Who Is the Majority?

2:6 "Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority."

Paul speaks here of the church discipline inflicted upon the man in the Corinthian church who had opposed Paul. He says this punishment "was inflicted by the majority." What does he mean?

First of all, we know that the only official punishment given by Christ to the church to use against unrepentant sin in the church was what has come to be called excommunication: the expulsion from the fellowship and communion of the church of a church member who refuses to repent of sin. We have seen it discussed in many places in the NT.

Our Lord says: "If he refuses to listen to them [the two or three], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." (Matt.18:17). But how does this decision get made? Is it by a vote of the whole congregation? Or is it a decision of the church AS REPRESENTED BY its leaders? Certainly either interpretation is possible from these words of Jesus.

Frequently the OT refers to the “assembly of Israel” when it meant the assembly of Israel AS REPRESENTED BY its elders - for instance Exod. 3:15-16, Exod. 19:3 and 7, and Deut. 31:28 and 30.

This interpretation -- that the elders of the church are the ones commissioned by Christ on behalf of the church to inflict church discipline -- is supported by passages that speak of the keys of the kingdom (to let in and to put out) given not to the congregation but to the leaders of Christ’s church:

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." (Matt.16:19)

"If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." (John 20:23)

And especially Matt.18:18, which directly follows Christ’s words in Matt.18:17 above:

"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

This is also consistent with common sense, since it would be very difficult to honor privacy and propriety in the context of the whole congregation.

We conclude then that the most Biblical way for church discipline to be imposed is through the leaders of the church, elected by the congregation to act for them in matters such as this.

We also know that in the church at Corinth, although this one rebel leader had now repented, there was still a minority who opposed Paul (which becomes clear in chapter 10). It is reasonable therefore to conclude that when Paul’s severe letter had been read at Corinth, the majority had taken the apostle’s exhortations to heart, and had inflicted church discipline upon this man. This is what Paul means, therefore, when he refers to the "punishment which was inflicted by the majority." Most of this letter is spent affirming the majority for their support of Paul and urging the minority to do the same, warning them that he would also deal with them severely if they had not done so by the time he came to visit.

We don’t know if there were elders in the church at Corinth. There may not have been since there is no mention of them in either Corinthian letter and since the church was young and since the pattern in the early church was not always to set up elders right at the outset (probably since it would take some time for qualified men to be raised up). So it is possible that, because of its infant status, the congregation (or a temporary governing board) did vote on the discipline of this man. Or it may be that there was no vote at all and that the action was done in obedience to Paul’s apostolic command in his (now lost) severe letter. In other words, it may be that in the absence of elders in a given church the overseeing apostle acted as the elder in matters such as this. This would be consistent with Paul’s action in 1Cor.5:4-5:

"In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

Dear Father, in Your great love for Your Church, You have commanded that if anyone is caught in any trespass, those who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to himself, so that they too will not be tempted. Please give the leaders of Your church the love, courage and humility to carry out this ministry of restoration, to be willing to go after the wandering sheep and fight off the threatening wolves, in order to promote health, growth, strength, perseverance and love in the body of Christ.