What is church discipline?

Respond:

• Church discipline is the action of the church aimed at exposing a person's sin and calling them to repentance, which, if the person does not repent, culminates in the exclusion of a professing Christian from church membership and communion in the Lord's Supper due to serious unrepentant sin.
• In a broader sense, discipline is everything a church does to help its members pursue holiness and fight sin. Preaching, teaching, prayer, corporate worship, accountability relationships, and godly mentoring by pastors and ministers are all forms of discipline.
• Sometimes people distinguish between these two types of discipline, calling the first "corrective discipline" and the second "formative discipline.".

• Corrective discipline:
  The New Testament commands and describes corrective discipline in such passages as Matthew 18:15–17; 1 Corinthians 5:1–13; 2 Corinthians 2:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:6–15.
• Formative discipline:
  The New Testament speaks of formative discipline in numerous passages that call for striving for holiness and mutual edification in the faith, such as Ephesians 4:11–32 and Philippians 2:1–18. In fact, the New Testament epistles can be seen as examples of formative discipline, as the apostles wrote to the churches to help shape them in doctrine and life.
  (Some material adapted from «What is a Healthy Church?» by Mark Dever, p. 101.)