Does this mean that we must receive all believers in a locality without any reservations? No! A church in a locality must not only receive all whom Christ has received in that locality, but must also exercise church discipline. What is this discipline? When a brother who has been received by the Lord commits something that requires the Lord to exclude him from fellowship, we too must exercise discipline upon him. We should not say that we want all whom the Lord wants and all whom the Lord does not want. If the Lord puts a certain one into the world, yet we put him into the church, we open a door to the world in the church. As a result, there will be no boundary between the church and the world; the wall between them will be torn down by us.
We often use this illustration: When a boat is at sea, the boat and the sea cannot have fellowship. As soon as they begin to have fellowship, the boat will begin to sink into the sea. Likewise, if a hole is drilled in the church, the line of separation between the church and the world will disappear. Therefore, the local church must exercise discipline; it must have disciplinary action in order to be a local church.
What is disciplinary action? First Corinthians 5 speaks of six different kinds of persons who are saved and have God’s life, but they have indulged themselves and become a fornicator, a covetous man, a reviler, a drunkard, an idolater, and an extortioner (v. 11). Paul told the church in Corinth to “remove the evil man from among yourselves” (v. 13). The command in 1 Corinthians 5 does not say that we must put a brother away from among us as soon as he has sinned. But it does say that we must put him away when he becomes such a one. It does not say one who commits fornication, but “a fornicator”; not a brother who reviles, but “a reviler.” When a man becomes such a one, the church must put him away; it must excommunicate him. Whomever the Lord does not want in the church, we also must not want in the church. If we keep one whom the Lord does not want in our locality, this retention will cause trouble. The Lord said that such a one is like a little leaven which will leaven the whole lump (1 Cor. 5:6). Before long, the whole church will be moldy. The whole church will no longer be pure flour; it will have leaven. Therefore, the church must have discipline. Moreover, the church knows what kind of person a brother is. This is reflected in the words of Sister M. E. Barber: “The oneness of the church is the voice of the Holy Spirit.” If all the brothers feel that a brother is such a person, then it is certain that he is such a person. We cannot say that all the brothers have misunderstood him. Therefore, a local church must execute God’s discipline in its locality.
Furthermore, the Bible reveals that the church executes discipline in regard to not only moral issues but also doctrinal issues. However, the Lord does not want us to exercise discipline regarding ordinary doctrines. For example, some keep the Lord’s Day while others keep the Sabbath. (This does not refer to the Seventh-day Adventists, who are recovering the law.) Some keep both days; we should not argue about this. Some brothers eat vegetables and some eat meat; we should not argue about this. However, there is a kind of doctrine which we must defend by all means, and that is the doctrine concerning the person of the Lord Jesus. This is mentioned in 2 John 7 through 11:
For many deceivers went out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist....Everyone who goes beyond and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God....If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, Rejoice! For he who says to him, Rejoice, shares in his evil works.
Here I think it is very clear that a church in a locality must uphold the person of the Lord Jesus. If the Lord Jesus is not God manifest in the flesh, that is, if He is only flesh, then He is not God, and the Lord Jesus could not have accomplished redemption for us. The church, therefore, would be basically annulled. Therefore, the church must be strict about anything that concerns the person of Christ. It must not be loose or lenient at all in this matter. If someone preaches a different teaching about the person of the Lord, do not receive him into your house and do not say to him, Rejoice. Otherwise, your church will lose its ground. As long as it has no discipline, it loses its qualification as a church. Moral confusion is wrong and not allowed by the church, and doctrinal confusion is also wrong and not allowed by the church. However, we should by no means identify differences over ordinary doctrines as being included in this category. If the church deals with ordinary doctrines as it deals with such confusion, the whole church will be cut up and divided into pieces. We should not argue about ordinary doctrines. We must only defend the doctrines regarding the person of Christ. Here the church must exercise discipline; otherwise, the church is finished.
Matthew 18:15-17 says, “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone.... But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more....And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile.” Some churches are very lazy and do not care to handle troublesome matters. But the Lord said that the church must take care of disciplinary matters, if it is to be a church at all. The Lord’s teaching in chapter eighteen is regarding the local church because it refers to a place in which we can “tell.” The local church must take care of these matters. If a local church does not take care of these matters, she is neglecting her duty. If we are a church in a locality, we must bear all the responsibility in that locality.
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