“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18–19, KJV )
I am writing a followup to the article that I wrote in 2022 on the subject of “Unscriptural Church Discipline.” I still maintain that churches have the keys of the kingdom, and that that does not mean they always get it right.
Using the example of JR Graves, this is what I wrote then:
“Dare I say it? In our day and time, it is still very possible for a person to be unscripturally disciplined even by a majority vote of the church. If this happens, what is the course of action? The course of action is, if it will not be corrected in the same church, then another church who understands that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice can pick them up, and receive the wronged members by statement of faith….
Here’s the reality. The Lord’s churches have been given authority (keys). Look at church history and you’ll find there have been churches and pastors who have thought they can lord over God’s people. That is forbidden (see 1 Peter 5:3). God did not give us unlimited power or authority, and that includes the fact that one church does not have authority over another church. So, when a church goes beyond her authority, another church can pick up keys (metaphorically speaking) and take in a church member who has been wronged. Just like unscriptural baptism, I do not believe God recognizes unscriptural discipline and neither should we.”
The entire article can be read here: https://blog.faithdelivered.net/posts/unscriptural-church-discipline/
The following comes from notes I preached in 2021 on the subject of “Local Church Autonomy.” I emphasize these dates from articles and sermons because I have been accused of changing my position on “church truth.” Let it be demonstrated that my position on the church has not changed. Those who insist otherwise are guilty of slander:
- The churches of the New Testament admitted members into their communion.
“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.” (Romans 14:1, KJV)
The language of this directive is “Receive into your fellowship and treat as a Christian him who is weak in the faith.” To whom was this addressed? Not to the pastor? Not to the “ruling elders.” Not even to the men of the church only. Hear me now, this was written to the church, “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints…”. (Romans 1:7)
- The churches of the New Testament had the right and power (the authority) to exclude unworthy members, and they exercised that right.
“In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 5:4–5, KJV)
Paul “judged” that the guilty man should be excluded, but he himself did not remove him.
To whom was this epistle written? It was not written to the pastor. It is not addressed to the elders. It is not even addressed to the men of the church. Again, look at 1 Corinthians 1:2-
“Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:” (1 Corinthians 1:2, KJV)
The right of the church to exclude unworthy members is taught in other passages as well. For example,
“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.” (2 Thessalonians 3:6, KJV)
Again who is this written to? A board of deacons? The pastor? The men of the church? No! 2 Thessalonians 1:1, note the words “…to the church of the Thessalonians…”
- The churches of the New Testament had the right and the power (the authority) to restore to fellowship excluded members who gave satisfactory evidence of repentance.
“Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.” (2 Corinthians 2:6–8, KJV)
Notice beloved, Paul could not restore such a one any more than he could exclude him in the first place. The apostle bowed to the great truth of church independence. Who was this addressed to? Let me be repetitive. Was this letter written to the pastor? The ruling elders? A board of deacons? The men of the church? No! It was written to the church. Notice the wording in 2 Corinthians 1:1 –
“PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:” (2 Corinthians 1:1, KJV)
- There was no convention, board, or tribunal higher than a church. Not in the New Testament and such is still the case today!
Matthew 18:15–18 (LSB)
15 “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault, between you and him alone; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.
17 “And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector.
18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.The Saviour gave us the rule for the adjustment of private differences among brethren: “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault.” If the offender, when told of his fault, does not give satisfaction, the offended brother is to take with him “one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”
But if the offender “shall neglect to hear them,” what is to be done? Tell it to the church. What church? Evidently the particular congregation to which the parties belong. If the offender does not hear the church, what then? “Let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.” But can there be no appeal to an association or presbytery or conference or convention? No; there is no appeal. Shall any kind of organization put the offender back in church fellowship when the church by its action classed him with heathen men and publicans? This is too absurd. What sort of fellowship would it be?
I’ll just say a word about verse 18. Is that unlimited authority? Of course it isn’t. No church has unlimited authority, but each church is bound by the Scriptures and when a church goes outside of that boundary other churches are not bound to recognize their actions. So, for instance if a Baptist church takes in alien baptism, we are not under any obligation to recognize their actions. Or, if a Baptist church has unscripturally disciplined members we are not under any obligation to recognize that either.
Some folks jump the gun and start talking about candlesticks. We aren’t talking about that, but what we are talking about is authority. We are all independent churches. None of us have any authority over one another but we have Scriptures whereby we can examine, judge and make decisions on these things.
An Appeal To Caesar?
Mark 12:13–17 (LSB)
13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement.
14 And they came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a tax to Caesar, or not?
15 “Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.”
16 And they brought one. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
17 And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.Some lawyers and judges may believe they have a case when it comes to the operations of the church of the living God. However, I must remind the reader that the keys of the kingdom were given to the church. They were not given to the state. The state does not have authority in church matters, and for that every born again Christian should be glad.
When I see the church, I do not see the likeness and inscription of Caesar on her. We are to obey the laws of the land certainly, but there is to be a wall of separation. In the Scriptures, we see that so much.
There are times when a Christian may appeal to the state court system (as Paul did) in Acts, but never when it comes to church matters. There is only one example of that happening in the New Testament, and that is in 1 Corinthians 6. The example there is not a good one. These were carnal men and women and that church was a mess. Hardly an example to follow.
Trying to get back into a church by hiring a lawyer really sends a mixed message anyway doesn’t it? Why would a person or a church want that hanging over their heads? The message is not the message of true Christian repentance or humility.
Following the Biblical guidelines is best. Why not just repent of what you were excluded for in the first place? If you were really wronged in the discipline of one church and you cannot get it all straightened out following a Biblical pattern in that church, go join another church. You’ll not find the keys anywhere else.