Forgiveness for the Offender

A group I am part of is reading through 2 Corinthians. When I got to the passage below titled 'Forgiveness for the Offender' I decided to read the commentary and was struck by what I read. I always thought the purpose was discipline but it isn't. The purpose is restoration. The commentary indicated that:

·         ‘Church discipline should seek restoration. Two mistakes in church discipline should be avoided – being too lenient and not correcting mistakes, or being too harsh and not forgiving the sinner. There is a time to confront and a time to comfort.

I know of an instance where a man was confronted by our church staff, several times I believe, and asked eventually to leave the church. I don’t recall that this was brought up to the majority of the church as indicated below. He and his family were very involved in the church.

Now after reading the commentary for this scripture I don’t recall hearing if the man repented and if the pastor forgave the man and invited the man and his family to come back. The Commentary continues: 

·         We must remember that our purpose in discipline is to restore a person to the fellowship, not to destroy him or her. We must be cautious that personal anger is not vented under the guise of church discipline.

Forgiveness for the Offender

2 Corinthians 2:5-11

⁵ If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. ⁶ The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. ⁷ Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. ¹⁰ Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, ¹¹ in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

Tyndale NIV Life Application Bible – Commentary for 2 Corinthians 2:5-11

·         2:5-11  Paul explained that it was time to forgive the man who had been punished by the church and had subsequently repented. He needed forgiveness, acceptance and comfort. Satan would gain an advantage if they permanently separated this man from the congregation rather than forgiving and restoring him. …Church discipline should seek restoration. Two mistakes in church discipline should be avoided – being too lenient and not correcting mistakes, or being too harsh and not forgiving the sinner. There is a time to confront and a time to comfort.

·         2:11  We use church discipline to help keep the church pure and to help wayward people repent. But Satan tries to harm the church by tempting it to use discipline in an unforgiving way. This causes those exercising discipline to become proud of their purity, and it causes the person who is being disciplined to become bitter and perhaps leave the church entirely. We must remember that our purpose in discipline is to restore a person to the fellowship, not to destroy him or her. We must be cautious that personal anger is not vented under the guise of church discipline.