Church Discipline as a mark of the church

[Sam Jer]

The Belgic confession identifies church discipline as a mark of the true church. However, John Calvin seems to be arguing against that very position in the confutation of the second article in his treatise against the Anabaptists (which I am currently reading). It is also absent in the Augsburg Confession, which leaves only the preaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments.

What is the biblical support for church discipline being a mark of the true Church? Just how bad do things need to get for the church to cease to be - can this mark be retained without excommunicating the church in Corinth, along with the whole medieval church?

 

[Polanus1561]

Church Discipline and the Reformation - Westminster Theological Seminary

The Reformers gave great impetus toward the recovery of church discipline. For them, church discipline became a matter of great importance. While there is dispute as to whether they deemed discipline a mark of a true church, all the Reformers saw discipline, if not a mark of the essence (esse)...

faculty.wts.edu

 

[Poimen]

Whether a church is no longer a true church for failing to uphold the biblical standards of discipline is according to God's providential dealings. Jesus says to the church at Sardis: "I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee" Revelation 2:3

As far as being a mark of a true church, consider the following:

1) Every church begins the long (or short) road to apostasy when it fails to discipline its members, which itself is enacted when the member fails to discipline himself. This is one of the clearest lessons of the Old Testament for the New Testament church (Judges 17:6 & 1 Corinthians 10:6ff.)
2) The church at the end of the Old Testament age was threatened by Christ with having the kingdom of God being taken from it and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof (Matthew 21:43).
3) The church, as church, has authority to treat professing believers as heathens and publicans (Matthew 18:17). To neglect to exercise this authority is to deny the one who has commanded us to exercise it. When the church fails to discipline its members it becomes subject to the discipline of Christ.
4) For sin tolerated is an offence to Christ, the Lord of his church, who has come with zeal to purify the sons of Levi. Surely the letters to Revelation demonstrate that tolerance of error, either of doctrine or life, is rejected by Christ (Revelation 2:14,20 etc.).
5) In particular, officebearers are given authority to admonish and correct those in the assembly, as one who takes care of the church of God even as he rules his own home (1 Timothy 3:4-5). This includes removing members from the communion (Titus 3:10-11).

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Distinctions between discrete things are necessary if there are to be many things, and not just one thing--a blob. A regular family must be defined as a husband, a wife, and their children, or else there is not going to be a real family-concept. (This is not the forum for discussing the legitimacy of various alternate family structures; I regard it as given if there is no regular definition, then no alternates can be judged). The family, then, requires some boundaries, and some sort of defense of those boundaries, if there is to be survival of that unit called "family."

The same thing can be said of the church (along with many other bounded entities). There should be a definition for it, identifying marks in order to realize where it is and where it isn't, and bounds that show the limit of it together with a defense of those bounds. Get rid of the defense, and as with free-love societies and other breakdowns of family boundaries (e.g. absent restraint of power intrusion or exploitation), likewise in the church there will be nothing recognizable to define or defend before long.

Paul's summons in several of his letters to the exercise of discipline, both toward members and ministers; Jesus' handing over the "keys of the kingdom" to his disciples--the church's first organized authority; both of these items point directly and plainly to the duty to exercise policing of the bounds. That is to say, defending from external violation of the bounds (maintaining distinctive existence), as well as maintaining the order and discipline of the space inside the bounds. The chief areas of concern with regard to the latter are 1) doctrine, and 2) life.

A couple reasons why different church bodies may have expressed their understanding of the place of discipline. 1) Simplicity. Where is the church? Look for the right preaching and the right sacrament administration. Some churches reverse the order of those, prioritizing the sacraments. In any case, this definition is something of a portrait. Whereas, one could argue that a definition that includes discipline is something of a 3-D representation, an added dimension. Not quite as simple, but still not overly demanding. I doubt that a confessional Lutheran church (Augsburg) thinks it can get on successfully as the church institution, if it does not exercise discipline, and not just at the boundary fencing the Table from outsiders.

2) Survival. A church that is fighting for its very existence cannot afford disregarding discipline as definitional. The Reformed churches were typically in a more vulnerable position existentially in the 16th & 17th centuries, than even the Lutheran churches. The Lutherans had the kind of secular advantage that Luther's patron/protector, the Elector of Saxony, afforded him--physical protection. That does not mean the Lutherans were never in peril from military might, but that eventually the long wars that blighted the Germanic regions reached a settlement in which the ruler's faith determined what the official religion was in his state. When the only defense a church has in the world is its own internal discipline (not to speak of divine guardians), it must regard its efforts as definitional of its very life.

I'm sure there are other thoughts that are equally, if not better said on this subject, and will leave to others to chime in.