Keeping the Organization Clean

“Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?”—2 Cor. 6:14, NW.

1. Why is Jehovah interested in keeping his organization clean, and what does he want its members to be?

JEHOVAH is very much interested in keeping his organization clean and separate from this evil, wicked world in which we are now living. He has a reason for this. His servants belong to him, they stand for his name, they stand for his Word, and they stand for clean worship. Jehovah God wants them to be imitators of him. That is why he inspired his servant Paul to write in Ephesians 5:1, 2 (NW), “Therefore, become imitators of God, as beloved children, and go on walking in love, just as the Christ also loved you and delivered himself up for you as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling odor.”

2. (a) Whom did Jesus imitate and thus how did he himself set a pattern for imitation? (b) Through such imitation, in what way would his followers differ from the world?

² Now when Christ Jesus was on earth he imitated his heavenly Father. What he was interested in was doing his Father’s will at all times. And so he was a sacrifice of sweet-smelling savor to Him. His footstep followers must be people of the same kind. They should offer to God sacrifices of sweet-smelling savor, and they can do this by imitating God, by imitating Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:18; 1 Pet. 2:5) Jesus showed love for his people. He laid down his life so that he might redeem them, and in showing his love for his people he wanted his followers to be different from this old world. He wanted them to come out from this decaying system of things and gain life. The old world is wicked. It is not imitating Jehovah God. God’s people must be different, different from this old world. The difference comes in their way of living, and that has to do with our love one toward another. In John 13:34 (NW), Jesus said, “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” This loving one another is so different from the way the world operates. The world operates on selfishness, hatred. Jesus introduced something entirely new, new to this world. It was a principle of love: people coming together in a congregation, loving one another, getting along with one another. This love is possible if we imitate God. If we do not imitate him, we are not going to have this love, because God is love.

3. On what basis is the congregation built up, and so what would be the general reason for disfellowshiping anyone?

³ We might wonder, then, since this congregation which God is developing or bringing into existence is based on love, why anyone should ever want to talk about disfellowshiping or putting people out of this congregation. There certainly must be some reason. Well, the reason for disfellowshiping is that some persons get into this congregation of God that do not love Christ. “Well, everyone, of course, loves Christ,” you say. But that is really a fact: they no longer are imitators of Christ or imitators of the Father, Jehovah God. They no longer walk in Christ’s footsteps. The whole purpose of bringing his servants, his people, into an organization is to keep them clean from the Devil’s organization. As long as we walk in the way of the Devil’s crowd we cannot remain clean. So God has built his own organization. There are two organizations in the world today. One is God’s and the other belongs to the Devil, who is the “god of this system of things”. So the organization that Jehovah God is now building up for the vindication of his name and word is built up on love. This whole organization works together in unity. And thus we read at Ephesians 4:16 (NW): “From him all the body, by being harmoniously joined together and being made to cooperate through every joint which gives what is needed, according to the functioning of each respective member in due measure, makes for the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” There is your basis, love. Hence when one gets away from that principle of love and devotion one toward another in this congregation, it is time for that individual to be put out of the congregation.

MISBEHAVIOR

4, 5. In this connection, with whom does the wrong lie, and why must there be a cutting of someone off from the Christian body?

⁴ The reason for disfellowshiping people is that of their wrongdoing. The congregation is not wrong, for that is God’s. But it is someone in the congregation now who is not imitating God or following out his principles of truth and righteousness. He is not being built up in love. He is no longer imitating Jehovah, or the Son, or the apostles. Therefore we are advised at 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 7, 11 (NW): “Now we are giving you orders, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to withdraw from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition you received from us. For you yourselves know the way you ought to imitate us, because we did not behave disorderly among you. For we hear certain ones are walking disorderly among you, not working at all but meddling with what does not concern them.”

⁵ Here Paul is pointing out that he, the apostle, when he walked among them, was not disorderly, so it was not his misbehavior that was sending any of them in the wrong direction. Jehovah God does not misbehave. Christ Jesus does not misbehave. We have perfect examples to follow. We have good words of counsel from them that we can heed. So then, if this body becomes disorderly, or any part of the body becomes disorderly, it would mean that the body would get sick. It would not continue being built up in love. A correction has to be made. It may mean the removal of something. In the case of the body we are talking of, the congregation of God, it may mean the removal of an individual because he is disorderly, not being built up in love.

6. Why must we not be hasty in putting anyone out, but what does Paul admonish us to do toward the disorderly ones?

⁶ However, we do not have to be hasty about the matter and, because we hear of someone doing wrong, just take action and put him out of the congregation. There is a possibility that these persons who do wrong will repent, changing their course of action. And so it is stated in 2 Thessalonians 3:13-15 (NW): “For your part, brothers, do not give up in doing right. But if anyone is not obedient to our word through this letter, keep this one marked, stop associating with him, that he may become ashamed. And yet do not be considering him as an enemy, but continue admonishing him as a brother.” So, then, all of us in the congregation of the Lord have a responsibility toward those that may be disorderly. All of us in the congregation must keep on doing right for the benefit of the others. We may be able to benefit some of those that are a little disorderly. We keep on doing the right thing, regardless of their course of action, but if they keep on going in the wrong way they must be marked. We must stop associating with them, because they are not clean. They are not working in the defense of Jehovah’s name and his Word. They are not working in the interest of building up this body in love. They are working against the organization.

7. Are we to coerce any erring one into a right course, and how are we to use our freedom as God’s people?

⁷ However, we may be able to save a brother, and he may start out on the right course again if he heeds the admonition, if he heeds the correction that is given him. We are free people. We may use our minds the way we want to. We are not coerced or forced or browbeaten into the course of action we take, but we have been made free because of Christ Jesus’ purchasing us. And that is why Peter said in his first letter, 1 Pe chapter 2, verses 16, 17 (NW): “Be as free people.” Do your thinking, but you must still be an imitator of God, for you are free to think along the lines that are based on truth. The wicked world will take you into the grave; the truth will give you life. So, “be as free people,” says Peter, “and yet holding your freedom, not as a blind for moral badness, but as slaves of God. Honor men of all kinds, have love for the whole association of brothers, be in fear of God, have honor for the king.” So we see we must remember the congregation of our brothers and keep it clean. We cannot come into this organization with some reservation in our heads for the sake of moral badness. We are not free to do the things we want for the gratification of the flesh and our own pleasures. We are in this congregation for a purpose, to honor Jehovah’s name and his Word.

GROUNDS

8. (a) What things may make a congregation unclean? (b) What action did Paul take toward the unclean and why?

⁸ Well, now, if we are going to keep the organization clean, what are some of the things that might make it unclean? What are the things which we may observe going on in the congregation that we should clear out of the congregation? Since there are spiritual grounds and moral grounds for disfellowshiping, some of these things are adultery, fornication, stealing, and drunkenness. Just let us touch on the one of fornication for a moment. Paul had to do with that in his letter when he was writing to the Corinthians. There was a young man there who had taken his father’s wife in fornication. Paul in his letter said: “Actually fornication is reported among you, and such fornication as is not even among the nations, that a certain man has a wife of his father.” Strange, but the congregation paid no serious attention to it. They looked on it as a cause for fame through notoriety. Paul said, ‘You are puffed up about the matter; you are proud because this thing has taken place in your midst. You should be mourning, you should be worried about the situation that is existing in the congregation of the Lord, this corruption that is brought in.’ But Paul, an apostle of the Lord, had authority to take action, and he took action. He disfellowshiped that one. He did not ask the congregation: “Now give me authority or vote on what I’m doing.” Paul, a servant of God, saw to it that that one was removed. He had the authority to do so. That is why he said he had already judged the man and ordered them to “hand such a man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh”. (1 Cor. 5:1-12, NW) Such an individual has no place in the clean organization or congregation of God. He should go back to the wicked group that he once came from and die with that wicked group with Satan’s organization.

9. By disfellowshiping action, what must be saved among the congregation?

⁹ Let the wicked go his wicked way, for he cannot remain in the congregation of God, because that congregation must remain clean. It must stay clean, why? “In order that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” God’s holy spirit operates upon his people. It is his active force; it is his direction upon his congregation. We, the congregation, must have the same spirit of God. We must bear witness one to the other. That spirit that we get from the understanding of God’s Word must remain active, it must be preserved, it must be saved. And if this early congregation in Corinth had this man who had committed fornication remain in their midst, or if Paul had not taken action, then that little leaven would ferment and would corrupt the whole congregation, or the whole lump. “A little yeast ferments the whole lump,” said Paul. That is why Paul had to take action and clean it out, so that the spirit of God, this pure, holy spirit or active force of God, and the spirit of the congregation based on God’s Word, would remain and be saved, all to the honor of Jehovah’s name.

10. What moral corruption does Paul say debars one from the Kingdom, and what must a Christian do about such things?

¹⁰ In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NW) Paul says: “What! Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom. And yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean, but you have been sanctified, but you have been declared righteous in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.” Paul is pointing out that persons of these types of sinners have come out of the world into God’s congregation, but all of these types of sin may not remain in the congregation of God after those who once committed such sins have once been washed clean. When a person comes to God’s organization and dedicates himself to Him, he is cleaned up. From then on he ought to make straight paths for his feet and follow the Word of God. He should not be practicing these things, and the Lord forgives him for all those things that have been in his life in times past. Their stain is washed away, and he must not go back to them. If he does go back to them, then he is committing a sin that is worthy of disfellowshiping. He is in danger of corrupting the congregation of God, and that corruption must be taken out. It is moral corruption.

11, 12. (a) What spiritual grounds for disfellowshiping are there? (b) To have unity of mind in the congregation what must we do?

¹¹ But there are also spiritual grounds for removing persons from God’s organization. Backbiting, bringing forth false doctrines, causing divisions; just as Paul wrote to the Romans: “Now I exhort you, brothers, to keep your eye on those who create divisions and causes for stumbling contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and avoid them.” (Rom. 16:17, NW) It is very plain. The true Word of God was taught to them by Paul. Now if anyone comes into the congregation to try to upset adherence to that true Word of God and causes stumbling or a division in the congregation, it is necessary to avoid that one. The best way to avoid him is to disfellowship that person, set him aside, get him out of the congregation, so that the whole congregation may remain clean.

¹² Against division and disunity of mind, we read at 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NW), “Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.” God’s thoughts must become yours. That is why we come together as a congregation to study the Word of God, so that his thoughts become ours. If we do not have God’s thoughts, if we do not meditate upon these things that the inspired disciples brought to the attention of the early church and that have been recorded for our learning now, if we do not learn these things, we are not going to have God’s thoughts; and only those who love righteousness are the ones that are going to inherit the kingdom of heaven. As he said, “Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom?” So in order to inherit that kingdom or the blessings of the new world our minds must turn toward God’s teaching, and not back to that other organization, the Devil’s organization, which is going to be destroyed.

EXAMPLES

13. Why do we today consider ancient Bible examples of disfellowshiping?

¹³ Now let us look at some examples from the Bible of Jehovah God’s casting out people, away from his congregation, getting rid of them because of their wrongdoing; for, just as he did it in times past, he will do it today, because he wants his representative people to be clean people that will be servants of his and will stand for his name and for his true worship. There are many examples in the Bible, but let us take just a few of them.

14. What lesson do we draw from the example of Korah and his allies?

¹⁴ Take Korah. There were some there in the time of Moses that became proud, three of them, in fact, that thought, ‘Well, we have just as good a standing with God as Moses has, being of the tribes of Israel. Why should he get all the credit to be the mediator?’ But they were talking against God’s representative. Moses came to the fore and made his statements very clear. He said, ‘Tomorrow morning we’ll see who is God’s servant and whom he is using to carry on his work now. What happens on the morrow is not going to be just the natural death of these people, but God is going to perform a miracle and clean out from the congregation Korah, Dathan, Abiram and all those associated with them.’ Next morning what happened? The ground opened up, and all of their property, their children, and their wives went down into this hole alive. And Korah and the 250 princes who offered incense were devoured by fire from Jehovah. Numbers 16:32, 35 (AS) says: “And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. And fire came forth from Jehovah, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.” God was showing his displeasure with people that blasphemed against him, who would not accept the arrangement that God made. So then, those that rebel against God he will disfellowship. He will get rid of them. He will clean them out of the congregation.

15. How does Miriam’s experience illustrate the matter?

¹⁵ Now we can turn to another example in the Bible. Numbers 12 tells us about Miriam and Aaron. They got a little high-minded. Miriam was Aaron and Moses’ sister, but she became proud and foolish. Because she wanted to take the position of a man in the congregation and have something to say about the arrangements of the Lord among the Israelites, she was stricken with leprosy. She had to be disfellowshiped or put out of the congregation for seven days; and then only after the pleading of her brother Moses to Jehovah to save her life so He would not kill her with leprosy, she was cleansed and came back. She had acted proudly and foolishly. The Lord God was not going to have that kind of people in his congregation. She came around. She came back, but first she was punished, and Aaron learned his own place from this experience of his sister.

16. How does Achan’s experience show God will not tolerate thieves?

¹⁶ Then we have thieves, whom the Lord God will not tolerate in his organization. We have the example of Achan. When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan and took Jericho under the direction of Jehovah, he winning their battles for them, the instructions were given to the Israelites that all of the things that were in the city were devoted to destruction, except that the things of gold, silver, brass and iron were to be reserved for Jehovah. No one must take any of the spoil for himself. But Achan thought a little bit differently about that. When he got into Jericho he found a Babylonian mantle, 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold 50 shekels in weight, and he said, ‘Well, I’ll just take that home and bury it and keep it for myself. No one will ever find it out.’ But he was in Jehovah’s congregation; now corruption was inside it. This had to be found out. They went on to battle at Ai and the Israelite armies were failing. They could not win. Joshua learned there was corruption in the congregation. It had to be gotten out, and according to Jehovah’s arrangement the evidence pointed to Achan as the corrupter. They found he had his spoil hid in his tent. Now what happened? God did not just throw him out of the congregation and put him away for seven days as he did Miriam. He had Achan stoned to death, and his family with him, because he was a thief.—Josh. 6:17 to 7:26.

17. How do the fallen “sons of God” illustrate disfellowshiping?

¹⁷ Centuries earlier, in Noah’s days before the flood, there were those angels in heaven, spirit creatures, who became disobedient. They saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they left their estate and came down to earth and took to themselves wives. In this they were disobedient. And so 2 Peter 2:4 (NW) tells us concerning them: “God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned.” No, but he threw them into Tartarus, delivering them “to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment”. They were disobedient, they violated God’s law, and he barred them from his counsels. For a test of his faithful creatures they are still in existence, yes, but God’s judgments are written against them for their final destruction.

18. How does Jude show putting up a hard fight for the faith has a connection with this matter?

¹⁸ Finally we can go on to Jude’s letter. In it we are told that we must put up a hard fight for the faith. This faith was delivered to us by Christ Jesus; we have to fight for it. It is the faith that was given to the congregation of the followers of Christ Jesus, and he does not want that faith corrupted or changed in any manner. Anyone who tries to change it, whether he be rebellious, proud, thievish, disobedient or corrupt morally, is going to be cleaned out. He is going to be removed. Now we do see that evil men slip in, ungodly men, and these we must try to find and throw out of the congregation. Just as Jude says at the 8th and 16th Jude verses 8 and 16: “These men, too, indulging in dreams, are defiling the flesh and disregarding lordship and speaking abusively of glorious ones. These men are murmurers, complainers about their lot in life, proceeding according to their own desires, and their mouths speak swelling things, while they are admiring personalities for the sake of their own benefit.” Yes, these types of persons that have just been described are the kind we do not want in the congregation of the Lord, and if they are there then they must be removed by the congregation. Otherwise a little yeast ferments the whole lump.

Propriety of Disfellowshiping

1. Is it proper to disfellowship, and what does Titus 3:10, 11 say?

IS IT proper to disfellowship? Yes, as we have just seen in the above article, God put out of his congregation those that were opposed to him and that were corrupt. He disfellowshiped them. He got rid of them, and he advises us to do so with such persons. At Titus 3:10, 11 (NW) we read: “As for a man that promotes a sect, reject him after a first and a second admonition, knowing that such a man has been turned out of the way and is sinning, he being self-condemned.” So there is authority in the Greek Scriptures for anyone that starts sects or divisions to be rejected after he has been talked to a first and a second time and still he does not change his course of action.

2. (a) What authority for it do we have at Romans 16:17, 18? (b) According to Revelation 3:16, for what does Jesus disfellowship?

² We have other authority, too, in Romans 16:17, 18 (NW): “Now I exhort you, brothers, to keep your eye on those who create divisions and causes for stumbling contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and avoid them. For men of that kind are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own bellies, and by smooth talk and complimentary speech they seduce the hearts of guileless ones.” Here we have a plain statement from God’s Word that we should get rid of these persons that cause offense and divisions within His congregation. We have the authority, we have the right, and it is proper to get rid of them. They have no place in the congregation of God. Christ Jesus even disfellowships on what we probably might think less grounds than all of the things described above. Just because a person is lukewarm, and he is neither hot nor cold, Christ Jesus spews him out. He also declares, at Revelation 3:16 (NW): “So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.” Well, that is a disfellowshiping. Christ Jesus is not going to have any lukewarm persons permanently in his organization. You are either for him or against him. You will either come into the congregation of the Lord God and be his minister or eventually go out into the Devil’s organization. You cannot pussyfoot. You cannot be lukewarm. You cannot be passive. You have to be positively for the Lord God.

3. How did God disfellowship Jerusalem and natural Israel?

³ God disfellowships, too. We have seen that in the examples given above, but we remember that in Matthew 23:38 (NW) Jesus, speaking to Jerusalem, said: “Look! your house is abandoned to you.” He had been dealing with the Jews for a long period of time, and now the time had come to abandon them and their house or temple. Why? Because he had nursed them along and taken care of them like a hen with its little chicks, but they did not pay any attention to his Father in heaven, and now the time had come for God to abandon the whole business because they furnished only a faithful remnant and he was obliged to call out from the Gentile nations a people for his name.

4. To have fellowship with God, what action must his people take toward the world and toward those of their numbers who turn to darkness?

⁴ At 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (NW) the apostle Paul said: “What fellowship does light have with darkness? . . . And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said: ‘I shall reside among them and walk among them, and I shall be their God, and they will be my people.’ ‘“Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,” says Jehovah, “and quit touching the unclean thing,”’ ‘“and I will take you in.”’ ‘“And I shall be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me,” says Jehovah the Almighty.’” Yes, Jehovah will disfellowship those who become lawless, turn to darkness and set up idols. He will expel such persons from his organization. If you want to be of the Lord’s organization, keep clean of the Devil’s world. If you do not want to, then get out of it. Those who are impure, immoral, are not spiritually fit for God’s organization. If such lukewarm compromisers or apostates do not voluntarily get out of his organization, then under his direction the organization itself will put them out.

PROCEDURE

5. What is the proper procedure for disfellowshiping, and how did Paul illustrate this procedure?

⁵ There is a proper procedure to follow in this regard. It must be an official act. Someone in authority must make the decision, and then the person is removed. At 1 Timothy 1:19, 20 (NW) is an example of the authority used by Paul, for he said: “Holding faith and a good conscience, which some have thrust aside and have experienced shipwreck concerning their faith. Hymenaeus and Alexander belong to these, and I have handed them over to Satan that they may be taught by discipline not to blaspheme.” They were put out of the congregation by an authorized servant. Paul did the same in the case recorded in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, when he got rid of that professed Christian that had intercourse with his father’s wife. Paul took the action there because the ones in charge of the congregation had failed. He had the authority. A servant of Jehovah acted. In our present day we have congregations or companies of Jehovah’s witnesses and we have servants in our companies. These servants must discharge the responsibility that goes with the servant’s position to keep the congregation clean and must take the action. They are to be good shepherds and shepherd the flock.

6. So what must be laid against the one concerned, and before it can be accepted what must be done?

⁶ So first of all a charge must be made, by someone in the congregation or by some interested mature brother, about a person that has gone wrong. But just because a charge is made does not mean that we can disfellowship him. The Scriptures show that witnesses must be brought forth. No charge can be accepted unless there are two or three witnesses to establish the fact. That means an investigation. The company servant, the assistant company servant, the Bible study servant, and maybe some other mature brothers in the company should be called together to have a hearing, and those who are charged and the witnesses must be brought in and the matter be discussed. They cannot come to a conclusion that this person should be put out of the congregation on mere rumor or gossip. There must be two or three eyewitnesses that know such and such a thing occurred or was said. A decision cannot be made on guesswork. It may be that by a feeling or a sense that we have we believe the person is not good, but we may not be able to prove it. As long as we cannot prove it out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, that person cannot rightly be rejected. Otherwise you may be doing that individual a great harm.

7. How then is a decision made, what is done with it, and what does it fall to the company to do about it?

⁷ So then when we have our witnesses, we have our meeting with these persons who are obstreperous or going wrong or not living according to the law of God. We give them a fair hearing, we discuss the matter, we try to help them. But proof must be there of uncleanness, morally or spiritually, before anything can be done to them in the way of putting them out of the congregation. The servants certainly should be mature brothers and be willing to take the full responsibility in making their decision. Then their decision is presented to the company. Not for the company to vote on. No, but the company servant, the assistant company servant and the Bible study servant have to take all the responsibility for the course of action that is to be taken. If they are thoroughly convinced in their minds that that individual is wrong and should be put out of the company and the person has not made any steps toward repentance, then they tell the company, in the form of a resolution, of what they have done. They do not ask the company to vote on that resolution and say, “We approve your action.” No, the servants in the company are charged with the responsibility of shepherding the flock and of keeping the congregation clean. So the servants tell the company what action has been taken and that the offensive individual is no longer a member of this congregation. Then the congregation should co-operate to the fullest extent with the advice given by those who are looking after their interests, the servants in the organization.

8. Who must admonish the disorderly, and what must take place if he does not heed the admonition?

⁸ At 1 Thessalonians 5:14 (NW) Paul says: “We exhort you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, speak comfortingly to the depressed souls, support the weak, be long-suffering toward all.” It is the responsibility of the servants of God to look after the interests of the congregation. They admonish the disorderly one, but this disorderly one does not take the admonition. He still wants to walk in his way. When he will not repent, will not change his course of action, then he has to be set aside, he must be avoided.

9. By whom must the separation be determined upon, and how did Paul illustrate this at Ephesus?

⁹ Acts 19:9 (NW) says concerning Paul at Ephesus in Asia Minor: “But when some went on hardening themselves and not believing, speaking injuriously about the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and separated the disciples from them, daily giving talks in the school auditorium of Tyrannus.” Paul was interested in those that he was teaching there in the Jewish synagogue, and when he saw a group of synagogue attenders trying to pull away the disciples he made, then he took his true followers away from their company. He was not going to let them be contaminated by associating with those who were teaching false doctrines and abusing the truth. So, today the servants who carry the responsibility for the company set the policy according to God’s Word. The congregation accepts that policy on the part of the servants.

10. What did Paul instruct at 1 Corinthians 5:11, and how does the congregation support its servants in this connection?

¹⁰ At 1 Corinthians 5:11 (NW) Paul told the Christian congregation: “But now I am writing you to quit mixing in company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man.” No communion at all with these persons that are disfellowshiped or put out of the congregation. Why? Because this congregation of God must remain clean, undefiled, preserved for pure worship of the Most High. Consequently when that action of disfellowshiping is taken it really removes a person. He is out. Therefore all the congregation, all those who have dedicated their lives to God, should abide by the recommendation or the resolution on the part of the servants. They must support them.

11. What does the company disfellowshiping do in behalf of the Society and other companies, and why?

¹¹ Well, now, what about this disfellowshiped person? First of all the company should report the matter to the Society, briefly stating facts, telling the Society who he is and why he was disfellowshiped and set aside, so it is informed. Now if this individual that was disfellowshiped leaves the community and goes to some other company and the company that disfellowshiped him knows of the matter, then out of the goodness of their heart and for the protection of the other company, it should be informed of the action they have taken. Not that the other company now has to disfellowship him. That was already done by the first congregation on behalf of and for the protection of all of Jehovah’s people. The disfellowshiping takes place in the company where the wrong was done, and he is disfellowshiped from that company and from all other companies. They know that this little leaven lodging anywhere in the loaf will corrupt the whole loaf. Necessarily then a warning should be given to the other company where this individual has gone, as Paul notified Timothy of Phygelus and Hermogenes and of Hymenaeus and Philetus. (2 Tim. 1:15; 2:17, NW) That is why they notify the Society, so it is cognizant of the fact.

12. Whom does Jude warn the companies against, and why must we be careful about letter writing?

¹² Jude tells about men who were sneaking into the organization to corrupt it morally. Such men certainly should be reported to any company that they are drifting around in, because these slipped in only for the sake of loose conduct. For the safety of all of our brothers and sisters in the congregations round about they should be reported. That does not mean that individually you should write a lot of letters and say a lot of bad things about them, of what they have been doing. The fact should be reported that this man was at one time with us, but because of his course of action he has been disfellowshiped, and the reasons why should be given very briefly. Otherwise, it may be that in this day you would be accused of libel or slander and you might get yourself into difficulty. But our brothers may be warned of that individual. He is no longer allowed to be one of us, because we want to protect the organization, the congregation of the Lord God.

RESTRICTION OF PRIVILEGES

13. What course do some disfellowshiped ones take toward field service, but what fact must this not be allowed to hide?

¹³ Now some persons think they can stay in the truth, but they do not want to work according to God’s standards. So they keep going out in the field service, they go from door to door, they distribute books, they have Bible studies, still they are disfellowshiped from the congregation. Even after they are disfellowshiped, sometimes they put in many more hours than they did when they were with the congregation. What is the congregation going to do now with such an individual? We must keep in mind that this person has been disfellowshiped and is not a member of our company. We want to avoid him, we want nothing to do with him.

14, 15. (a) What is the extent of the disfellowshiped one’s privileges as regards meetings? (b) What of his field activity privileges?

¹⁴ Now meetings that are open to the public he can attend as long as he behaves himself and acts orderly. If that individual comes into a public meeting, say, a public lecture in a public auditorium, or Kingdom Hall, or city park, or a Watchtower study or a service meeting, it is public, the doors are open, and he may be admitted. If he comes into that meeting and sits down, as long as he is orderly, minds his business, we have nothing to say to him. Those who are acquainted with the situation in the congregation should never say “Hello” or “Good-by” to him. He is not welcome in our midst, we avoid him. If this one should be sitting in the Watchtower study and raise his hand, the chairman should never recognize him or allow him to make a comment. He is not one of us. He is not a recognized member in God’s congregation. Those who are informed and know the individual certainly should avoid him, have nothing to say to him. He has no privileges of service in the congregation whatsoever. He could go over to the book counter and get literature at the regular public rates, but the company should never give him books or magazines at company rates, because he is not one of us. What we would do for the public, for those in the Devil’s organization, we may do for that one.

¹⁵ If this one goes out in the field service, maybe getting the books at the counter at the regular rates instead of company rates or pioneer rates, and goes out from door to door, we cannot stop him. He has just as much right to go from house to house as anyone else if he wants to, but this congregation will not give him any territory. They will not accept his reports. When they come in he will not be one of those listed as a publisher in this company. He might put his report in the report box, but we tear it up and we throw it away. He is not one of us. He is a representative of the Devil’s organization trying to corrupt, disturb. He is not clean, and until that individual repents and changes his course of action he can never come back and be one of the Lord’s people.

16. How does the company treat him as not a recognized publisher?

¹⁶ So then the company is careful about him. It removes his card from the file of recognized Kingdom publishers. He is never given any of the monthly printed Informant. He may retain his Counsel booklet if he wishes, because this, if he reads it, might show him the course of action he should take. If he reads The Watchtower, if he reads the books of the Society, they show him the course that he should take; but as long as he does not take that course he is not welcome in the congregation.

17. On what condition may he be present at public meetings, and why?

¹⁷ If this individual becomes noisy or obstreperous he should be kept out of the Kingdom Hall and public meetings. That is the company’s perfect right. Otherwise, it may be that, if he comes into the public meetings and quietly hears the admonition and the counsel given in the studies, he will wake up, become ashamed, and repent.

18. What about permitting his attendance at private home meetings, and why?

¹⁸ Now how about private home meetings? Under no circumstances should he be welcomed or allowed to enter a private home, because the Scriptures are very definite on that point. So then in our home Bible studies, or what we call “area studies”, the person of the house, being one of God’s congregation, should keep him out. For 2 John 9, 10 (NW) states: “Everyone that pushes ahead and does not remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God. He that does remain in this teaching is the one that has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, never receive him into your homes or say farewell to him.” So then in your private homes you would never open the door and allow that one to come in. You would never extend your hand in fellowship to such an individual. Remember, that individual at one time left the Devil’s organization. He was washed clean by the blood of Christ, he dedicated himself to God and God consecrated him for service. He was a minister. Now he has gone corrupt because he chooses to do so. He is sinning against the holy spirit. He is fighting against God. We cannot have anything to do with him. God is the one that is judging him, and he is using his servants in the earth to point that one out for the protection of the rest of the congregation.

REINSTATEMENT

19. By what personal course may a disfellowshiped person be reinstated?

¹⁹ Can a disfellowshiped person be reinstated, get back into the organization? Yes, he can if he repents. But he has to go farther than that. He must be converted. He must change his whole course of action. It is not just a matter of saying: “I’m sorry I did it; I was wrong.” He has to prove that he is willing to take an altogether different course of life than that which he had taken. He should make an open confession of his sins and ask forgiveness of the committee that drew up the resolution to disfellowship him. He should go to the persons concerned, admit his wrong, and point out to them what he is doing and what he is going to do in order to be reinstated.

20. At 2 Corinthians 2:6-11 what did Paul say about reinstatement, and what did he show must precede it?

²⁰ In 2 Corinthians 2:6-11 (NW) we have an account of how Paul brought a sinner back into the congregation again. He said: “This rebuke given by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary now, you should kindly forgive and comfort him, that somehow such a man may not be swallowed up by his being overly sad. Therefore I exhort you to confirm your love for him. For to this end also I write to ascertain the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things. Anything you kindly forgive anyone, I do too. In fact, as for me, whatever I have kindly forgiven, if I have kindly forgiven anything, it has been for your sakes in Christ’s sight, that we may not be overreached by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.” This account may refer to the man that took his father’s wife and committed fornication and now repented. If so, then Paul says, ‘Well, bring him back; there is no reason that he should be overly sad thinking that he could never get into God’s organization again and gain life in the new world.’ Where else would a person go if he sinned against God and he really repented? We do not mean he may brazenly come back and say: “Well, I’m sorry about it. Fix me up, boys, I want to get back in the congregation.” No, there has to be a cutting of the heart. There has to be a hurting of the mind. He has to show repentance. He has to be sad about it and change his course.

21. On what must he be placed for a time before reinstatement, and why?

²¹ His getting reinstated in the congregation of God is a very serious matter, for him and for the congregation. The appointed servants may put him on probation if they want to. He will have to prove to the servants that he is going to behave himself in the future and act properly as a servant of Jehovah. They can test his sincerity. They should not reinstate him too quickly, even after he does repent and tells them what he is going to do, and makes an open confession. Why not? Because of public opinion. (2 Pet. 2:2, NW) His course of action may have been one of adultery and may have had wide publicity in the papers. Maybe he was put in jail for stealing. Maybe he was very rebellious. Maybe he went out and started a new organization and now is trying to come back. Well, all the people around the place know that that person was an obstinate, disorderly person, and not good company. So we should be careful as to how quickly we take such a person back into the congregation, because of what the “people on the outside” will say. (1 Tim. 3:7, NW) If a person commits adultery and is running around with men and women that are of loose conduct, and everybody knows it, and we say, “Oh, come on back, you’re welcome,” people on the outside will say: “Well, your whole congregation is of the same type.” So he has to be put on probation. His sincerity must be proved before we openly and fully accept his repentance.

22, 23. What does violation of probation result in, as shown by Shimei?

²² Remember the case of Shimei, who was put on probation. At one time he cursed David, and when Solomon became king as David’s successor certain restrictions were put around him. Solomon told him: ‘You ought to have been killed long ago. So now you must remain in the city of Jerusalem. But as soon as you go out of this city and cross the brook Kidron you are going to be put to death.’ Now, Shimei could have enjoyed his life and the favor that was shown toward him by staying right there in the city of Jerusalem. He had his slaves, the servants, and home. Three years after this order was given two of his slaves ran away. Shimei said: ‘Oh, I’m just going to get those fellows and bring them back.’ So he started out after them, crossed the Kidron, got his slaves and brought them back. Then it was reported to Solomon that he had left the city, and Solomon had him killed. Just to get two slaves back this man was ready to lose his life.

²³ If, now, a disfellowshiped person wants to live in the new world and if the responsible brothers in the company put certain bounds or restrictions around him, is it not a great deal better to stay within those limits and live than to get outside of those limits and show that you are rebellious and acting contrary to God’s law? Shimei lost his life because he was not obedient to a very gracious arrangement on the part of King Solomon.

24. Who decide to make the reinstatement, who cooperate, and why?

²⁴ So then the servants must make the decision on welcoming that brother back eventually. The servants that disfellowshiped him must make the announcement to the congregation, saying that, since this one has repented and they are now thoroughly satisfied as to his reformed course of action, “we receive him back.” Then the congregation should abide by the decision of the servants that are appointed in the company. Again the company does not vote on whether they will accept him back, because they have confidence in their servants that these have made the right investigation and the right decision.

25. What must the one to be reinstated do according to Colossians 3:5-10, and why?

²⁵ In Colossians 3:5-10 (NW) it says: “Deaden, therefore, your body members which are upon the earth as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of those things the wrath of God is coming. In those very things you, too, once walked when you used to live in them. But now really put them all away from you, wrath, anger, injuriousness, abusive speech, and obscene talk out of your mouth. Do not be lying to one another. Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality which through accurate knowledge is being renewed.” Of course, that instruction applies to those who originally came out of the Devil’s organization and have become Jehovah’s people, so it must also apply to a disfellowshiped person that is repenting and coming back. Now he has to put on that new personality, he must make his mind over, he must think the thoughts of God and put them into practice if he is ever to gain life in the new world.

26. What if a brother repents and makes it known before any disfellowshiping action takes place?

²⁶ Well, what if a brother repents before he is disfellowshiped? He may realize that he has done wrong and he knows that the news of his course of action is getting in to the servants. Or he may feel his own shame while no one as yet knows what happened to him, and he goes to one of the mature brothers in the company, maybe the company servant, and he confesses his whole sin. Should that one then be exposed to the congregation and disfellowshiped because the company servant knows his course of action? Not if that person has truly repented. If he has asked forgiveness, and confessed his wrong, and he is changing his course of action, there is no reason why the brother that is spoken to need reveal that brother’s secret to another. His heart condition is right, and therefore mercy, love and kindness should be shown to that individual.

27. While not bringing about a disfellowshiping, what may the Society do or have done about such a repentant sinner?

²⁷ Those who are stubborn, hardhearted, those who are going to have all the things they want their way, and that in addition to being in the congregation of God, these are the ones that have to be disfellowshiped and put away, because they are going to make the congregation unclean. But the one that comes with a contrite heart and confesses to a brother about his wrongdoing, there is no reason to whip him anymore. He has opened his heart, he has let you look at it and he wants help. If the Society removes a pioneer because of wrongdoing and the Society is the one agency that knows about the wrongdoing of the individual, there is no reason for the Society then to notify the company and have that company disfellowship that person, not if that person has confessed his sin and asked for forgiveness from the Society. Then that one can go on his way. The Society would probably put restrictions or bounds around that individual because of the course of action he has taken. By way of punishment it may take him off the pioneer list for six months or maybe a year, according to what that individual had done that would bring reproach to God’s name. But as long as that one has confessed his sin and asked for forgiveness, then the Society can help that one to get back in the right road and continue to be a servant of the Lord. If the action does not affect a company or other individual in it, there is no reason to make any notification or public announcement of it.

28. How far can we go in letting the sinner come back, and why?

²⁸ What we must have in mind is this: we can show mercy to those who are of a contrite heart, and we can help them if we want to. But how far can we go in letting these individuals come back into the Lord’s organization? How far can we let the bars down? We cannot let the bars down at all to those who do not reform. We must keep in mind that the organization must remain clean for undefiled worship of the Most High. We must keep in mind the vindication of Jehovah’s sovereignty and name and the vindication of his Word. We must keep in mind the life of Christ and our walking in his footsteps, and the standard that he set. We must keep in mind our position as Jehovah’s witnesses. The disfellowshiped person did not keep these things in mind, and that is why he was removed from the congregation. That is why he was disfellowshiped. But now if he realizes that pure, undefiled, clean worship is the important thing, that the vindication of God’s name is more important than doing things his own way, when he sees that all this is necessary and he must live accordingly, then we can accept him back in the congregation.

Sin Making Reinstatement Impossible

1. What shows there are forgivable sins, but what sins may not be dismissed with unconcern?

THERE are sins that can be forgiven. We ask forgiveness for them every day if we pray in the way Jesus taught us, for we say in the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matt. 6:12, NW) We can forgive certain sins. That is, we can forgive the other person’s trespasses against us. We cannot wipe them out and make him clean again. No, but when a person asks for forgiveness we can give it to him. In Galatians 6:1 (NW) it says: “Brothers, even though a man takes some false step before he is aware of it, you who have spiritual qualifications try to restore such a man in a spirit of mildness, as you each keep an eye on yourself, for fear you also may be tempted.” So we have a responsibility upon us to go to these individual sinners, or, when they come to us, to help them stay in the right way even before disfellowshiping ever takes place. We can forgive them. We can help them, if their heart is right and they show it. But if they do not show it and if the sin vitally affects the congregation, there is no reason why we should overlook it and say: “Well, we’ll forget it this time.” We cannot, for the sake of that individual and for the sake of the congregation.

2. What did Jesus say was an unforgivable sin, and who can commit it?

² The only sin that cannot be forgiven is the sinning against the holy spirit. Christ