Book Review: Called To Be Holy, by Jeremy Walker

by Doug Van Meter

Doug Van Meter is the senior pastor of Brackenhurst Baptist Church in South Africa.

January 22, 2025

Walker, Jeremy, Called to Be Holy: The Discipline of the Church. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2023. 48 pp.

 

As Christians grow in their appreciation of the local church, they should also grow in their devotion to guard that which the Lord Jesus Christ purchased with his blood (Acts 20:28). Pastor Jeremy Walker takes the preciousness of the local church seriously and therefore has written Called to be Holy: The Discipline of the Church. We should be glad he has. A long-serving pastor, Walker has provided the wider church with a valuable resource addressing the right exercise of church discipline.

Why Discipline?

Walker defines the church as “the people of God—a picture of covenantal identity as constituted by the Lord Jesus, comprising the Redeemer and his fellow pilgrims” (4). Because Jesus Christ identifies with the local church, it’s essential that she be holy, and church discipline is a means toward this end.

Called to Be Holy not only teaches how to carry out church discipline, but it also pays lots of attention to the why. This is a major strength of the book. Having noted that “the church exists for the praise of the triune God” and that “she is called to be holy” (5), Walker further argues, “It is hard to imagine that the triune God would form such a people for his praise and then leave them without direction as to their character and conduct” (6). Walker then unfolds God’s “direction” of church discipline: “Church discipline aims to please the Head of the church and so preserve the power of the gospel” (18).

Discipline, Walker says, is both formative and corrective. After highlighting the “one-another” texts as a means of formative discipline, he spends the majority of the book speaking about corrective, or restorative, discipline. Recognizing its difficulties, he observes, “Everyone believes in church discipline until they have to do it.” And yet, as he exhorts, it is a non-negotiable for the promotion of godliness and the protection of the gospel.

What I found particularly helpful is the observation that church discipline is about forming disciples of Jesus Christ. He writes that corrective discipline “sets out to correct sinful aberrations among those called disciples, and to restore wandering sheep to the flock” (13). Love—for God and for our fellow church member—is the motivating why of church discipline, thus adding affectionate warmth to the how.

Discipline How?

The second half of the book focuses on the how. Writing with a shepherd’s heart, Walker helps us see that tears will accompany the texts of church discipline. With pastoral sensitivity, he walks his reader through the biblical process, including Matthew 18:15–20.

Walker explains that Matthew 18 is not the only approach to corrective discipline. The church will need to exercise wisdom in handling cases of division (Titus 3:10–11), gross immorality (1 Cor. 5:1–2), and other scandalous matters that might arise.

Further, he is repeatedly clear that church discipline is a congregational matter and not the sole responsibility of the eldership. He notes, “All Christians share responsibility for encouraging both right belief and godly conduct” (35). This emphasis goes a long way towards guarding against mishandling or abusing God’s directive for discipline in the church—both formative and corrective.

Lamentably, church discipline is too frequently ignored by other congregations. Walker wisely addresses this, “Faithful gospel churches ought to ensure that they do not undo or despise the actings of other such churches by making their discipline of no effect.”

The book is saturated with Scripture and sprinkled with quotes from pastors both past and present who reinforce the historic purpose and application of church discipline. The reader will come away knowing that this is no novel practice, but rather one as old as Scripture.

I highly recommend this book to pastors—old and new. As Walker argues, “Holiness matters.” So church discipline matters.