1 Corinthians 5:4 Commentary and Bible Study

We remember that everything the apostle did, and the way he ordered the churches, and the steps that he took, are a pattern for us. Everything he did was overruled by God. He was not a sinless man, as he tells us in Romans 7, but everything he did in the ordering of the church sets a perfect pattern for us, and here is the instruction he lays down for church discipline. ‘In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’: by his authority, that means. Whenever you read ‘in the name of Christ’ in the New Testament, it isn't just something you say like the Charismatics do: ‘in the name of Christ, this; in the name of Christ, that’, and they do not know what it means. It means by the express authority of Christ, and they do not have his authority for the things that they do. But when it comes to gathering the church for discipline, it is done by the authority of Christ. It is not a human idea. We may recoil from doing it. We may be very gentle at heart. ‘Oh, but I know this offender. Should he be disciplined? Aren’t we all sinners?’, people say. ‘Shouldn’t we make allowances? Shouldn’t the rule of love come first?’ ‘No’, says the apostle. ‘By the authority of Christ’, according to his wisdom, because Christ knows, and he has ordained, that only the discipline will really correct the sinner, and be to his ultimate blessing. So ‘in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ [at his command, by his authority] when you are gathered together.’ Even an apostle cannot excommunicate anybody. Paul says in effect, ‘I will take the place of your elders. I was once your pastor. I am an apostle, and although I am a long way away, I make an assessment of the case, and present to the church the resolution to expel the member.’ They must do it, because even an apostle cannot expel a member of a local church. No individual can excommunicate anyone from the church of Christ, no elders board can do that. The elders must try the case, and they must be fully satisfied of guilt or innocence, and then for the act of discipline they must take it to the whole gathered church, so that the whole church acts together. ‘When ye are gathered together and my spirit’, says the apostle – which is a way of saying, ‘and my determination, my decision is before you’ – then put this man out ‘with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ What does that mean? It means that as the church acts in obedience to Christ, Christ's power will accompany that action. So Christ himself will purge the church, and Christ himself will deal with the sinner and reform him, long-term. So the church obeys Christ in expelling the sinner and the power of our Lord Jesus Christ attends the act. That's the best thing, obviously. ‘Oh but if you expel somebody for a terrible sin, might that mean they will not hear the gospel anymore? Might that mean they will be lost forever?’ No, because the power of Christ attends the decision. Now that person is under the power of Christ. They are delivered over to Satan, yes – we will see what that means in a moment – but Christ, if this person is a true believer, will by his power rescue him and reform him and bring him back. That is the wisdom of God.