Can A Person Get to Heaven by Keeping God's Law?

By Bruce Mills

I recently received the following question regarding Romans 2:13-15 from a dear Christian friend with whom I periodically interact on theological issues: Does this passage lead us to believe that some who never heard of Christ—never had the opportunity—will still enjoy everlasting life in Heaven with God if by nature they have kept God’s law?

I would like to try to summarize my response to him, which as I look back on it, was far too long and detailed. But I figure that if a well-taught Christian with a good understanding of Scripture is asking such a question, there may be others who wonder the same thing. Since I recently taught this passage in my Sunday School class, I also have the advantage of having material ready-at-hand which I can boil down into a blog-sized version. So with that introduction, here goes.

In Romans 2, Paul is explaining the basis upon which God judges mankind. He is writing particularly to the Jewish moralists who would look at their being Jewish as eliminating the possibility of God’s judgment falling on them because they were God’s chosen people. So throughout this chapter, Paul is explaining why the Jews are just as guilty before God as the unbelieving pagans, and what bases God will use to judge them and the rest of mankind.

One of the principles upon which God’s judgment is based or by which it is characterized is God’s impartiality. This is discussed in verses 11-15: For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.

Verse 11 functions as the conclusion to the paragraph found in verses 6-10 about the deeds of the saved and the unsaved. And the conclusion is that God is impartial in how He judges. But verse 11 also functions to lead into another paragraph which ties together the two principles of judgment; namely, man’s deeds and God’s impartiality.

The word translated “partiality” means “to receive a face,” that is, to give consideration to a person because of who he is. That’s the idea behind the symbol of justice which is a woman who is blindfolded, holding a set of scales in her hand upon which she weighs the evidence. It signifies that she is unable to see who is before her to be judged and therefore is not tempted to be partial either for or against the accused.

Unfortunately, there is partiality even in the best of human courts. But there will be none in God’s day of judgment. Because of His perfect knowledge of every detail and because of His perfect righteousness, it is not possible for His justice to be anything but perfectly impartial. A person’s position, education, influence, popularity, or physical appearance will have absolutely no bearing on God’s decision concerning his or her eternal destiny.

Think about God’s impartial judgment of Lucifer. Here was the most magnificent, exalted, wise, beautiful, and important creature God made. But because of his prideful ambition to raise himself even above his Creator and to make himself “like the Most High,” even the highest-ranking, most majestic being ever created was cast out of heaven by God. The most exalted became the most debased. If there ever was a being whose position merited special favor before God, it was Lucifer. But his high position made him more accountable for his evil rebellion and therefore, he will receive the greatest punishment of any creature in hell.

If God was impartial in His judgment of Lucifer, why should any mortal man ever expect God to show special favor in judgment? So, in a similar manner to Lucifer, those of mankind who have the greater light of God’s revelation will receive greater judgment because they are more accountable for what they knew.

In other words, God’s judgment upon the unsaved of the United States will be harsher than His judgment upon the native of the Amazon rainforest who never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both are responsible before God for their knowledge of the true God as revealed in nature, but those who have heard the gospel and rejected it will fall under greater condemnation.

Beginning in verse 12 and continuing through verse 15, Paul now ties together the two principles of judging people by their deeds with God’s impartiality, and He explains how these principles work together. He begins by mentioning that there are two distinct groups of sinners: those who have not had opportunity to know God’s Law and those who have had the opportunity to know it. He is speaking, of course, about the Law given through Moses to the people of Israel, and those who did not have the Law, who were the Gentiles.

Now, it is not that those without the special revelation of the Law have no awareness of God or sense of right and wrong. Paul has already established that, through the evidence of creation, all men have witness of God’s “eternal power and divine nature” (1:20).

So then, it doesn’t really matter very much whether people have received the Law in a formal sense or not; all are under condemnation. Gentiles, “who have sinned without the Law will,” therefore, “also perish without the Law,” that is, they will be judged according to their more limited knowledge of God. The lost Gentile will just as surely perish as the lost Jew, but as Paul has already implied in verse 9, their eternal tribulation and distress will be less than that of the Jews, who have had the immeasurable advantage of possessing God’s law.

Jesus stated the principle clearly, using the illustration of slaves whose master went on a long journey, and He spoke of the differences between the slaves who were looking for the master’s return and those who ignored the possibility that the master would soon return. And then one day the master suddenly returned, and in Luke 12:47-48, He said, “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

In other words, there were slaves who knew what the master expected and didn’t get ready, and there were slaves who had no idea what the master expected. Both were punished, but those who knew what the master expected got it much worse.

So too, it will be in hell. All mankind has the light of God’s revelation of Himself, but those who have greater light through His revealed Law and His Son and still reject Him will receive much greater punishment than those who have less light. All unsaved will be punished with eternal hell, but some will receive greater punishment in terms of its degree.

That’s what Paul means when he says to the Jew at the end of verse 12, “all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.” They had the extra light of God’s revealed Word given to them, so if they rejected its truth, they will receive greater judgment.

However, the people who will receive the harshest judgment are those who have knowledge not only of the OT Law but also of the NT gospel, and still reject the truth. That describes many of the people here in our nation. They will be like the Jewish cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, which not only had God’s Law, but witnessed God’s own Son in their midst performing miracles and teaching. Yet they rejected Him as their Messiah, and Jesus told them it would be better on the Day of Judgment for the pagan cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom than for them (Matt. 11:20-23).

In verse 13, Paul says, “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” Paul expresses the same idea that James does in his letter (James 1:22-23), and interestingly, they both use a word for “hearers” that is not the usual word for hearing. This word refers to those whose business it is to listen.

The idea is much like that of a college student. His primary purpose in class is to listen to the teacher’s instruction. Normally, he also has the responsibility of being accountable for what he hears and is tested on it. If he is simply auditing the course, he is only required to attend the class sessions. He takes no tests and receives no grade. In other words, he listens without being held accountable for what he hears.

But God does not recognize mere “auditors” of His Word. The more a person hears His truth, the more he is responsible for believing and obeying it. Unless there is obedience, the greater the hearing, the greater the judgment.

I fear for those unbelievers who attend sound, evangelical, Bible-teaching churches week after week and sit under the sound of the Word being clearly taught, verse-by-verse, with its truths expounded to them, yet walk away untouched, continuing to live their moral, but unregenerate, lives. Unless they turn in repentance to Christ, they will receive an eternal judgment which is far greater than their drug-abusing neighbor who drinks himself into a stupor every night at the local nude bar, then goes home and beats his live-in girlfriend, and has never darkened the door of a sound Bible-teaching church or heard a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Doers of the Law” are those who come to God in repentance and faith, realizing that His Law is impossible for them to keep apart from His enabling power, and that knowledge of it places them under greater obligation to obey it. And after they have come to Him in faith, their obedient lives give evidence of their saving relationship to Him and of the fact that they “will be justified.”

I want to discuss this phrase “will be justified” at the end of verse 13. It is the Greek word which means “to declare righteous.” It is a forensic or legal term meaning “to acquit.” It is the normal word to use when the accused is declared “not guilty.”

Contrary to what some have said, it does not mean “to make righteous.” When a person comes to saving faith in Christ, he is not “made righteous,” but rather, he is “declared righteous.” In other words, he does not become guiltless, but rather God declares him to be “not guilty” based on the guiltless Son of God’s substitutionary atonement in his place. Jesus’ perfect righteousness is imputed to that person’s account, and when God looks at him, rather than seeing the person’s sin, He sees the perfection of His Son and declares the believer to be righteous.

It stands as a perfect contrast to the term “condemnation.” “To condemn” someone does not mean “to make wicked,” but rather it means “to declare guilty.” So too, “to justify” means “to declare just (or righteous).”

Now here at the end of verse 13, it says that “the doers of the Law will be justified.” Notice that the term “will be justified” is in the future tense; it is something that will happen to them at some future point in time. No one can be declared righteous in this life by obedience to the Law, so this is referring to the future Day of Judgment when God, who sees the heart, will examine those whose lives of obedience to His Law demonstrated the genuineness of their faith in Christ and will declare them righteous.

At this point, one of Paul’s Jewish readers might ask, “Does that mean that the Gentiles are excused from external judgment and punishment because they didn’t have the advantage of the Law, and therefore, had no basis for obedient living?” So Paul answers that in verse 14. He says, “No! The Gentiles may not have the Law, but they ‘do instinctively the things of the Law’ being ‘a law to themselves,’ and by that ‘they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.’”

So, if someone ever asks you why you believe that the heathen who have never heard about Christ are nevertheless lost and condemned to eternal hell, let me give you four reasons which you can give them…four reasons why the heathen are lost.

First, as Paul states in Romans 1:18-21, their rejection of their knowledge of God available through His creation condemns them. God has clearly revealed His eternal power and divine nature to mankind, yet the vast majority of mankind rejected the true God and chose to worship false gods.

Second, their conduct, based on the knowledge “of the Law written in their hearts,” condemns them. The fact that mankind has established laws against certain things such as murder and theft, and values such virtues as honesty, respectfulness, faithfulness, and generosity across all cultural lines, simply proves that they have a knowledge of God’s Law which has been written in their hearts. Therefore, if those people never come to trust in the true God, their good deeds will actually witness against them on the Day of Judgment that they had an understanding of God’s Law.

Third, the heathen are condemned because of conscience. Gentiles who do not have the privilege of knowing God’s law nevertheless have a “conscience bearing witness” to His law. So the pagan who has never heard of the Bible or Jesus Christ is still guilty because his conscience tells him what is right and what is wrong. His refusal to listen to it is evidence of his fallen, sinful rebellion against God.

Fourth, the heathen are lost because of their contemplation. Paul says, “their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” This natural faculty is obviously closely related to conscience. Using their conscience which provides a basic knowledge of right and wrong, unbelievers have the obvious ability to determine that certain things are basically right and wrong.

Many people have a highly developed sense of what is just and fair, right and wrong, without ever having a saving relationship to Jesus Christ. Even the most godless societies become incensed when a child is brutally attacked or murdered. You can see this in our prison system where the most vicious drug dealers, murderers, thieves, rapists, and gang members are kept. When a child molester or child killer is sent to prison, the officials have to keep them isolated from the general prison population because if they do not, the prisoners will quickly administer justice by murdering the child molester.

So, for those four reasons—creation, conduct, conscience, and contemplation—no person can stand guiltless before God’s judgment. The fact that they do not turn to God proves they do not live up to the light God has given them. Paul assured his pagan listeners on Mars Hill in Athens, that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:26-27). And the person who genuinely seeks to know and follow God is divinely assured that he will succeed. In Jeremiah 29:13, the Lord said, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

So, to sum up, verses 13-15 are not teaching that a person who has never heard the gospel can attain eternal life by keeping the Law, because Paul’s continual argument in Romans is that it is impossible for man to keep the Law, even though it is written on his heart.

Every Knee Will Bow

By Bruce Mills

Recently I’ve been thinking about the verses found in Philippians 2:10-11, which read: “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

A few implications of these verses have been sort of rattling around in my head. First, it strikes me that those who oppose what they refer to as “Lordship Salvation” have not considered what it means that “every knee will bow…and…every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” What is pictured here is the final judgment; that event at which unredeemed mankind will bend the knee and acknowledge that Jesus is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, with the just right to do whatever He wishes with their lives. The corollary truth which stands in contrast to that fact is that those who are redeemed have already bowed the knee and acknowledged Him as their Lord. Thus, genuine salvation must include the individual’s surrender to the authority of Christ to reign over his life. The believer may not fully understand the significance of what such means, but there must be a willing submission to Christ or their supposed salvation is spurious. So, while believers have already acknowledged Christ’s lordship over their lives at the time of salvation, the unredeemed will only acknowledge His lordship when it is too late. But the point is simply that eventually everyone will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The second implication flows out of the first. It is not original with me, but it is a powerful thought. James Montgomery Boice once articulated this idea. He said that when every knee bows and every tongue confesses Christ as Lord, they are acknowledging that He is righteous and just in sending them to hell for all of eternity. His logic was that since mankind will be acknowledging that Jesus is the Sovereign God of all and therefore perfect in every way, His decision to condemn them to hell is a right and perfect and just decision because they deserve that penalty for their sin against His infinite holiness. This line of reasoning is certainly borne out in Isaiah 45:23-24, the passage which is quoted in Philippians 2:10-11. God, speaking through the prophet, says, “I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, and all who are angry at Him will be put to shame.”

Finally, as I pondered these things, I noticed the rather obvious conclusion which one must draw when Isaiah’s statement is compared with Paul’s statement in Philippians. In Isaiah, God says, “that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.” But when Paul quotes that statement in Philippians, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says, “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow…and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” So, we understand from Paul that it was Jesus who was speaking when Isaiah quoted God (YHWH). So Jesus and YHWH are one-and-the-same. When we teach about a Trinitarian God, some people misunderstand and think we are speaking of three Gods, rather than One. But although we can never satisfactorily explain nor completely understand how God can be three persons, yet one God, that is the clear teaching of Scripture. God the Son is just as fully, infinitely, and completely YHWH as are God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. So when Isaiah says that every tongue will swear allegiance to YHWH, it is synonymous with Paul’s statement that every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

I hope you will also think on these things, and that you have already bowed the knee and sworn allegiance to Christ. If not, I plead with you to come to Christ today before you find yourself bowing the knee to Him when it is too late to avoid eternal condemnation.

Genesis 12

by Robert Fraire


Recently I was given the privilege of teaching and shepherding the Friendship class at Lakeside. The first subject we are covering is the book of Genesis. It is a huge endeavour, and it will take us a long time to complete it. But the effort will be well worth it. Genesis is God's revelation of how he began everything. All the big questions in life are answered in Genesis.

Before I began teaching, Dr. Deckert taught through the first 11 chapters. This is actually a great place to transition because Chapter 12 is a key transition point in Genesis. At this point, Moses, through the Holy Spirit's guidance narrows the focus from all of humanity to the life of one man: Abram.

Abram (who God will rename Abraham) was called by God out of his home, Ur to go to a foreign country, Canaan. Why is this important? Because at this point in scripture we are introduced to God's sovereign call on a man's life. Remember that in Genesis we have already been introduced to God's sovereignty in creation, His sovereignty over the earth and over mankind as a whole. Now we see God's call of Abraham.

From Genesis 12 verses 1-3 we see the following:

1Now the LORD said to Abram,
"Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father's house,
To the land which I will show you;
2And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

The points to notice here is that Abraham was not a follower of God. He was not rich or powerful, he did not seek after God. God called him, God drew him to himself and then makes a covenant with him.

God's will always comes about. God called Abraham, because He willed that Abraham would follow him. He makes a promise of blessing to Abraham, BEFORE Abraham does anything!

And finally God prophecies the coming of Jesus Christ in the phrase "And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." This truth is revealed more clearly to us in the New Testament book of Galatians 3:8 - The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU."

Abraham then does leave his home and go to Canaan, he does respond to God's sovereign calling and drawing. This chapter therefore lays the foundation of Abraham's relationship with God.

God called him, God made promises to him, God promises blessings to him, and God prophesies that Jesus would come through his line. And it is in response to all this that God does that Abraham obeys. This order is essential and will be seen even more in coming chapters.

Great Video

by Bruce Mills

Some of you have probably already seen it, because I once gave a link to it in one of my posts. But I have now placed a great video featuring John Piper's statements on the prosperity gospel in the right hand column of this blog. If you haven't seen it yet, take a two or three minutes to watch it. It is well worth your time.

Discipline in the Local Church

by Bruce Mills

Many years ago, I wrote a small booklet for our church which outlined the elders’ perspective on the administration of church discipline within our congregation. In this post, I would like to reproduce some of that document, while removing the situation-specific references to my church. Hopefully, this will give readers a better understanding of what the Scriptures teach regarding this important topic.

Introduction

Early church documents identi­fy three cha­racteris­tics by which the true church of God may be known. These marks are the preac­hing of true doc­trine, the adminis­tra­tion of the sacra­ments, and the exer­cise of church disci­pline. Many churches today are in­volved in carry­ing out the first two of these important fea­tures, but neglect the third. The lea­der­ship of a New Testament church which is commit­ted to obey the Scrip­tures and to fulfill its responsibility to shepherd the flock of God in accordance with sound doc­trine will carry out church discipline. This means that the elders of the church will view their responsibility to the flock to include not only the teaching of the Word of God and the administration of the ordi­nances of our Lord, but also fulfilling their obliga­tion to reprove, rebuke, and exhort the members of the body of Christ to obey and follow His Word (2 Tim. 4:2, Titus 2:15).

Because it is essential that believers who are identified with the local church under­stand their role and responsibili­ties to one another and to the church leadership, I would like to explain the doctrinal position and prac­tice of church discipline within the local church.

The Need for Church Discipline

The purpose of church disci­pline is to affect a return to a biblical standard of conduct and doctrine in a member who sins (Matt. 18:15; 2 Cor. 2:5-8; Gal. 6:1), to maintain purity in the lo­cal church (1 Cor. 5:6-7), and to serve as a deter­rent to sin (1 Tim. 5:2­0). Discipline within the lo­cal church is a biblical im­perative, as command­ed by Jesus in Matt. 18:15-17 and by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 5:1-13. A church that ne­glects to lovingly con­front and cor­rect its members is not being kind, forgiv­ing, or gracious. Such a church is really hinder­ing the Lo­rd’s work and the advance of the gospel. The church without discipline is a church without purity (Eph. 5:25-27) and is in seri­ous dan­ger of losing its spiritu­al effec­tiveness. The leader­ship of local evangelical churches which are committed to the principle of obeying Scripture and seeking to maintain a be a pure and effective church until our Lord’s return will exercise church disci­pline within the body in a loving, gentle, and caring fashion for the purpose of restoring sinning bre­thren to fellowship with the Lord and with other believers.

The Steps of Discipline

Church discipline is generally to follow an established set of four steps as out­lined by Jesus in Matt. 18:15-17. Howev­er, in certain situations, these steps may be reduced in number as taught by Paul in 1 Cor. 5:3-5 and Titus 3:10.

Step One. The first step of discipline is a private one-on-one corrective summons. Jesus sta­ted, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private” (Matt. 18:15). This means that whenev­er one believer sins against another, the believer who has been sinned against must first go to the sin­ning bro­ther and deal with the matter pri­vately. The purpose behind the reproof at this point is to point out the sin, to set the matter right, and to affect the repen­tance of the offender toward God and the offend­ed believer. There is nothing in Scrip­ture which indicates that the church lead­ership is to be involved in the matter at this point. The first step involves only the two parties to the sin: the of­fender and the offended.

However, it should be understood that Je­sus did not mean that when a believer ob­serves sin in the life of another believ­er, that just because the sin is not against him per­son­ally, there is no obliga­tion to con­front the sinner. That, too, is taught in this passage. Believers are accountable for one another (Phil. 2:4) and are to demonstrate their love for the spiritual growth and development of their fellow believers by confronting them about their sin.

The attitude which characterizes this step, and every other step of discipline, is one of gentleness (Gal. 6:1) along with a firm commit­ment to the standards of God’s Word.

Step Two. The second step of church dis­cipline is a group corrective summons. Jesus said that if the private one-on-one corrective summons failed to gain the re­pentance and restora­tion of the sinning believer, then “Take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed” (Matt. 18:16). Again, the sin­ning believer is given another opportunity to turn from his sinful behavior.

The presence of these one or two witnesses is to serve two purposes: (1) they are first counselors who seek to reunite the two estranged parties, and (2) if the sin­ner refuses to repent and be restored, they serve as witnesses for the church leader­ship to the call for restoration and repentance, and the subse­quent refusal. There is no requirement that these indi­viduals be actual witnesses to the sin of the believer being confronted, but rather they are witnesses to what transpired in the group corrective summons.

Step Three. After the sinning believer has been dealt with both privately and by the small group, if no repentance and res­toration takes place, then Jesus said, “Tell it to the church” (Matt. 18:17). The purpose in bringing the mat­ter before the local assembly is so that it may do its part in bring­ing the sinning brother to repentance. The full details of the sin will not be explained, but only such commentary as may be neces­sary to inform the church family of the general nature of the matter.

When such an an­nouncement is made, other believers have a responsibility to pray for the sin­ner, to avoid a critical or pride­ful spir­it, and to call the sinner to re­pentance. Paul instructs the church in 1 Cor. 5:11 and 2 Thess. 3:14 that believ­ers are to avoid any planned social fel­lowship which would in­dicate accep­tance of the sinning broth­er, such as eating meals to­gether. Rather, the church’s obliga­tion is to use every opportu­nity to bring to the sinner’s attention the need to re­pent of the sin and be restored to fellow­ship.

The sin­ning believer is forbidden to shar­e ­in the Lord’s Table within the fel­low­ship of the church and may not participate in any ministry of the church. However, he is not pro­hib­ited from attend­ing church services hoping that the min­istry of the Word will serve to bring about repen­tance and res­toration.

Step Four. If the sinning believer still does not turn from his sin after a period of corrective summons by the entire church, then he is to be excluded from the church. Jesus’ instruction on this matter states, “If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17). At this point, the individual who refuses to repent at every step of the process is an individual whose heart is hard toward God and His people. He is to be put out of the church, thereby removing him from the protection that Christ provides to His church, and turned over to the realm of Satan (1 Cor. 5:5). Thus, he is no longer to be considered as a believer, but is to be treated exactly as one would treat an unbeliever. This means that, while making no final judgment about his actual heart condition, the church is to treat him as if he were an unbeliever. He gives no evidence of being a believer since he re­fuses to heed the authority of Christ ves­ted in the leaders of His church. Therefore, the other believers within the church are to seek to evangelize this individual whenever an opportu­nity occurs.

Thus, like any other unbeliever, this per­son would be permitted to attend the church services with the hope that the ministry of the Word and the work of the Holy Spir­it will bring about the ef­fect of repen­tance from sin and a profes­sion of Christ as Lord and Savior.

Repentance and Restoration

As previously stated, the purpose of church discipline is to affect the repen­tance from sin and restoration to fellow­ship of the sinning believer. At any step along the process, if repen­tance and res­toration to fellowship takes place, the rest of the body of Christ is to receive the penitent believer back into full fel­lowship within the church. This process involves forgive­ness, assistance, and love (2 Cor. 2:7-8).

At any time in which there is public sin which is or will be known throughout the church and the sinner has repented, he should appear before the elders and explain to them about his repentance and his de­sire for forgiveness and restoration. If such oc­curs and there is indication of the gen­uineness of such repentance, the elders should then inform the individual of his restora­tion. The pastor or another elder should announce this to the church family with the exhortation that all are to re­ceive the person back into the full fel­lowship of the church, reaffirm their love for him, and treat him in the same manner as any other broth­er in Christ.

Every believer within the church should also be ex­horted that persistence in failing to for­give a repentant believer is to place oneself in danger of church discipline.

What Sins May Result In Discipline?

Scripture presents four major categories of sin that call for church discipline. These perimeters embrace both the spirit (flexibility) and law (rigidity) essential for the purity of the church. They cover all Christian behavior, both public and private, dealing with sin as it relates to Christian love, unity, standards, and truth.

The categories are:

1. Private and personal offenses that violate Christian love (Gal. 5:19-21).

2. Divisiveness and factions that destroy Christian unity (Rom. 16:­17, 1 Cor. 5:11, 3 John 9-10).

3. Moral and ethical deviations that break Christian standards (Eph. 5:11, 2 Thess. 3:6).

4. Teaching false doctrine (Titus 1:9-11, 3:10; 1 Tim. 1:19-20, 6:3-5; 2 John 7-11).

Conclusion

Fear of disunity, conflict, and criticism has caused many Chris­tians, chur­ches, and church leaders to avoid con­fronting Chris­tians who are in sin. But a care­ful study of the New Testament indicates that such loving confronta­tion is a Chris­tian duty. Church discipline is God’s loving plan for restoring believers to fellowship with Himself and with the body of Christ. Christ desires that the church be “holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:27). Car­ing church discipline may be the means God will use in these days to purify the church so that Christ’s bride will have “no spot or wrinkle” at His coming.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

by Bruce Mills

Well, the nomination process is over. The Democrats and the Republicans both know who their respective party’s candidate will be in November. Now begins the long, brutal, bruising political campaign as each group seeks to have its candidate elected. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent, and just as many words will be written, over the next several months as Americans determine who their nation’s president will be for the next four years.

As I thought about that prospect, my thoughts returned to the need for Christians to reject the world’s view, which places its hope for change and a better life in the achievements of men. Over the next several months, campaign commercials will descend upon us like Niagara Falls, promising more jobs, a safer nation, improved health care, an end to the war in Iraq, and a better way of life--provided, of course, that the candidate of the political party that paid for the commercial is elected. And Americans—notorious for voting with their pocketbook—will rush like lemmings to the sea to vote for the individual whom they perceive to help them achieve those goals.

But the truth is that all the achievements that any president, congress, or government can ever attain are temporary. No matter how wealthy, safe, healthy, and enjoyable a particular society may become because of their efforts, in the end it will all pass away. Nations and kingdoms rise and fall, and have done so since the dawn of civilization. Some of those nations were great empires, controlling far more world power within the context of their day and age than the United States has ever possessed. Yes, the United States is currently the most powerful nation that has ever existed, but those who think it will always be so are very short-sighted in their thinking. In fact, a survey of the Bible’s teaching on future world events has no references whatsoever that would indicate that the United States will play any kind of significant role in those events.

So am I saying that we should ignore the political process and be unconcerned about who is elected as our nation’s highest leader? I’m not saying that at all. I believe Christians should participate in the political process by voting for the candidate whose beliefs best represent biblical moral standards and who will uphold our privilege as believers to worship and evangelize as we desire. Issues such as protecting our nation from external and internal attacks and making decisions which improve our economy are important, but secondary issues.

Keep in mind that we must not trust that whoever is elected can or will guarantee such benefits and privileges to us. Scripture tells us, “Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation” (Psalm 146:3). Those who place their hopes in political leaders to save them from the difficulties and concerns of life are shortsighted and doomed to disappointment. Our economy may become worse than it already is, Islamic terrorists may (read “will”) attack us again, healthcare may continue to increasingly become a benefit of the wealthy, and Christians who stand for the truths contained in God’s Word will continue to be increasingly rejected and persecuted by our society because of their positions on certain moral and theological issues; specifically, homosexuality, abortion, and the wrath of God toward sinful, self-righteous mankind.

But Christians live every day in nations where the privileges we enjoy in this nation are non-existent; places such as Myanmar, Viet Nam, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and North Korea. They are forbidden to openly worship, to evangelize, or even hold certain jobs. But we must not forget that Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18). He is actively building and maintaining His church in places which seek to devour and destroy it; where the political leadership is violently opposed to the gospel and Christians do not have the benefits of jobs, healthcare, and safety.

So please exercise the privileges God has graciously granted to you as a citizen of this nation. Vote in the upcoming election. But do not vote based on what the candidate claims he will do for you financially. That’s a very greedy, and thus sinful, viewpoint. Rather, vote for the candidate whose positions on moral issues best reflect the standards of God’s Word. Of course you should be concerned about all those other issues like financial soundness and national security, but ultimately you must rest and trust in our Lord’s sovereign control over those matters and submit to the government regardless of which political party is in control. We need to value what is important to God above our own self-interests. As the psalmist said, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes” (Psalm 118:9).