Charlie Ray III, NOBTS associate professor of New Testament and Greek, has authored a newly published book titled "A Biblical Theology of Church Discipline."  

The book is published by T&T Clark, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. It was released Nov. 12 and is available for purchase from multiple retailers.  

Examining both the Old and New Testaments, the book details how the entire Bible offers a consistent teaching about the process of church disicpline that can be practically applied today.  

Ray serves as a pastor at Immanuel Community Church and said serving in full-time ministry inspired him to research this often misunderstood or neglected issue. 

"While serving as a pastor, I've sometimes had to deal with these types of church discipline issues," Ray said. 

"If you look at most Southern Baptist churches' by-laws or governing documents, most of them have sections on church discipline and pretty clear guidelines laid out. But if you look at research, it will tell you most churches don't practice church discipline or haven't in a long time.  

"That's what drew me to write the book is the very practical issue that churches are supposed to be practicing church discipline but are not, so what do we do about that?" 

Ray said his interest in the topic began when he preached Deuteronomy and 1 Corinthians back-to-back.  

He noticed that Jesus and Paul in the New Testament consistently appeal to the Old Testament law when talking about matters related to church discipline.   

With each chapter in the book, Ray examines a short portion of Old Testament law to show how the law serves as a framework for understanding how to practice church discipline.  

"We see in both the Old and New Testaments this desire to deal with sin among the people of God," Ray said. "People today often don't view church discipline as an act of law, but as unloving or legalistic, but I believe the Bible teaches the opposite of that because God disciplines those he loves. Discipline is a form of following Jesus and a part of discipleship. 

"That's what I was really trying to contribute is demonstrating what the Old Testament says about the practice of church discipline today." 

While some today would only think of church discipline as extreme matters of excommunication, Ray said he generally defines church discipline as the Church guarding its own purity and holiness.  

He argues church discipline today serves as a fulfillment of the capital punishment laws in the Old Testament, and says it is an important thing for modern churches to practice.  

Ray said this is the main takeaway he wants readers to see from the book. 

"I hope people see that church discipline really matters," Ray said. "The Bible has a lot to say about church discipline and it's consistent. There is a consistent theme of God caring about the holiness of his people.  

"Therefore, in order for the Church to be a witness to the world, we have to care about holiness in our churches. If we as the Church are to be a demonstration of the wisdom of God, then it matters that we deal with sin in the Church."