FollowThe Result of Rebuke and Church Discipline
Discipline’s Results are not Always Predictable or Visible
(Regarding Discipline) © 2026 by C. O. Bishop
2nd Corinthians 7:2-16 (Result of Church Discipline)
2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. 3 I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.
4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. 5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. 6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
What Changed?
8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.
13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.
15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
Introduction to the Result of Church Discipline:
I had to read this passage about the results of Church Discipline over and over. Initially, I distracted myself : I tried to link this to specific narratives in the book of Acts. I was unable to do so. Paul’s recorded stops in Troas do not seem to agree with the narrative here. (The first time we saw him in Troas was long before he ever went to Corinth. The second recorded time was much later, when he was en route to Jerusalem, and ultimately to Rome.)
I am aware that there are various schisms of understanding as to how many “Missionary Journeys” Paul made. I am also aware that the narrative in Acts doesn’t address this discipline at all. It only touches on the noteworthy “high” points. It is about specific things that happened, and the noteworthy places the apostles went.
There were potentially thousands of exchanges with other people and many physical side trips. We would find them fascinating, but the Holy Spirit did not choose to record them.
I finally had to conclude that I don’t know exactly when this happened…and that is OK. The “location on the time-line” and the exact locations on maps are interesting. But they are not nearly as important as the central message of what happened, and why it happened.
Consider the History in Corinth (Necessitating Discipline)
In 1st Corinthians 5:1-13, Paul addressed a bad situation in Corinth. It was common knowledge to all of the church, there, but he had only just heard about it. (Some young man was sleeping with his father’s wife. Not his mother, but a younger woman married to his older father. The same had occurred between Reuben and Bilhah, in Genesis 35:22. By the way, we also saw the judgment that came because of that sin, in Genesis 49:1-4.)
But the situation in Corinth was different. This is Church-Age teaching, and Paul had called for Church discipline, for the purpose of restoration. He rebuked the entire assembly for their complacency. They had even been proud of themselves for “tolerating” the blatant, open sin. (Does that sound familiar? Many churches today are publicly doing the same.)
Paul called for the rest of the assembly to repent of their sin. (They were ignoring, tolerating, and even approving of the sin going on among them.) He called on them to put the sinning brother out of the fellowship. They were to have nothing to do with him. The purpose and the desired result was to be restoration, as we saw in Galatians 6:1. But Paul is describing the practice of Church Discipline.
Our problem with discipline is that we can never be sure that restoration will actually occur. It is possible for a person to continue rebelling. They can simply harden their heart against the collective reproach brought against them. If they respond with that sort of anger and resentment and continued rebellion, then restoration may never happen.
Why Did Such “Church Discipline” Work at All?
We should remember that there was not “another church, two streets over,” to which they could turn. In the early church, Proximity (location and distance) was the only division that the church recognized. Proximity was a practical necessity: They had no means by which to easily “commute” to another village.
The believers in a single village or city met together for fellowship, teaching, correction, corporate prayer, worship and mutual blessing. A person who was truly part of that fellowship, but who was later excluded because of sin, would be hard-pressed to replace what he or she had lost in that relationship. This is still true in many countries today, where walking is the primary means of travel. There are no other like-minded people close enough to join them.
But, in this specific case, the man repented. 2nd Corinthians 2:1-11 points out that the discipline had already accomplished the intended purpose. Paul directed the church to forgive the man for his past failure and receive him back into full fellowship. (If we look just a little further, verses 12 & 13 tie this directly to the account in chapter seven, where Paul was “looking for Titus.”)
So, in 2nd Corinthians 2, the Church seems to have responded to that discipline by obedience to the Word. But until we see chapter seven, we do not understand the change in the church as a group.
They Responded to Discipline in the Fear of the Lord.
That’s a good thing! Psalm 19:9 says, “The Fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.” The result of their fear of God’s displeasure was that they took action against sin. And, (from what we can read in 2nd Corinthians 7) it seems that they took action against sin in their own lives. They were not just pointing fingers at someone else, in condemnation, they were purging their own lives, in the realization that God is completely Holy. God’s Holiness is not “selective,” as Human “righteousness” tends to be.
By the way, that is where we get the phrase “self-righteous.” When we declare ourselves to be righteous, (and thereby qualified to condemn others,) we completely miss the vision of God’s righteousness. Paul pointed out, in Romans 10:3, “For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
Isaiah’s Example
I can’t say what Isaiah thought of himself before his vision of the Lord in Isaiah 6:1-8. But a single look at Jesus completely demolished any complacency Isaiah may have had, regarding his own goodness or righteousness. We would do well to seek His face in that manner, as well: It is a great “leveler.” No one can honestly see the holiness and righteousness of Christ laid out in the Word of God, and still see themselves as being “Just fine, thank you!”
Paul’s Feelings About the Situation
In verses 2-7, here, we see that Paul had felt sick about having to write to Corinth with a letter so full of rebuke, and hard lessons. But Titus told him how the Corinthian believers had received him, and how strongly and fervently they felt toward Paul as their teacher and mentor. Then he quit “feeling bad” about the disciplinary letter! He saw that the Godly sorrow it had stirred up in their hearts had resulted in the transformation of the church!
The Results
Verses 10-12 tell the results of Church Discipline: They were results that Paul could not have predicted, nor could he have known, except Titus told him.
- They cared what God thought,
- They wanted to clear themselves of sin in their own lives
- They were indignant against themselves and their own complacency,
- not just the man who was sinning.
- The Fear of the Lord filled them.
- They vehemently desired Change
- The Zeal to do God’s bidding filled them
- (King James Version says “Revenge.” NIV says they “wanted to see justice done.” New King James says “vindication.”)
In short, Paul says that their actions proved where their hearts really were. So, he then reveals to them where his heart really was.
Why Did Paul Write to The Church at Corinth?
He says, that he did write to them about the man who was in sin. But it was not because of that man, nor because of the man whose son took his wife. It was because he, Paul, feared for the health and safety of the Church itself.
The gross sin in one person or group of people, if left to flourish, will spread and infect the whole church. Hebrews 12:15 specifically warns that the sin of bitterness will spread, and infect others. “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”
Jesus said, “yeast spreads through a pan of dough until it leavens all of it.” That is a good allegory of sin. (If we are baking bread, that might be a good thing. But in many areas of medicine, yeast infections are a serious threat to health.)
Sin, and the willingness to tolerate sin, to excuse or cover gross sin, will soon corrupt a church to the point that it ruins its collective testimony. Paul said that was why he wrote to them.
Paul’s Conclusion
13Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. 15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. 16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
Paul said that he was comforted by the result in their lives, and the fact that their relationship with the Lord was restored, as well as that of the fellow from the previous letter.
He admitted that he had previously “bragged” to Titus about how the Corinthian believers were responding to God’s Word. But he said he was not ashamed of that, because, as Titus confirmed, it was all true!
Titus had enjoyed a refreshing time of fellowship with the Corinthian believers, and He now related to Paul how they felt about the whole exchange. And Paul could rejoice in the entire experience, having now seen the end result.
Our Conclusion
Whole denominations have fallen into bad theology, modernism, and tolerance for sin. They have collapsed, becoming organizations who were simply no longer representatives of Christ.
A few of them realized what was happening, and repented. They went back and undid the damage, getting rid of false teachers and holding pastors and professors accountable. It can be done, but it truly is not fun! The only way to avoid having to do such major house-cleaning, is to keep careful watch, so that we do not become a band of complacent “religious sinners,” but rather we focus on drawing near to the Holy God we claim to serve.
Lord Jesus, teach us to walk with You, choosing to starve our old sin nature and choosing to feed our new nature on the Food of Your Word. Help us to walk in obedience and a practical, functioning holiness.