Kicking people out of church: the doctrine

Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint Lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

10 September 2011

The Bible is a manual for many things, nearly every aspect of a human's life and more. A great search engine, greater than google or yahoo.com. God loves people because he made them, evolution within the species on a small scale, losing hair or not, included, but not across the species. He wish to save all people as the Bible makes clear but not all people choose Him. He keeps trying but many humans persist rejecting Him. They have no knowledge of His scriptures explaining the Great Controversy in Heaven with Lucifer becoming Satan, the subsequent creation of the earth as Eden perfect with the first human pair as experiment for the test of Satan and the failure that resulted in changes, death, decay, degeneration, downfall, and with the Grace of God preventing a total disaster, season were created to have a cyclic memory that nothing is forever. All things come to an end. Things are not in a spiral or circle. It is in a straight line and if you want to see it as a spiral, it has a beginning and an end. So these atheists and nihilists can only see within their own domain and try to explain everything rationally using their senses and data of death, decay, degeneration, downfall flooding their cognitive perceptions, leading to an anger with God who allowed them to live in such a condition. All because of the absence of understanding. Only with existentialism and experience, they try to by empirical moving from stone to stone over the river. Even if a boat is provided they refuse since you have to climb into the boat in the darkness and hope there is a boat. They are not willing to do this. Instead of safety they choose stress. The truth of the Bible is that God wants a Holy people not just people. Holy does not mean intrinsic qualities of a holy kind that prevents others from touching the person. It means that they are obedient and want to follow His precepts carefully. They feel bad and worse if they can't. They are not happy to do otherwise. That is what 1 Peter 2:5, 9 tells us. Everyone in church is a pastor or priest. Everyone is built up as a spiritual house. They offer spiritual sacrifices. God does not want otherwise. He wants not your money, except 10%. 90% is yours. He does not want it. He does not need it. What He wants from you is total commitment, not 10%, 50% but 100%. He wants spiritual sacrifices rather than physical ones. He wants your life. There is no neutral ground. It is either accepting Him or otherwise but no other alternative. He does not compromise or share with the evil.

For example in Revelation 2:2 He praises the church of Ephesus that they are good. However, in Revelation 2:14, 15 and 20, He blames the church of Thiatre and Pergamus that they are bad because they tolerate heresy and immorality. What about other wrongs? Probably tolerating for a time within limits (the Bible provides the limits). Churches who threw out the Bible from their scenario of decision making, like the Catholic Church who let the pendulum of weight falls on church fathers, decrees, develop too easily an excommunication system with teeth, as one can find in their dealings with the Franciscans of the Thirteenth Century.

Private offenses against the church is dealt with in Matthew 18:15-17. A person goes to speak to the member. If the member does not listen, two others go together or three witnesses. Why witnesses? Not just for evidence gaining. "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst" (Matthew 18:20). So what is the point here? It is no longer just two or three but three and four, with Third in a capital letter and Fourth in a capital letter including His Bible. The blueprint of truth, God, and two witnesses and the person speaking to the member. The blueprint is the overall test for all parties involved, God except since He has proven Himself by dying for all. If a witness is not keeping the Sabbath properly, he or she cannot witness against another member for doing the same.

We are to treat them as Gentiles. How do we treat Gentiles? Jesus gave the answer in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit". We treat them like we treat ones we wish to convert.

Public offenses is of a greater problem. It is true that all are sinners as Romans 3;23 says, but there is a time when immorality has to be addressed, as is indicated by 1 Corinthians 5:4, 5, 7. According to Paul, one should not judge others but remove them. He is trying to tell them that a purification is necessary since they do judge outsiders, why are they slack in judging insiders in the church. He said that outsiders is in no need to be judged since God will do it by Himself. They need discretion for the people in the church. So they are to remove a) immoral, b) covetous, c) idolater, d) reviler, e) drunkard, g) swindler. Who are these people? What is idol loving? When do I put idols above God? When am I rebelious in refusing to set aside an idol when my brothers and sisters out of kindness speaks to me about it? A swindler is a money spender, out of control of course and even then continue to do so. Living above their means or income, persisting to do so as a lifestyle.

Church figthers are divisive persons as Romans 16:17 indicate. In 2 Thessalonians 3:6-7, 14 is spelled out that one should not tolerate these people in the church without speaking to them about it. Jonah wanted to see fire burn from heaven that day after his message to Niniveh, but instead God loved them. That is why Paul has a "but-phrase" at the end in 2 Thessalonians 3:15. "And do not treat him as an enemy". Why? They are loved from the beginning to the end since even enemies are loved, Jesus said.

Since it is a body part that is to be removed, it is a painful process with many people suffering due to one person's failure. This is persistent failure, this is determination to be in error and remain that way. It is someone without any sense of remorse of wrongdoing against the others and God's principles in the Bible. But, after removal it is possible to heal and restore again. Jesus said that He knocks at the door and if anyone hears His voice He will open (Revelation 3:20). The Bible says anyone so that means really any one. Even the ones who did wrong in the past and wants to come back.