This idea started back in the garden/
when Adam and Eve sinned and God sought to pardon them/
He discharged them, placin' a flamin' sword at the gate along with the cherubim charged to guard it//

One could argue it started back even farther with Satan/
I see what you're sayin' but please peep the point I'm makin'/
there's a basic distinction that separates them/

the goal of man's displacement was restoration//
We see the contrast in Gen. 3:15/
the serpent's eternally cursed, but The Seed redeems/

In conjunction with judgment we read of a dream/
of a world free of the enemies schemes//
But there's a process proceeding the promise/

it's hard, yes, but by His mercy it's not death/
'cause if they would've ate from the tree of life in their dyin' state/
their resurrection could never take place//

And that's the Lord's grace and sanctification/
that shapes men and claims a nation so pagans praise Him/
the big picture I'm givin' is/

mentioned throughout scripture when sinners are driven out for dissin' Him//
so keep listenin'/
the topic is not a popular one but you know how we get it in/

it's church discipline, the grace is doubted/
but the body of Christ has A.I.D.S. without it// yeah


Hook
DJ Scratches: The authority of church discipline...if excommunicated what body will they be missing in?


If a brother or sister offends you talk to 'em/
if the issue is in scripture then walk through 'em/
if they still ain't listenin' bring witnesses/

prayin' the evidence of the 2 or 3 is convincing, if//
it still doesn't work, take it to the church/
the Lord's official spiritual judicial system on earth/

and they'll determine whether to bind or loose them/
scrutinizing the proof for a final resolution//
to loose 'em is to render a dudes sin forgivin'/

due to viewin' the true fruit of repentance/
binding 'em means finding 'em guilty/
drawin' a line between the fly and the filthy// 'cause when a few of 'em gather in His authority/ He's in the midst of them, judging and ruling accordingly/ So the Lord is takin' responsibility/ making Himself the true object of hostility// 'cause when you're handing a man over to Satan/ for the destruction of his flesh in order to save him/ and the whole church cuts communication/ cats with punkish views of love start hatin'// but true love is to hate sin/ trustin' that God provides through his prescribed means to break men/ but they'll see when the prodigal comes back/ and they slaughter a beast and the party is dumb phat//


Hook
DJ Scratches: The authority of church discipline...they turn to the steeple, and return to the sheepfold, isn't that just like God's people?


A few more things for us to consider/
unforgiveness over time becomes bitter/

and bitterness can spread just like a virus/
infecting the whole body with plank in the iris//
it blinds us of our own sin, then close friends/

have to tell us we're lunchin' and if we don't listen/
then the whole process is starting up again/
the sin that we tossed out leavens the whole lump again//

another counter-productive part of the process/
is the broadcast of slanderous gossip/
even if all the information is true/

the resulting view, of the person or issue is skewed/
then you feel strange and ought'a confront them/
but pride reminds you where your info comes from/

and who wants to be caught in hypocrisy?/
nobody. so you lock your thoughts away and you toss the key//
but that won't stop the beef/

cause sooner or later, what you believe becomes your behavior unless you plot for peace/
it's hard not to see, somebody's got to speak/
if not the sin cycle repeats, it's got to cease//

The process done properly shows love to everybody/
and the gospel is preached inaudibly/
The God of Peace squashed the beef at the cross of Jesus/

modeling peace making for the whole flock to see//

Hook

DJ Scratches: The authority of church discipline...your brother went away but came back, isn't that cause for the celebrating