Re: Church Discipline

From Kevin DeYoung, Daily Doctrine (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024), 328: 

"Four basic steps. (1) Go to the person alone. (2) Take one or two others with you. (3) Tell it to the church. (4) Treat the person as an outsider. These steps should not be understood or undertaken woodenly. They deal with person (as opposed to public) offenses, and do not envision situations where someone's safety may be in jeopardy. The general rule of thumb us to keep the circle as small as possible and give the guilty party every opportunity to repent and change. As a last resort, the unrepentant sinner is excommunicated. The New Testament language of treating as a pagan (Matt 18:7) or removing from your midst (1 Cor 5:2, 13), or handing over to Satan (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Tim 1:20) is the spiritual and ecclesiastical appropriation of the Old Testament's civil penalty of putting someone 'outside the camp' (Deut 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:24; 24:7).

"Three promises. God promises to those who properly exercise church discipline: (1) Heaven will stand by you (Matt 18:18). (2) God will act for you (18:19). (3) Jesus will be in the midst of you (18:20). God gives his church the keys of the kingdom so that the heavenly membership of God's kingdom above might be reflected in the earthly membership of his church below.

"Two big ideas. (1) Discipline is what we do as followers of Christ. Mutually correct, rebuke, repent, discipline, bind, and loose are not optional for the church (Gal 6:1). (2) Discipline is what we do as the family of God. Notice the deliberate familial language in Matthew 18. We are dealing with siblings (18:15), and the discipline ultimately comes from our Father (18:19). Discipline is the merciful act of a Father who loves his children too much to let us go our own way.

"One overarching goal. Discipline is for the purity of the church and for the honor of the Lord Jesus. We must never overlook these ends. And yet the New Testament emphasizes a complementary goal: the restoration of the sinner. We do not want to punish our brother; we want to win him back. We want to see our friends return to the right path (James 5:19-20). Anytime the church delivers someone 'to Satan,' it is in hope and in prayer that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord (1 Cor 5:5)."

Who Should Receive the Lord's Supper?

From Kevin DeYoung, Daily Doctrine (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024), 325-326:

"Those who come to the Lord's Supper must be sincere, instructed, and accountable believers. Note several points from Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34: 

1. Partaking in Communion requires an act of remembrance on the part of the recipient (11:24-25).

2. In eating the bread and drinking the cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes (11:26). This implies a personal and self-conscious intention.

3. The elements can be consumed in an unworthy manner (11:27). This suggests an active participation in the Supper, not a merely passive reception.

4. The person who eats and drinks must examine himself (11:28). This is why most older liturgies call for a due season of self-reflection in advance of the sacrament.

5. Anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body brings judgment upon himself (11:29).

"We recognize and honor the nature of the Lord's Supper when we welcome to the table only those who feast on Christ in repentance and faith."

The Lord's Supper As a Commemoration and Communion

From Kevin DeYoung, Daily Doctrine (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024), 323: 

"Clearly, the Lord's Supper is a memorial. We remember Christ's Last Supper (1 Cor 11:23). We remember his sacrifice and proclaim his death (1 Cor 11:26). But the Lord's Supper is not just a commemoration; it is also a communion... When we drink the cup and eat the bread, we participate in, and have fellowship with, the body and blood of Christ. We are joined to him and experience a deep, spiritual koinonia with him. When we feast in faith, Christ is our nourishment and strength."

Preservation and Unity

"And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one" (John 17:11 ESV). 

We're kept and unified by God's power and authority. Our preservation and unity are tied to the Father and Son's eternal relationship.

Jesus' Prayer and Our Belonging Show Divine Personal Distinction and Essential Unity

"All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them." (John 17:10 ESV) 

Jesus uses "mine" and "yours," showing the distinction between the divine persons. Belonging of the Son's to the Father's shows divine unity.

The Covenant of Redemption in Jesus' High Priestly Prayer

"I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours." (John 17:9 ESV) 

"Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." (2 Tim 2:10 ESV)

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Heb 4:15 ESV)

According to the Covenant of Redemption, the Father has given the elect to the Son as a reward for His perfect obedience.

Jesus Reveals the Father and Himself

"For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me." (John 17:8 ESV) 

Enlivened by the Spirit, believers receive divine revelation though the Son, understanding who Christ is, specifically with reference to his divine origin.

Jesus Reveals the Father (Part 2)

"Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you." (John 17:7 ESV) 

Jesus: the revelation of God.

Inseparable operations: all words and works by the Son are from the Father and through the Spirit.

Jesus Reveals the Father (Part 1)

"I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word." (John 17:6 ESV)  

The people of Israel in Jesus' day knew the God's name already, but Jesus clarified God as Father and as Merciful Redeemer.

God the Son: An Eternally Distinct Divine Person

"And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed." (John 17:5 ESV) 

Jesus existed as a distinct divine person in the presence of God the Father prior to creation. His prayer defeats unitarian heresies.