Christ, and by the power of Christ. If you will not mortify your sins, Christ and His Church will help you mortify them by handing you over to Satan for a season so that you may learn to mourn, confess, and repent of your sin. What a terrible thing it is to be cut off from the ordinary means of grace, to be cut off from the protection and provision of the local church, and to be handed over to Satan who hates you and loves to make you miserable. 

YOU SHOULD USE THIS TRUTH FOR WARNING AND TO STIR UP HOLY FEAR BEFORE GOD. Believers, do not make peace with sin in any way. That will only harden your heart. Give no quarter to sin. Revenge the death of Christ on your lusts! Unbelievers, you need to know that if you are not trusting in and submitting to Christ, then Satan is your father. You are a citizen of the domain of darkness. You end is destruction and death forever—always dying never dead, always suffering never resting. But there is good news for poor sinners like you and me. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He lived for righteousness, He died for sinners, He arose to be a Savior and King. If you will go to Him today and believe on Him for salvation, submitting to Him as King, you will be saved! He will receive you. He loves saving sinners who come to Him by faith. Trust in Christ, submit to Christ, be baptized, and join the Church. 

V. EXCOMMUNICATION MUST BE CARRIED OUT FOR THE ETERNAL SALVATION OF AN UNREPENTANT PROFESSED CHRISTIANS. “So that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5b). Richard Baxter, in his Reformed Pastor, wrote, “The neglect of discipline has a strong tendency to the deluding of souls by making men think that they are Christians when they are not because they are not separated from such as are, and by making scandalous sinners think their sin tolerable because it is so tolerated by the pastors of the church.”

YOU SHOULD USE THIS TRUTH FOR COMFORT, BELIEVER. The church, acting according to the command and authority of Christ, will do everything we can to save you from the destruction of others. We will not allow wolves to devour the flock with their selfish ambition. We will not allow deceivers to divide the flock with their sects. We will not allow false teachers to poison the flock with their lies. We will also not allow the wicked to infect the flock with their gross and unrepentant sins. Christ Jesus bled and died to redeem a people for Himself. We as a local church must do everything we can to cherish and care for those people. Who or what does Jesus love most? He loves God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Next to the Father and the Spirit, who does Jesus love most? Does He love animals most? Did He die for animals? Does He love mountains most? Did He die for mountains? Does He love toys or cars or clothes or houses? Did He die for any of those things? No. Jesus died for His Church, for those who believe on Him. Children, young adults, and adults: You and I must love, cherish, and care for what Christ loves cherishes, and cares for. If you need a reminder of what that is, follow the trail of blood from the cross to the Church.

  The church will also do everything we can to save you from the destruction of yourself. We will love you enough to call you to repent and privately. If you will not listen to one brother or sister, we will love you enough to take two or three to help you repent. If you will not listen to those brothers or sisters, we will love you enough to bring it to the whole church so they may all call you to repent. If you will not even listen to the church, we will love you enough to hand you over to Satan through excommunication so that your sinful lusts may be destroyed and your soul saved. If you truly are in Christ, then He paid far too high a price for us to leave you alone in your sin.