The faithful exercise of discipline is generally held to be the third of the three “marks” of a true church of Jesus Christ. The first is the faithful preaching of the Word of God, and the second is the right administration of the sacraments.

The two Corinthian letters in the New Testament to a degree revolve around the serious discipline case discussed in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 and touched upon in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11. These passages are perhaps six months apart. Between them, you see something of how the case played out and seems to have been happily resolved, except that the repentant transgressor was not accepted back into the fellowship by most of the members. The church discipline had worked but was still being applied as if it had not, and in a harsh, graceless and thoroughly ungodly way.

The apostle accordingly writes to the church enjoining them to deal graciously with the repentant brother. He charges them not to be too severe (v. 5) and lists six reasons for their forgiving the disciplined brother (vv. 6-11).

Do Not Be Too Severe! [2:5]

The offender is the one mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8. The only thing we know of his partner in immorality is that she was his stepmother. At the time Paul brought this up before the church, the elders and presumably most of the congregation did not want to confront the issue. In response to Paul’s first letter, they appear to have “grasped the nettle” and dealt with the issue. Six months later, however, they have gone the other way in that they have continued to be “down” on this fellow. It is as if he is still under discipline, even though it is clear from Paul that he should be restored to the membership.

Part of their excuse for not lifting the censure is that Paul has been “caused grief.” They are doing it for the apostle in the sense that they think this is what he wants to happen. Paul has three things to say about this.

Do not say that I am the offended one. Paul is emphatic: “He has not grieved me.” The man had not offended Paul personally. In other words, Don’t build your hardline attitude toward him on what you believe is someone else’s point of view. Did they think they were pleasing Paul, or was this just an excuse cobbled together on the fly to cover their guilt? It is easier to hide behind names and institutions, including churches, than stand out in the clear light of day and take full responsibility for your errors.

Do not say you are forever offended. Paul says, “If anyone has caused grief,” it was not him to me, “but all of you to some extent.” They had more personal contact with the man and reason to be grieved by him. They needed to keep things in proper perspective. They were the ones who were keeping the man at a distance even after he had repented. Paul is gently pricking their self-righteous bubble as if to remind them that they were not so innocent that they had a right to stiff-arm this brother, as if he had committed the unpardonable sin. They were the people, after all, who winked at the sin in the first place, and now they are so righteous that this man would never be restored.

You see this hypocrisy today in our amoral society, where one nasty comment on Twitter can be condemned as inexcusable and unforgivable and considered “hate speech,” while aborting a healthy human being because you don’t want a child is protected by law as a righteous act. Do not be too severe. Paul is saying that, if the sinner has truly repented, then why is his reentry into the fellowship being delayed, if not being indefinitely prevented? Continuing to hold past sin over one who is truly repentant is severe treatment that attempts to overrule God’s will in the matter. True forgiveness means returning to a genuine normality.1 Therefore, they must “not be too severe.”

Six Reasons for Forgiving [2:6-11]

The most basic reason for forgiving the transgressor has already been given: He has shown credible evidence of repentance and reformation. The severity of which the apostle complains is simply the fruit of a lack of willingness to fellowship with the man. Reasons for unwillingness can vary from adamant refusal to accept the bona fides of the repentant prodigal all the way to an embarrassed discomfort at the idea of having to speak to him.

Self-righteousness takes many forms. I had a landlady in my college days who said of someone in her church who had wronged her and subsequently apologized, “I have forgiven her, but I will never forget it.” What struck me—I was a 17-year-old freshman—was how her tone of voice changed in mid-sentence from sweetly pious to steely hardness. When God forgives, He forgets. A determination not to forget betrays an unwillingness to forgive. Forgiveness was the most difficult problem for God in His purpose of saving us, and it will be for us; but it is certain that our hearts must be in it. To that end, we must rebuke the remembrances of past offenses against us and love that brother to the end, for the sake of Jesus who gave Himself to save us when we were yet His enemies (Col. 1:21-22).

Having affirmed the severity of the Corinthians, Paul now adds six practical reasons for every member of the church to show a radical forgiveness to the repentant brother.

1. The discipline was quite sufficient. “His punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man” (v. 6). The point is that such a man—who has repented of his terrible sin—is not to be excluded as a pariah forever! When he was, six months before, “the evil person” who was as yet unrepentant (1 Cor. 5:5, 13), he was indeed “to be taken away from among” them (1 Cor. 5:2). But not after solid evidence of repentance and new obedience! Now he should be welcomed back. In that light, ask yourself, How generous is my spirit? How forgiving am I?

2. We are not called to make things worse. “Such a man” (v. 6) ought to be forgiven and comforted, because otherwise he may be “swallowed up with too much sorrow” (v. 7). Obviously, he is sorrowful already—as really and truly sorrowful as he is really and truly repentant. That will cling to him, maybe for the rest of his life, even if you forgive and comfort him. We have no call to be turning the knife in the wound by constantly refusing forgiveness and comfort, where there is repentance. Be gracious! Lift burdens! Don’t add to them!

3. Love him for the brother he is. “Therefore,” says Paul, “I urge you to reaffirm your love to him” (v. 8). This is your calling from God. Even in the case recorded in Thessalonika, where a “disorderly” man is put out of the church and will not listen to the apostle’s counsel, Paul expressly says that the church members are “not [to] count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (1 Thess. 3:15). How much more ought we to “reaffirm…love” to a repentant brother? How hard our hearts can be! Jesus loved the unrepentant sufficiently to take Him to the cross to bear their sin, yet we struggle to love those He loves when they have repented! Our sin against that brother is a sin against the Lord who bought him (cf. 2 Pet. 2:1).

4. Your own faithfulness to the Lord is on the line. “For to this end I also wrote,” says Paul, “that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.”(v. 9). In 1 Corinthians 5, they will not deal faithfully with sin in the church. Six months later, in 2 Corinthians, they will not deal faithfully with healing in the church! This problem is not the man who fell into sin and repented, but the church that will not do the right thing until pushed. Paul is pointing the church people to look at themselves and be concerned about their spiritual condition and practical discipleship. They are disobedient and graceless toward the repentant brother. If how they are dealing with him is not a test of the reality of a work of grace in their own hearts, what is?

5. We are in the work of God together. Notice how Paul presses the primacy of the responsibility of the church in the matter of discipline. There is to be no hiding behind what you think the apostle, or some pastor, feels. If the church in Corinth forgives, then Paul will fall in line and accept their action (v. 10a). Paul is not a pope or an archbishop. He believes that the church in Corinth has the duty to act, without seeking permission from some hierarchy. Now, there is the right of appeal to the broader courts of the church, as in Acts 15. But the local church must act responsibly within its local jurisdiction. Having affirmed that, Paul adds, “If indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ” (v. 10b).

Do you see what he is saying? Think Jesus! Think the cross! Think God’s free grace to you through Jesus and the cross! Christians, we are to act as in the presence of Jesus, together, his people, obedient servants, loving brethren, His body, the Church!

6. We are not called to do the work of the devil. Paul drives this home in verse 11 when he says we must show a forgiving spirit to a returning backslider, “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

Satan does not need any help from us. But that is what he gets from our sins, including an unforgiving spirit and a self-righteous attitude. He must have loved Job’s “comforters” as much as he hated Job’s faithfulness. And why should we give Satan ammunition from that brother’s true repentance, by vexing his soul? Repentance and subsequent forgiveness are our weapons, not Satan’s. Why should we bring defeat out of victory by undoing the work of the Lord in anyone’s life, our own included?

Some Words of Application

We are not here on this earth to promote more sorrow and despair, because of our failing either to support church discipline or to reaffirm love to repentant brothers and sisters in the church. Jesus pours out His free grace and newness of life to every sinner who repents toward God and believes in Him as Savior and Lord. Do you recall how He treated the woman taken in adultery? (John 7:54–8:11). The scribes and Pharisees tried to get Jesus to agree she should be stoned for her sin. Meanwhile, where was the man who was there when she was caught? You can’t be caught in adultery all alone in an empty room! Jesus invited the men who were “without sin” to cast the first stone. But they melted away until Jesus was left with the woman. “Then Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more”’ (John 8:10-11).

Clearly, Jesus believes she was guilty of adultery. It is also clear that He regards her as repentant, and He releases her, not merely on the technicality that her accusers had disappeared, but on the basis of his conviction about her repentance. His admonition looks forward to future godly behavior on her part; “Go and sin no more.” Discipline promotes godliness, both in the life of the one who repents and is forgiven, and in the lives of God’s children as they rejoice with the Lord over “one sinner who repents” (see Luke 15:7).

We are also not saved by grace through faith in Jesus in order to flog ourselves forever over our failings in the past. We heard recently how the Pope flogs himself when he feels himself to have sinned toward God. The four-time British Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone, did the same. Neither the Catholic Pope nor the Protestant PM understand the true nature of gospel forgiveness and repentance. They flog themselves when Jesus simply gives new life and sends his believing brethren into the world in the liberty of the gospel.

We are not saved to wallow in endless sadness, far less self-inflicted acts of physical penance. Jesus has taken upon Himself “the iniquity of as all” (Isa. 53:6). Flogging ourselves, whether in the body or the soul, arises from a failure to understand and receive the forgiveness and redemption won by Jesus in His sufferings and death. It is no more than masochism resting on the illusion that sufferings somehow contribute to our salvation, when in fact our salvation is secured by Jesus alone, and not the works of our flesh.

We are called to be meek and gentle in spirit toward each other in our failings. What Jesus says of Himself is to be true of all who come to Him and are saved. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:29). Church discipline, humbly exercised and gladly received, will lead offender and offended to Jesus, and will renew fellowship with Him and with each other. And so Jesus’ gift of “peace in believing” and “rest for your souls” will clothe your lives now and prepare you for the experience of the redeemed in heaven. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13). 

Endnotes 1 Genuine normality but not necessarily the precise status quo ante. Some sins can have permanent consequences beyond repentance and forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean going forward as if nothing has happened. It is a learning and growing experience for everyone involved. The treasurer who embezzles the church’s money should not be restored to that position. The child abuser should not serve in the church nursery. The stalker of young girls should not lead the youth group. It is not too severe to prevent putting someone in a position where temptation might be above the ordinary. We are always to pray for ourselves “Lead me not into temptation.” Jesus tells us, “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:30). The language is figurative—he does not enjoin literal amputations—but the practical measures that are implied are going to be real enough.