Though Judicial Committee arrangement is found in Mathew 18:15-20, this seems to be a later apostate interpolation! (Acts 20:28-30):
1) Jesus would not speak of such a heartless arrangement whereby a person who does not listen to the Church is finally disfellowshipped, because it is in sharp contrast to what he was saying in Mathew 18:14 and Mathew 18:21-35; 1 Peter 2:22; contrast also Mathew 5:3, 40, 41; 16:24.
2) Jesus would not have told “his disciples” (Mathew 18:1) to take things to “the CHURCH” (presently more than 40,000 in numbers) which obviously did not exist then. (Mathew 18:17)
3) Jesus would not have spoken of “tax collectors and Gentiles” as irreclaimable outsiders (Mathew 18:17) in contrast to his often repeated policy of compassion and friendship towards them. (Mathew 9:10; 11:19; Luke 1810-14)
4) And if at all Jesus did say what is in Mathew 18:-15-20, then it would only mean that the disfellowshipped ones ‘would enter the kingdom of God ahead of’ the fellowshipped ones (Mathew 21:31), just the opposite of what interpolators wanted to convey.
5) No wonder James, while handling more serious problems among the brothers, shows no knowledge of what Jesus supposedly said in Mathew 18:15-20! (James 3:14-4:17)
Hence, the whole thrust of the interpolated passage seems to project the Church as having power to RETAIN and to FORGIVE sins. (Mathew 18:18) How blind the JWs must be to copy this arrangement from apostates as one of their pillars and chief weapon! Interestingly, Judicial Committee arrangement, as practiced among JWs, is in sharp contrast to what is being practiced in the heavens. People who have undergone Past Regression Therapy* have given extensive details about the lives in between their earthly lives, which shed light ALSO on Council of Master (highly evolved) Souls or ELDERS in Heaven. This is the gist:
When someone dies, his “the spirit returns” to the Spirit World (Ecclesiastes 12:7), where he is warmly received by all his (available) beloved ones and friends who died before him. Then he is taken to the House of Healing, where he is rejuvenated. He is given enough time (often more than his earthly life-span) to review his life he just concluded on earth. Once he has all the details about himself and all others involved in his life on earth directly or indirectly, he comes to a conclusion about the way he lived his life on earth. Then he is taken to a Council of Master Souls comprising of six or more. Here the soul’s previous life is reviewed collectively. The Master Souls are in NO WAY CONDEMNATORY or JUDGMENTAL, but extremely loving and compassionate helpers who have lived many lives on this earth, hence very well-experienced. The soul himself makes the judgment on his living and places the solution before the Council. If the solution is viewed best by the Council, they would say ok; or else they may suggest many other options which are put before the soul with no compulsion at all. Soul chooses the next environment, friends, relatives, parents and even a new body (sometimes a crippled body, if need be, to work out some special Karmic debt of previous birth). After taking rebirth on earth, some may forget their purpose, and return to the Council only to repeat the whole process again and again. Others may steadily progress, and go to higher Levels ….. which look almost infinite in numbers … and finally reach where God Himself resides after billions and billions …. of years.
Hence earthly life is like a school, where one is supposed to gain a minimum qualification. Council of Master Souls examines impartially whether one has lived up to HIS NATURE (not whether one has obeyed certain laws or lived up to certain belief system ). What is man’s nature? Humans APPRECIATE being loved and ABHOR being harmed. Hence man nature is to love and to refrain from doing harm, like the fire whose nature is to give light and heat. One has to return to earth till he is willing to behave according to his very nature, which is a quite natural thing to do.
[Council compassionately deals even with those difficult souls who are mistakenly called demons or ghosts. These are actually souls that may develop some extreme habits, rather than living with a guest-attitude considering themselves as “temporary residents” while on earth, wanting to ‘return to their original home, a better place,’ thus viewing the world as a drama-stage. (Hebrews 11:13-16, Philippians 3:20; 1 Corinthians 7:31; and 1 John 2:17). Such extreme souls may STUBBORNLY refuse to go forward, but may prefer to TEMPORARILY linger around in pursuit of their unfulfilled desires—helpful/harmful. They get attracted to only people of their sort. They all are allowed to use their free-will and are taken first to the Rehabilitation Process once they are convinced of the folly of their life-style, and then to the Council for collective review.]
Hence, the whole approach of God seems to be very simple: ANY SOUL IS FREE TO BEHAVE THE WAY IT LIKES IN WHICHEVER LEVEL IT MAY BE. BUT IF IT WANTS TO MOVE TO A HIGHER LEVEL, IT HAS TO ACQUIRE THE NEEDED QUALIFICATION. THERE IS NO COMPULSION WHATSOEVER!
Foot-note:
Though many (Dr. Michael Newton, Dr. Brian Weiss, Dr. William Roll, Dr. Ken Ring, Dr. Bruce Greyson, Dr. Melvin Morse, Dr. Raymond A Moody …..) have published case-histories of their clients, Michael Newton’s books are exceptional—especially his “DESTINY OF SOULS” in which he presents case-histories of his clients in an orderly, subject-wise manner which suggests the existence of a perfect system of things in the invisible heavens.