A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
A heretic is a factious, divisive person who works to mislead and draw followers after himself, and who persists in error contrary to Scripture and the faith he once held. He is to be warned a first and second time, giving him time and counsel to turn back, and if he will not listen but grows worse he is to be rejected. That rejection means withdrawing fellowship and removing him from membership, recognizing the separation he has made by his own course. The church must carry out this discipline to preserve order and purity, yet do it kindly and firmly without hatred, seeking the welfare of the one who has erred. The instruction gives no authority to put such a person to death or to punish him for his beliefs by civil power.
Meaning and Context
The heretic is a factious, divisive person, a maker of factions who works subtly to mislead and divide the followers of Christ. He speaks perversely in order to draw disciples after himself and disturbs the peace of the church by creating or fostering contention. He is also one who persists in error and in teaching contrary to Scripture and the faith of the church. He abandons doctrines taught by Scripture that he once believed, choosing his own way against God's word and against the claims of brotherhood. The scriptural term does not mean merely anyone who separates from an established church or becomes unpopular.
The instruction follows a warning against foolish disputes and fights about ceremonial laws, which are unprofitable and vain. Those laws ended with Christ's sacrifice.
The verse requires a first and second admonition or warning, and then rejection of the one who persists and will not listen. The repeated warnings allow time for one who has gone astray to be converted and to return to the true faith. Rejection therefore does not come at once, but after faithful caution, counsel, and exhortation for a suitable time, especially when the person grows worse rather than better. Admonition once or twice is followed by rejection if he will not listen, and creating divisions is treated as sin calling for this course.
The next verse explains the rejected person as perverted or subverted, sinful and sinning, and self-condemned or condemned by his own conduct. He is turned aside and stands condemned by his own actions. Persistent refusal of efforts to restore him shows that he has separated himself from the fellowship of the brethren.
Church Discipline Practice
In church practice rejection means disfellowshipping, withdrawing fellowship, avoiding and removing from fellowship, so that one who will not retract false teaching and return to the true faith should no longer remain a member or take part in meetings. His connection with the church is dissolved, and the church recognizes the separation he has made by persistent refusal of efforts to restore him. Discipline exercised according to the Word is valid, while action contrary to the Word is not confirmed in heaven.
The church has an imperative duty to carry out this withdrawal from the contentious person who creates or fosters factions and disturbs its peace, in order to preserve order in the household of faith. This is to be done faithfully and lovingly for the protection of the church and the good of the person, helping the church remain pure and fulfill its purpose. The very direction to reject after first and second admonition shows that the church has a known membership and a responsibility to discipline its members.
The work must be done kindly but firmly, without hatred or fighting, and with caution, judgment and meekness. It must consider both justice and mercy and seek the welfare of the one who has erred. Faithful caution, counsel and exhortation are to be given for a suitable time, especially watching whether the person grows worse rather than better.
The instruction applies to those who teach against sound doctrine and godly conduct. Departure from the faith is evidence of unsoundness serious enough to exclude from the communion of the saints, and agreement to differ is no substitute for faithfulness to Bible doctrine, including the Sabbath. It applies to faction-makers who speak perversely to draw disciples after themselves, to promoters of factions who withdraw fellowship from faithful messengers and leaders, seek pre-eminence, or try to reshape the message to suit their own views, since creating divisions is sin and leaves the person subverted, sinning and condemned by his own conduct. It applies likewise to a member who persists in error and shows no effort to improve after reproof and labor according to Scripture, and to a messenger whose wrong teaching causes discord and division and who refuses repeated earnest efforts to meet and settle the matter.
Offenses against the church as a whole, the truth, society, or morality, not merely personal offenses, are to receive this first and second admonition. These public offenses differ from the private matters addressed in Matthew 18 and call for less private labor. When a member is unsure how to proceed, the church elders are the appropriate people to consult.
Limits on Rejection
The instruction to warn a divisive person a first and a second time and then reject him does not authorize putting that person to death, and to turn reject into a warrant for execution is a distorted use of the command. The same direction was invoked to claim that an obstinate heretic should be excommunicated and exterminated, but rejection stops short of killing. The command concerns admonishing and rejecting, and it gives no authority to inflict bodily punishment for unbelief or to punish people for their beliefs by civil power. To use it as a warrant for civil persecution after one or two admonitions is faulty, sophistical reasoning that violates rights of conscience.
No person has authority over another's beliefs or opinions, since each person answers to God for belief. To punish someone for belief usurps God's prerogative and puts the punisher in God's place. The scriptural term heretic does not mean merely anyone who separates from an established church or becomes unpopular. Separation that is condemned as heresy by those who regard their own beliefs as orthodoxy is not by that label alone shown to be heresy in the scriptural sense.
A heretic is a factious, divisive person who works to mislead and draw followers after himself, and who persists in error contrary to Scripture and the faith he once held. He is to be warned a first and second time, giving him time and counsel to turn back, and if he will not listen but grows worse he is to be rejected. That rejection means withdrawing fellowship and removing him from membership, recognizing the separation he has made by his own course. The church must carry out this discipline to preserve order and purity, yet do it kindly and firmly without hatred, seeking the welfare of the one who has erred. The instruction gives no authority to put such a person to death or to punish him for his beliefs by civil power.
Meaning and Context
The heretic is a factious, divisive person, a maker of factions who works subtly to mislead and divide the followers of Christ. He speaks perversely in order to draw disciples after himself and disturbs the peace of the church by creating or fostering contention. He is also one who persists in error and in teaching contrary to Scripture and the faith of the church. He abandons doctrines taught by Scripture that he once believed, choosing his own way against God's word and against the claims of brotherhood. The scriptural term does not mean merely anyone who separates from an established church or becomes unpopular.
The instruction follows a warning against foolish disputes and fights about ceremonial laws, which are unprofitable and vain. Those laws ended with Christ's sacrifice.
The verse requires a first and second admonition or warning, and then rejection of the one who persists and will not listen. The repeated warnings allow time for one who has gone astray to be converted and to return to the true faith. Rejection therefore does not come at once, but after faithful caution, counsel, and exhortation for a suitable time, especially when the person grows worse rather than better. Admonition once or twice is followed by rejection if he will not listen, and creating divisions is treated as sin calling for this course.
The next verse explains the rejected person as perverted or subverted, sinful and sinning, and self-condemned or condemned by his own conduct. He is turned aside and stands condemned by his own actions. Persistent refusal of efforts to restore him shows that he has separated himself from the fellowship of the brethren.
Church Discipline Practice
In church practice rejection means disfellowshipping, withdrawing fellowship, avoiding and removing from fellowship, so that one who will not retract false teaching and return to the true faith should no longer remain a member or take part in meetings. His connection with the church is dissolved, and the church recognizes the separation he has made by persistent refusal of efforts to restore him. Discipline exercised according to the Word is valid, while action contrary to the Word is not confirmed in heaven.
The church has an imperative duty to carry out this withdrawal from the contentious person who creates or fosters factions and disturbs its peace, in order to preserve order in the household of faith. This is to be done faithfully and lovingly for the protection of the church and the good of the person, helping the church remain pure and fulfill its purpose. The very direction to reject after first and second admonition shows that the church has a known membership and a responsibility to discipline its members.
The work must be done kindly but firmly, without hatred or fighting, and with caution, judgment and meekness. It must consider both justice and mercy and seek the welfare of the one who has erred. Faithful caution, counsel and exhortation are to be given for a suitable time, especially watching whether the person grows worse rather than better.
The instruction applies to those who teach against sound doctrine and godly conduct. Departure from the faith is evidence of unsoundness serious enough to exclude from the communion of the saints, and agreement to differ is no substitute for faithfulness to Bible doctrine, including the Sabbath. It applies to faction-makers who speak perversely to draw disciples after themselves, to promoters of factions who withdraw fellowship from faithful messengers and leaders, seek pre-eminence, or try to reshape the message to suit their own views, since creating divisions is sin and leaves the person subverted, sinning and condemned by his own conduct. It applies likewise to a member who persists in error and shows no effort to improve after reproof and labor according to Scripture, and to a messenger whose wrong teaching causes discord and division and who refuses repeated earnest efforts to meet and settle the matter.
Offenses against the church as a whole, the truth, society, or morality, not merely personal offenses, are to receive this first and second admonition. These public offenses differ from the private matters addressed in Matthew 18 and call for less private labor. When a member is unsure how to proceed, the church elders are the appropriate people to consult.
Limits on Rejection
The instruction to warn a divisive person a first and a second time and then reject him does not authorize putting that person to death, and to turn reject into a warrant for execution is a distorted use of the command. The same direction was invoked to claim that an obstinate heretic should be excommunicated and exterminated, but rejection stops short of killing. The command concerns admonishing and rejecting, and it gives no authority to inflict bodily punishment for unbelief or to punish people for their beliefs by civil power. To use it as a warrant for civil persecution after one or two admonitions is faulty, sophistical reasoning that violates rights of conscience.
No person has authority over another's beliefs or opinions, since each person answers to God for belief. To punish someone for belief usurps God's prerogative and puts the punisher in God's place. The scriptural term heretic does not mean merely anyone who separates from an established church or becomes unpopular. Separation that is condemned as heresy by those who regard their own beliefs as orthodoxy is not by that label alone shown to be heresy in the scriptural sense.