One thing that is glaringly missing in most of our churches today that was present in many early churches is discipline.
Many churches today have taken a somewhat back seat as far as church discipline goes in the guise of "who are we to judge?" or "we should not condemn anyone" or "we should love everyone."
In truth, it's the fear of losing congregation members and the subsequent decline in church coffers that truly gives them the jitters.
You'd be surprised by the many vices many churches turn a blind eye to these days.
Members have been left to their own devices lest they are offended and choose to leave the church and take their tithes and offerings with them.
This explains all the ungodly stuff tolerated in many of our churches today.
These days, if you call a believer out for their sin, they are quick to rebuttal with, "Only God can judge me," as if God judging them is somewhat better and less severe.
That statement alone should be enough to send shivers down their spines, considering what the Bible says about God's judgment.
Jesus says in Matthew 10:28:
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
And this was not directed to unbelievers but to His disciples!
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (see Hebrews 10:31)
You'd rather have your fellow brethren judge you and set you straight when you are wrong while you are still here than wait to face God's music later.
In fact, Paul says the same thing to the church at Corinth.
One misconception many believers have about judgment is that it is only reserved for God, but Scripture says otherwise.
The Bible is clear that believers can judge rogue believers.
Paul did on numerous occasions.
In 1 Corinthians 5, chiming in on a case that had been reported to him where a believer was sleeping around with the mother-in-law, and nothing had been done about it, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:3:
"Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man."
In verse 12, he goes on to say:
"It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”"
'Outsiders' here refers to unbelievers, and 'those inside' refers to believers.
In Galatians 2:11-21, he sternly judged Peter for his actions.
So believers can judge other believers.
In fact, the Bible says we shall ultimately judge humanity (see 1 Corinthians 6:2) and not just humanity but angels (fallen ones) as well. (see 1 Corinthians 6:3)
So judgement, which simply means holding one to account, is reserved not only for God but also for believers. God has delegated that authority to His saints.
"Well, what about Luke 7:1, where Jesus says don't judge and you will not be judged?"
If you keep reading, you will realize that Jesus is not saying that you cannot judge at all but rather that you cannot judge if you are guilty of doing the same thing.
This is why He speaks about taking the plank out of your eye before you can even attempt to remove a speck from another person's eye.
So Jesus is not speaking against judgment in general, but hypocritical judgment, which was very common with the religious leaders of his day.
They had a knack for judging others for the same sins they were engaging in.
A good example is the case of the woman caught in adultery in John 8.
Many of us think that when Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” He meant only a sinless person could cast a stone. He actually meant only those who had never committed the same sin could cast the stone, and going by the fact that all of the religious leaders who were baying for her blood left one by one, it proves that they were guilty of the same sin they were ready to judge the woman for.
In fact, I suspect the reason they probably brought the woman without the man, which was illegal, by the way (see Deuteronomy 22:22), was probably because the man was one of them—a man of the cloth just like them.
So Jesus is not saying you cannot judge at all, but He is speaking against hypocritical judgment, something Paul also speaks against in Romans 2:1-3.
So Paul never shied away from bringing rogue believers to book.
He went as far as delivering or handing over those believers who were hell-bent on continuing to live in sin and not repent (change or turn from their evil ways) to Satan. (see 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20)
Now, the phrase, 'handed over to Satan', can only be understood in a figurative sense, and it is understood as an expression for excommunication where one is cast out from the body of Christ (Christian community) and into the realm of Satan..into the world.
The church (not the building, but the Christian community) is a refuge from the realm and dominion of Satan, so being handed over to Satan is being excommunicated from this refuge into Satan's realm.
Satan is the ruler of this world, the God of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), and by turning a believer over to Satan, the believer is thrust back into Satan's realm, on his own, apart from the care and support of Christian fellowship, which can mean life or death.
Deliver (paradidomi) is a strong term indicating the judicial act of sentencing or handing over for punishment.
So the sentence passed on a believer who continues to live in sin is to be given over to Satan and left at his mercy.
The goal of this, of course, is not to leave them for dead, but as Paul puts it, 'for the destruction of his flesh' to mean for the destruction of the offender’s sinful ways.
So Paul hoped that in the realm of Satan, the Christian offender(s) would recognize the error of their ways and come back to their senses lest they be lost forever....and it worked in the case of the believer who was sleeping around with his mother in law as he later came to his senses. Paul then requested the church to restore him to fellowship. (see 2 Corinthians 1:6-11)
While excommunication was intended to help the sinning believer recognize their sin and turn from it, the other intent was to purify the church so that the sin(s) would not grow or contaminate the others, a case of a little yeast spreading through the whole batch of dough. (See 1 Corinthians 5:6, Galatians 5:9).
Paul saw the church as a haven for believers. Excommunication was intended to chasten the sinning believer so that he would repent and be restored into fellowship within the church but also to protect the other believers.
Today, the church needs to borrow a leaf from Paul.
We must restore church discipline and deal firmly with rogue Christians in our churches.
We cannot be passive about this issue any longer and permit rogue believers to live as if God's rules don't apply to them because 'they are under grace.'
We must realize that salvation is not a free pass to live anyhow or an excuse to condone any behavior in the church community.
In truth, there are more warnings for believers than for unbelievers in the Bible.
Paul says to warn those believers who are unruly. (see 1 Thessalonians 5:14)
In Ezekiel 3:18, the Bible says:
"When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand."
So God will hold us accountable for the lives of those whose sins we let slide.
According to the Bible, not calling out believers, especially ministers, for their habitual sins is irresponsible and unloving. (see Hebrews 12:6)
God bless you.