Christ Rules

Offenses, Offenders, and the Offended

Restoring community through reconciliation.

Gods law, as the character of Christ, is the mediator of all relationships to bring life, healing, and a harmony of interests to them all. Where God's law is not followed, for whatever reason, then rifts grow and wounds fester and relationships are broken. 

In cases of offense there is first the offender and the offended who must be reconciled. It is the responsibility of the offended to pursue this effort so that community is restored. If unsuccessful then a witness in brought in. If again unsuccessful then the pastor or elder.

What if this procedure is short cut and a steps are skipped? Then we roll it back and insist the procedure be followed, the skipped steps be un-skipped, or the case is dismissed. The point is to keep problems as small as possible, involving as few people as possible. 

God's law, the character of Christ, trumps all relationships, even familial ones.

To shortcut this all and present, in one fell swoop, the offense, the conviction, the sentence, and the execution by any and all parties involved is to forgo any hope of reconciliation, to break relationships, to drive the offender to despair, and even suicide, and if not, then to hardness of heart and even loss of salvation. 

And this is the process of reconciliation itself:

a) Studying Biblical Law (as the standard of right and wrong)

b) Confession of Sins (violations of that standard).

c) Repentance (turning away from those sins).

d) Penance (visible acts to prove repentance).

e) Restitution (paying for the damage done and the lost productivity).

f) Healing (atonement of Christ covering the sin and giving wholeness)

From: The Cure of Souls by R.J. Rushdooony (Recovering the Biblical Doctrine of Confession)

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