The heart of church discipline

5 For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Take note! I, Paul, am telling you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. 3 Again I testify to every man who has himself circumcised that he is bound to do the entire law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we eagerly await through the Spirit, by faith, the hope of righteousness.

Galatians 6:1-5

Introduction

I do want to just say: the way that we regularly preach is that we go through verse by verse, book by book. We presently find ourselves in Romans, and we actually find ourselves in Romans chapter 8. But don’t turn there right now. We’ve taken a little bit of a deviation over the last three or four weeks. First we looked at the topic of deacons because we have constitutional changes that are coming. And so we spent three weeks looking at various passages that relate to deacons. We looked at Acts chapter 6, verses 1–7; we looked at Philippians 1, verses 1–2; and we looked at 1 Timothy 3, verses 8–13.

This morning we are actually continuing another very short series on church discipline, which we started last week Sunday evening as we looked at Matthew chapter 18 from verse 15 through to verse 20. This morning we’re not looking at the process of church discipline so much as we’re looking at **the heart of church discipline**.

So what I’m going to do in order to familiarize ourselves with two of the key texts on the topic is I’m going to read first Matthew chapter 18 from verse 15 to verse 20—that would be the process of church discipline—and then I will ask you (so don’t stand now) to stand to honor the reading of God’s Word, which today will be taken from Galatians chapter 6, verses 1–5—which is the heart of church discipline.

You know, so much has gone wrong this morning. Lights went on when we arrived. Our songs and service wasn’t loaded on the projection behind me. So much has gone wrong. So much is out of our hands. But I am reminded that Jesus is on His throne. That nothing thwarts Him. That He knows the beginning from the end. He knows everything that has transpired today. And that He is in sovereign control.

And so before I pray to settle my own heart and to focus our hearts collectively on God’s Word, can I ask that we bow our heads one more time and pray to Almighty God.

*Father, You are almighty. You are on Your throne and You are worthy of our praise. We, Your people, have sung Your adoration this morning. And now, Lord God, we give ourselves to further praise. We read Your Word, and Lord God, we ask that You would renew our minds, that we would be conformed to the image of Your dear Son Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and our Savior, so that we can offer our lives as a living sacrifice to Him. This is high praise. This is high worship. Lord God, would You be glorified in this moment? I ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. And I ask this in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And I ask this to Your own good pleasure, our Father in heaven. Amen.*

So let me start by reading Matthew chapter 18, verse 15 to verse 20. Hear what God says in His Word. You can follow in your own Bibles.

*“If your brother sins against you, go tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. And if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”*

That’s what Jesus said in the book of Matthew.

Now hear what Paul writes in the book of Galatians in the sixth chapter, reading from the first verse. And can I ask as many as are able to stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word?

*“Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourself so that you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load.”*

Just so far in the reading of God’s Word. Amen. Please be seated.

Galatians chapter 6, verse 1 starts off: *“Brothers and sisters”*—or brethren—*“if someone is overtaken”*—if someone is surprised—*“in any wrongdoing,”* in any sin, *“you who are spiritual…”*

Last week Sunday evening we saw Jesus Christ’s step‑by‑step plan for rescuing a brother who is in sin. Now today, Paul gives us the heart behind that process. How are we to go about gently restoring, gently carrying each other’s burdens humbly, and pointing one another to the gospel with confidence?

See, that’s what this morning’s text is about. It’s about a rescue mission. It’s about seeing a believer that is trapped in sin and refusing to turn away—not pointing a finger at them, but with a hand shaped by the cross, helping them in their moment of crisis.

Many of us understand this tension well. Many of you lead teams, meet deadlines, carry responsibilities in your daily jobs. And yet, when it comes to spiritual care—while you care for the people that are under your command at the office—for some unknown reason, we hesitate. We fear that we might be seen as hypocrites. We worry about the whispers. Our own heart says to us, *“Who are you to correct someone else?”* The weight of our own burdens—our work and our family and our personal struggles—well, they make us wonder if we are fit for the task.

But here’s the gospel truth in this passage. Christ didn’t wait for us to clean up our act before He came into our lives and helped us. He entered into our mess. He restored Peter after his denial, and He lifted Zacchaeus up from his shame. Now He calls us—even as a church—to do the same. Not because we are perfect people, but because we are forgiven ones.

Today we will see how mature believers intervene in the lives of those who have been overtaken by sin. This isn’t just a sermon. This is a rescue plan which is grounded in grace. That is what we must take out of God’s Word this morning.

**Christ’s cross, friends, compels us to restore the fallen, bearing their burdens and holding them to account.**

We’re going to see that in three steps from the passage in front of us—how to get involved in the life of a Christian who has fallen into sin:

1. Correct with care (second half of verse 1)
2. Support with humility (verses 2–3)
3. Edify with intent (verses 4–5)

Correct with Care

Our first point: **correct with care.** Let me tell you what the second half of Galatians chapter 6 is going to say. In short: **mature believers are to gently bring back fallen Christians, guarding their own hearts from falling into sin.**

Where do I get that? Well, go back to chapter 6, verse 1 together with me. It says, *“Restore such a person with a gentle spirit.”*

If you are in the position to speak life into someone who has fallen into sin, friend, you need to remember Jesus. Use the same gentleness that Christ shows you daily. Remember the woman who was caught in adultery and Jesus saying to her, *“Go and sin no more.”* Remember Jesus walking on that dusty road and seeing Zacchaeus up in the sycamore tree and saying, *“What on earth are you doing up there? Come down. Let’s go to your house and eat and spend some time chatting.”* Remember Jesus’s gentleness and compassion as He dealt with your own heart—and then go and do likewise.

Gentleness doesn’t avoid hard questions. It doesn’t avoid the hard conversations. Gentleness does not avoid calling sin sin. But gentleness corrects without causing injury.

It says in verse 1: *“Restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.”* I’m just struck right now by that word *yourselves*. This process that Paul envisaged—in terms of Christ’s steps of church discipline—involves one‑on‑one, but it certainly involves more than that. Whether that be two or three witnesses or whether that involves the entire church, as you go about this process of restoring a person with a gentle spirit, you need to watch out for yourselves, church, so that you also won’t be tempted.

If you are in the position to speak life into someone who has fallen into sin, you need to go about it guarding your own heart. This is why Jesus taught us to start reconciliation one‑on‑one and privately. Private confrontation isn’t just procedural. It’s protective. It guards the other person’s dignity and it guards your own heart from pride. Sin is a sticky mess.

The brother of Jesus, Jude, says it best in his book. He says, *“Have mercy on those who waver; save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on them with fear, hating even the garment that is defiled by the flesh.”*

Well, when we seek to restore a fellow believer that has been caught in sin, we need to approach them like a skilled therapist working with an injured athlete. A good therapist doesn’t scold the athlete for getting hurt. He doesn’t shake his head at the springbok lock who has been injured during the game. No, they carefully assess the damage. They create a personalized recovery plan. They walk them through each step of the healing process. They know that pushing the rugby player too hard would cause reinjury, but neglecting to treat them at all would be just as harmful. We would lose a key player. And so their goal isn’t just to get the athlete back on the field, but to restore them back stronger than ever.

Well, that is how we go about the spiritual restoration process. We come alongside our brother or sister with patience and with expertise, not to condemn them for their fall, but to strengthen them for their walk. Like a therapist adjusting the treatment to the healing progress, we adapt our care to their needs, always pointing them to full restoration in Jesus Christ who is Lord and Savior. And just as a therapist maintains proper boundaries to avoid injuring themselves, so too we must guard our hearts as we help others stand firm again.

As we read Galatians 6:1, we discover that **mature believers are to gently bring back Christians, guarding their own hearts from falling into sin.** That’s the first point: correct with care.

Support with Humility

Here’s the second point: **support with humility.** This looks at verse 2 and verse 3 of Galatians chapter 6. And really, if I had to summarize those two verses, it would be like this: **mature believers are to lovingly help fallen Christians without getting their own heads puffed up in the process.**

Verse 2 says, *“Carry.”* And really, that’s the second command in these verses. The first command was *restore*. This is the second command, the second imperative, the second thing that Paul wants us to do. He wants us to carry one another’s burdens. These burdens are the weight of the consequences of sin. And this burden is to be shared collectively. We are to carry one another’s burdens. And in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.

If you are ever in the position to speak life into someone who’s fallen into sin, friend, we are to bear one another’s burdens collectively. At Benoni Baptist Church, we have a growth track. It’s on our notice board at the back. It says that we get connected—you join the church as a member. You get equipped—you find out about joining a small group Bible study and you start to attend a weekly growth group. And then you get involved—you find a ministry team to serve alongside. What’s the point? Where are you on that growth track? But why am I emphasizing this? Because who do you think are the *one anothers* in this text? The *one anothers* who carry one another? The *one anothers* who will carry you if you fall into sin?

Well, our text says *carry one another’s burdens*. You become a *one another* when you get connected to the church. Your small group Bible study isn’t for coffee. It’s for crisis. There is a correlation between spiritual vitality and church membership, small group Bible study participation, and being involved in a ministry team. I see that over and over again.

If you are ever in the position to speak life into someone who’s fallen into sin, speak life by fulfilling Christ’s law in their life. Well, what is Christ’s law? Christ’s law is love in action. Jesus said, *“I give you a new command: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”* Friends, we are to love one another. What does loving one another look like? Well, in this case, loving one another looks like carrying one another’s burdens. That fulfills the law of Christ.

Don’t see your brother in sin and do nothing about it. Don’t see your friend from Bible study drifting away from the church and not give them a call. Care enough to talk to one another. When Jesus in Matthew chapter 18 said, *“Bring one or two others,”* He was inviting us to share the burden of restoration. Friends, this isn’t about ganging up on a person who’s fallen into sin. This is about bearing them up.

It says in verse 3: *“For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”* If you are ever in the position to speak life into someone who’s fallen into sin, kill your own pride. If you think you are mature, well, you probably are not. Know that any level of spiritual advancement that you have achieved since becoming a Christian is just because the Spirit has been good in your life to advance you thus far. And so stay humble in the process. Remember your role is not to judge one another. It’s to carry one another’s burdens in this case. Just because you sin differently to the person you’re counseling doesn’t mean that you are not a sinner yourself. And so stay humble in the process.

That’s the second point. To sum it up: **mature believers are to lovingly help fallen Christians without getting their heads puffed up in the process.** Support with humility. Correct with care.

Edify with Intent

And the third point: **edify with intent.** That word *edify* really means *build up*. Build up with intent. **Mature believers in verse 4 and verse 5 are to intentionally counsel fallen Christians till they once again walk in spiritual confidence.**

Verse 4: *“Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else.”* The Greek word here for *examine* means *to prove genuineness*. Let each person prove the genuineness of their own work. It’s like a jeweler inspecting gold—scrutinizing your motives before addressing others. If you’re in the position ever to speak life into someone who’s fallen into sin, test your own heart and test your own work first.

Comparison between you and them—or you and anyone, really—steals, robs you of joy. You need to run your own race. Men, before you confront your brother about his porn habit, ask: *Where am I compromising in my own life?* Before you challenge a person about their workaholism, check your own family priorities and your own downtime.

*Pride* in this text isn’t arrogance. *Pride* in this text is gospel confidence. It’s a positive type of pride. It is a boast. As you grow in God’s grace, you grow in confidence of Christ’s finished work for you, which is working in you and is working for you and is working itself out in you.

Verse 5 says: *“For each person will have to carry his own load.”* There’s a difference between the *burdens* that were spoken about earlier and the *load* that is spoken about here. Those *burdens* were really the consequences of sin. Those burdens were what was weighing the sinner down. That was to be carried collectively. But here *load* is the weight of your personal responsibility. Your personal responsibility is to be carried by yourself.

If you are ever in the position to speak life into someone who’s fallen into sin, carry your own load. Friend, you are responsible for your walk before Christ, not others’ choices. *Load* is your daily obedience. *Load* is your parenting. *Load* is your integrity at work. You are responsible to carry your own load. You can’t blame your spiritual drift on your boss, on your wife, or on your kids. No, you need to own your work with God.

And so maturity means helping others stand while focused on your own race. No comparisons, no excuses, just grace‑driven faithfulness.

**Mature believers are to intentionally counsel fallen Christians until they too can again walk in spiritual confidence.** Correct with care. Not only that, support with humility and edify with intent.

Connect to the gospel

How does this passage connect to the gospel?

Jesus restored you when you were broken. He carried the weight of your sin to the cross. And He calls you to live in His freedom. Friend, when you gently restore a fallen brother, share his burdens, take responsibility with him for his walk, we are not just following commands. We’re putting the gospel on display. We are fulfilling the law of Christ because what we do for others, Jesus first did for us.

Application for believers

So how are we to apply what we learn in Galatians 6:1–5 in our lives? Well firstly, believers, we’re just going to follow the imperatives—the instructions—in the passage.

1. **Restore gently.** When you see a fellow believer trapped in sin, initiate a private conversation—not a private conversation which entails you speaking to ten other people before you go and speak to them. Go to your brother in love, not to condemn them, but to help them. And ask your heart this question: *Am I approaching them with the same gentleness that Christ shows me daily?* Commit to praying for a struggling brother or sister this week.

2. **Bear collectively.** When you support a struggling brother, remember Matthew chapter 18 teaches us to escalate care if necessary. Don’t carry someone’s burdens alone. Invite others to help, just as the early church did. Is there someone in your community group who is carrying a heavy load? How can you together with others tangibly support them? Even as you take care of the needs of others, be ready quickly to confess your own needs. Where can you start? Perhaps you can simply text a friend: *How can I pray for you this week?* Or text someone you know is struggling and ask them how you can come alongside them. Maybe it’s time for you to be vulnerable and reach out to someone in the church who you know is spiritually mature that can walk alongside of you.

3. **Examine honestly.** Friends, before we correct the sin of others, we need to ask ourselves: *Where am I compromising?* Jesus said it: before you judge others, take care of the log in your own eye before you take care of the splinter in theirs. Now we need to stop comparing our spiritual growth to others. Our load is our unique spiritual stewardship to bear. But if the Lord is convicting you to change in an area, you need to share that with somebody who can hold you to account.

Application for unbelievers

Unbelievers, how ought you to respond to this text? What burdens, friend, are you trying to carry alone? What sin is weighing you down like a heavy load on your back, almost too difficult to bear? What transgressions and iniquities have broken your relationship with God Almighty?

Friend, you need to know that Christ bore it all on the cross. And in this moment, Jesus isn’t condemning you. He’s offering you freedom from sin’s guilt and power. Would you let someone walk beside you in your spiritual journey? This church isn’t supposed to be a place of judgment, but it’s supposed to be a great place of grace where our struggles are shared one with another as we point one another to the person of Jesus Christ.

If God examined your life today, what would He find? Christ offers you a clean record, a blank slate, a garment washed as white as snow. Friend, you will one day answer to God. But Christ’s righteousness covers all who place their faith and their trust in Him. Friend, turn to Him today. Turn to Him without delay. Cast yourself on the death and on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and experience the salvation which He so freely gives.

If you need to talk to someone about salvation after the service, Robin will be here in the front. He’d love to pray with you or explain to you how you can be right with God through the person of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, we began with a call to rescue, to step into the mess of sin with the same grace that Christ has shown us. We’ve seen how mature believers are to correct with care, restoring gently while guarding their own hearts. How they are to support with humility, carry burdens without pride. And how they are to edify with intent, examining ourselves and pointing others to gospel confidence in Jesus Christ.

This is the way of the cross. Just as Jesus bore our sins and restored us, we now bear one another’s burdens—not as judges, but as fellow sinners saved by grace. Church discipline in Matthew chapter 18 and spiritual restoration in Galatians chapter 6 are two sides of the same coin.

And I know that this works because I’ve seen this working in the lives of people that I’ve served over many years. As I’ve gone to them sometimes one‑on‑one or brought a friend alongside of me to go and speak to someone, as I’ve seen issues been brought to the church or even the fourth step of church discipline—the church removing their affirmation of faith—I’ve seen people turn from their sins and once again come to the cross, renounce their sins, and place themselves fully in Jesus Christ’s care and experience the joy that comes from restoration with God.

Both begin with grace. Both the process of reconciliation as well as reconciliation itself—they begin with grace and they aim for reconciliation. They refuse to abandon the fallen. They leave no man on the battlefield. Whether we are correcting one‑on‑one or whether we are walking through the steps as a church, our goal is always the same: rescue the straying, restore the broken, and rejoice when grace wins.

Believers, let’s live this out. Let’s pray for those who struggle—our brothers and our sisters—this week, and let’s reach out with gentleness to people who we can care for. Let’s share their burdens tangibly. Text a friend: *How can I pray with you? I’m struggling too.* And examine your own heart daily. Run your race without comparison.

Unbelievers, Christ’s arms are open. You do not have to carry your guilt alone. He took your burden to the cross. Turn to Him and cast yourself on Him today.

As we leave here, remember the gospel isn’t just a message we believe. It’s a mission we live out every day. And so, let’s go and restore. Let’s go and bear. Let’s go and edify for the glory of Christ and the good of His church. Amen.