Lesson 5, continued:Discipline (I Corinthians 5:1-7): This is to try to save the erring, keep the church pure, and cause others to fear, i.e., to know that sin will not be tolerated (I Timothy 5:19-20).II Thessalonians 3:6; Titus 3:10-11Negatively: Any effort to put the church in the entertainment field or in business is without Bible authority.Conclusion: Though a church may be right in name, worship, and plan of salvation, if it corrupts the functions of the church, it cannot long remain of Christ.Lesson 6:Introduction: In this lesson, we emphasize the necessity of respecting the structure (organization) in and through which Christians function collectively in spiritual matters.Relative to Christians, the word church is used in three senses:The assembly of the whole church (I Corinthians 14:23, 34-35)The whole family of God; all saved by Jesus’ blood (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 3:15; Hebrews 12:23)There is no organization for the church universal.There are no collective functions assigned for the church universal.There is no assigned common oversight for the church universal.Christ is the head of the body, king of the kingdom, shepherd of the flock, and all saints are brethren (Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 2:30-33; John 10:11, 16, 27; Matthew 23:8)The local church – a relationship where saints agree to work together under a common oversight and pool their resources to finance the work Christ assigned to it.The local church is the only structure known to the New Testament in and through which saints are to worship and work together under a common oversight in the things of Christ.It is an independent unit answerable only to Christ (Acts 20:28).Each church is to have elders as soon as men attain the qualifications (I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5).
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