DISCIPLINE In life there are two forms of discipline that affects all of us.  We are    disciplined in either an “instructive” way, or we are disciplined in a “corrective” way.  Obviously, the “instructive” way is the    easier way to go.  The “corrective” way can be received  in  either a verbal way or in the form of punishment.  This punishment may be  experienced  either  in  one’s family or within the organizations one belongs to —  meaning the state or one’s social organization.   God offers discipline through the Bible in an “instructive” sense.  He may use situations in our lives to discipline us in a “corrective” sense.  God, as the ultimate  authority of good does discipline all created in His image.  Firstly, He has the right to do so.  Secondly, He disciplines because He loves us.  He never disciplines as sometimes humans do just to be mean, hard, or difficult. Regarding His children (the church), God wants His children to learn and know that they have the power and authority to discipline themselves. Through His instruct- tive word God both equips and empowers His children to be more like Him than those who reject His loving and perfect counsel. Satan wants all created in God’s  image to be beguiled where we think we are weak, helpless, and hopeless.  Satan would have us all ultimately self-destruct in sin.  With all our human and secular knowledge, we are still ill-equipped to fully understand ourselves and others.  We need our creator’s input as to who and what we really are.  We need His help and encouragement to rise above our human limitations.   Overseers or shepherds (called elders) in God’s flock have the charge to see that the church family is disciplined in an “instructive” way (Ac. 20:28).  Christians of  themselves are admonished by Peter to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18).   Discipline can be corrective.  When this happens, you want to learn your    lesson the first time.  You don’ t want to have to be corrected again and again.  In the church family we are directed by Paul through the Holy Spirit to practice discipline among ourselves if the need arises.  In 1 Corinthians 5 we read of the immorality of a member of the congregation who is guilty of two interrelated sins, fornication and  incest, “a man has his father’s wife” (5:1).  This is not to be swept under the carpet.  It is not to be tolerated.  The church is not to allow her good to be spoken of as evil   (Ro. 14:16).  Impurity in the midst of God’s holy church is not to be tolerated or dealt with in a politically correct way.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom  (Ps. 11:10).  In Titus 2:12 we are taught as Christians to live soberly, righteously, and godly.  There is to be no worldly tampering with the mindset God would have His people possess.   Congregational discipline is to be practiced.  It is an expression of love to God, the sinner, and the congregation.  The congregation expresses love to God in doing what God has directed them to do.  It is an expression of love to the sinner in that he is encouraged to repent and face up to his sin that he might continue to be in good standing with God and His people.  In 1 Cor. 5:5 the carnal or worldly minded one is spoken of as being delivered to Satan in hopes that repentance may come about and that his spirit may be saved.  Love is expressed to the congregation to keep her the pure and undefiled bride of Christ.  The aloofness regarding such public sin is not good (1 Cor. 5:6).  They have forgotten that the toleration of sin within the congregation will in fact ultimately affect the entire congregation and God will not be present there. The fact that discipline is prescribed by God in His church by His people is of itself a sober thought intended to help us discipline ourselves so that others who love God as we do, will not have to discipline us.  The Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul speaks to the 1st and 21st century church with apostolic authority and says;  “But we COMMAND you brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition (teaching) which he received from us (apostles) (2 Thess. 3:6).  Who is supposed to do this?  The answer again comes from God in Galatians 6:1.  “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in ANY trespass, you who are SPIRITUAL restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”   The immature and babies in the faith are not to take the lead in such action but rather those who are well past the novice stage of their spiritual growth.   Let us now consider the process Jesus speaks of in Matthew 18:15-17.  “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he hears you, you have gained your brother,  But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’  And if he refused to hear them, tell it to THE CHURCH.  But if he refuses even to hear THE CHURCH (congregation), let him be to you (church/congregation) like a heathen and a tax collector.”  All too often we do not communicate or face issues.  Following Jesus, we are not allowed to do that any more.  We must face issues and help one another even if it requires discipline within the congregation.  Choose to discipline yourself before God using His perfect, preserved, and revealed will as your standard.