Magalie Bodkin Garcia > Apostles & Prophets on FACEBOOK Matthew 18:15-18 (PART 2) "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. " “Tell it unto the church’: If he still refuses to repent, step 3 requires that the matter be reported to the whole assembly (verse 17) – so that all may lovingly pursue the sinning brother’s reconciliation. But failing that, step 4 means that the offender must be excommunicated, regarded by the church as “a Gentile and a tax collector”. The idea is not merely to punish the offender, or to shun him completely, but to remove him as a detrimental influence from the fellowship of the church, and henceforth to regard him as an evangelistic prospect rather than as a brother. Ultimately, the sin for which he is excommunicated is a hard-hearted impenitence. All of these situations were between Christian brothers and sisters. If you cannot reconcile the situation even through the church, then you must separate yourself from these people. The Lord tells us not to fellowship with this type of people, just as we are not to fellowship with heathen (worldly) people. Christians must be a separated people, sold out to God, living wholesome lives before God. We may witness to the worldly people, but must not get involved in their way of life. All this must be understood in the context of 18:15-17, where Christ laid out specific instructions for dealing with sin in the church. The sum of it all means that any duly constituted body of believers, acting in accord with God’s Word, has the authority to declare if someone is forgiven or unforgiven. The church’s authority is not to determine these things, but to declare the judgment of heaven based on the principles of the Word. When they make such judgments on the basis of God’s Word, they can be sure heaven is in accord. In other words, whatever they “bind” or “loose” on earth is already “bound” or “loosed” in heaven. When the church says the unrepentant person is bound in sin, the church is saying what God says about that person. When the church acknowledges that a repentant person has been loosed from that sin, God agrees.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:47:25 +0000