Church Discipline



Robert Murray McCheyne is fondly remembered as a young preacher and evangelist who saw great blessing on his short ministry in Dundee. He was a man characterised by a great love for Christ and for perishing sinners, and his sermons are still read and appreciated by people all over the world. What is not so well-known is his view on the important place of church discipline. Let us hear what he said on this subject in some of his last words to his people: “When I first entered upon the work of the ministry among you, I was exceedingly ignorant of the vast importance of Church discipline. I thought that my great and almost only work was to pray and preach. I saw your souls to be so precious and the time so short, that I devoted all my time, and care and strength, to labour in word and doctrine. When cases of discipline were brought before me and the elders, I regarded them with something like abhorrence. It was a duty I shrank from; and I may truly say it nearly drove me from the work of the ministry among you altogether. But it pleased God, who teaches His servants in another way than man teaches, to bless some of the cases of discipline to the manifest and undeniable conversion of the souls of those under our care; and from that hour a new light broke in upon my mind, and I saw that if preaching be an ordinance of Christ, so is Church discipline. I now feel very deeply persuaded that both are of God - that two keys are committed to us by Christ: the one the key of doctrine, by means of which we unlock the treasures of the Bible; the other the key of discipline, by which we open or shut the way to the sealing ordinances of the faith. Both are Christ's gift, and neither is to be resigned without sin”.

The Role of Church Discipline

  1. Commanded.
    Church discipline is not an optional extra, but is commanded by God (Matt.18:15-20).

  2. Blessed.
    As McCheyne and others have discovered, church discipline can be blessed by God. A promise that we often quote in prayer is: “Where two are three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt.18:20). However, what is not so often realised is that this promise occurs in the passage where Christ is outlining the process of church discipline (v15-19). This should teach us that there is a direct link between the administration of church discipline and the presence of Christ.

  3. Biblical.
    Church discipline is only concerned with what is explicitly or implicitly forbidden or required by the Bible. The church has no right to concern itself with what is merely contrary to the traditions of men or the culture of the day. The Lord promises that what is bound on earth will be bound in heaven, but only if what is done on earth is in accordance with Scripture (Matt.18:18-19).

  4. Public.
    Church discipline is concerned with sins which bring public reproach upon Christ's cause. There should normally be no inquisitorial watching or investigation of private conduct or attempts to drag secret sins into the light. The church is not a detective agency.

  5. Recovery.
    Church discipline aims at recovering the offender (1 Tim.1:20). It seeks the person's repentance not his reproach. The church must tread the fine line between being too severe or too lax.

  6. Penalties.
    Church discipline may result in spiritual penalties. The church has no right to impose civil penalties such as imprisonment or fines. The sanctions in discipline are not carnal but spiritual. Depending on the offender’s response the penalties may vary from private or public admonition, to suspension from office and from privileges, to excommunication (Matt.16:19).

  7. Protects.
    Church discipline protects the flock of God from false doctrine, protects the Lord’s table from the ungodly, and protects the church from the disapproval and judgment of God (1Cor.11:28f).

  8. Just.
    It must be administered according to the Word of God and the laws of natural justice. “No member of the church can be deprived of his privileges as such, except by the establishment of his guilt with reference to a relevant charge, proved by competent evidence, before a competent court, and by means of a regular and fairly conducted trial” (Free Church Practice V, II, 22).

  9. Independent.
    Church discipline must not take the place of civil justice and civil justice must not take the place of church discipline. In other words, church courts must form their own judgments independently of other courts. This is because civil courts are concerned with crime whereas church courts are concerned with sin.

  10. Loving.
    As McCheyne came to realise, church discipline is not some harsh and brutal weapon but is ordained by a loving God and to be exercised in a loving manner for the good of the offender and the glory of God. When so exercised, it is a profound display of Christian love because love necessarily challenges sin in ourselves and in our brethren. A lack of church discipline is not a loving concern as some may suppose, but an indifference to the honour of Christ and the welfare of the flock. Oh that the Free Church would pick up the key of biblical church discipline and find that it opens the door to holy ministers, holy members and the holy and blessed presence of Christ in our midst!


    Any comments or questions please E-Mail me or Rev William Macleod the editor.

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