The world could not care less about Christ and His body, the church. The world is ambivalent about making and keeping vows to Jehovah. And thus the importance of discipline whereby the church authoritatively separates between the holy and the profane, even as in the preaching of the Word the wicked are doctrinally separated from the good. Judicial discipline is concerned with the prevention and correction of offense, an offense being defined as anything in the doctrine or practice of a member of the church which is contrary to the Word of God. The purpose of judicial discipline is to vindicate the honor of Christ, to promote the purity of his church, and to reclaim the offender.
Excommunication is resorted to only in cases of offenses aggravated by persistent impenitence.
It consists in a solemn declaration by an ecclesiastical judicatory that the offender is no longer considered a member of the body of Christ. By excommunication one is removed from the care and discipline of the Church of Jesus Christ. Excommunication excludes the unrepentant offender from the church. Removal is a serious matter not to be taken lightly or thought of merely as some therapeutic step. There is a grave danger to the unrepentant sinner who continues to exhibit contumacy.