Excommunication
Excommunication is the church’s formal removal of an unrepentant professing believer from its fellowship and the Lord’s Table. Its aim is to uphold holiness, protect the church, and call the person to repentance and restoration.
At a Glance
Excommunication is the church’s formal removal of an unrepentant professing believer from its fellowship and the Lord’s Table. Its aim is to uphold holiness, protect the church, and call the person to repentance and restoration.
Description
Excommunication is the church’s formal act of excluding an unrepentant professing believer from the fellowship and privileges of the congregation, especially after patient, orderly attempts at correction have been refused. The practice is commonly drawn from Jesus’ teaching on church discipline and from apostolic instructions to remove those who persist in open, serious sin while claiming the name of Christ. In conservative evangelical understanding, this action is medicinal as well as protective: it seeks the offender’s repentance, preserves the purity and witness of the church, and warns others against hardened disobedience. It should be carried out humbly, justly, and corporately, with due care for facts and process, and should never be confused with personal hostility or a denial of the gospel’s readiness to forgive the repentant. Traditions differ somewhat on scope and procedure, but the basic biblical idea is the church’s solemn disciplinary separation from unrepentant sin within its own body.