“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”
1. “If thy brother.” Both God and the world expect Christians to demonstrate a special loyalty toward one another.
1 John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
Galatians 6:10 “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
2. “Shall trespass against you.” Trespass [Gr. hamartano] = to miss the mark, come up short. When a Christian misses the mark, they not only damage the reputation of Christ but they also hurt the reputation of other Christians and their church.
EXAMPLE: Because of David’s sin with Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet told the King – “By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme” 2 Samuel 12:14.
The wrong response when we see a fellow Christian missing the mark is when we think, “They haven’t actually offended me, therefore, I’m not responsible.”
If we witness an offense or are the subject of an offense it is our responsibility to take the next step!
3. “Go and tell him.” Going to an offending fellow Christian to restore them has been and always will be God’s greatest test of genuine love.
It is easy to pass judgment in our mind about someone. It is also easy to tell someone else in hope that they will do something about the matter. It is even easy for “some people” to be bold and go to the person and point out their sin.
When you go – go in the right spirit!
Galatians 6:1-2 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
When you go – examine yourself first to see if you have failed in a similar area.
Matthew 7:3-5 “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
When you go – pray for the offender’s restoration.
James 5:15-17, 19-20 “If he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are,.. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
When you go – realize that the offending brother has been overtaken and deceived. This can happen to any of us when we become spiritually weak or deceived.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
When you go – approach them as Christ would. Some will say, “I’m not spiritual enough to help a fallen brother!” Whose fault is that? If this is true – you are overtaken in a fault! Confess this to God and ask Him for wisdom.
James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
When you go – confess your faults to the offending brother. This is being spiritual. We must go in the spirit of meekness, gentleness, humbleness and love.
Important passages to remember.
Proverbs 29:23 “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”
Matthew 23:12 “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
James 4:6 “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
1 Peter 5:5-6 “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”
4. “Tell him his fault.” What do you say when you approach them? How can you avoid giving them the idea that you’re intruding in their private affairs, especially if their offense was not directed toward you personally?
Approach them with a similar statement to the following – “I always want to give a good report about you to anyone who asks. For this reason I wonder if I could ask you about something that I’m not sure I understand?” You must be able to be sincere in making this statement!
If the offense was directed against you personally, you might add to the previous statement these words – “Have I done or overlooked something that has caused you to react to me this way? If so, can we please talk about it?”
This will assure them that you are concerned about them, and that you are not condemning them.
WARNING!!! If there is the slightest offense, bad attitude or neglect on your part which has contributed to a brother’s offense, you cannot follow the steps of Matthew 18.
You must instead follow the steps of Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
5. “Between thee and him alone.” If we tell anyone else about the offence before talking to the offender, we create three problems!
We show God, and the ones we tell, that we do not love the offender and that we do not understand Christ’s love.
We tempt the listener to take up an offense against the offending brother.
We take a chance of destroying the sincerity of our approach.
James 4:11-12 “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
6. “If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.” This statement by our Lord reinforces the idea of restoration of a fellow Christian who has fallen or been overtaken by sin over that of exposing their sin.
Galatians 6:1 “Restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
James 5:20 “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.”
Proverbs 19:11 “The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.”
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If the brother hears you and responds with acceptance and repentance, the matter should go no further.
They should be encouraged to take steps of restitution. You should be a help to them in overcoming their fault or failure. The matter does not necessarily have to be made public.
A general rule in helping a fellow Christian to be restored is, If the fault was done openly it should be repented of publicly; if done in secret it should be repented of privately.
“What do you do if your witness is rejected?”
7. “But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” If it was difficult to go to an offender alone, it may be even more of a struggle to go a second time with another person, but this is necessary if we are to follow the steps of Christ in restoring a fellow Christian who persist in their offense/sin.
If the offense was with words, then it is important that two or three others confirm what they meant by those words.
If it is an offense of actions, then the ideal witnesses would be someone who has conquered a similar problem in their own life. They could first be a witness to them before they would be a witness against them.
8. “And if he neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church.” The purpose of telling the church is not to expose sin, but to enlist their help in the program of restoration. As more and more people know about the offense, it should be more and more troubling and humbling to the offender. This is God’s way of making more grace available to them.
1 Peter 5:5-6 “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”
James 4:6 “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
GRACE is the desire and power to do God’s will joyfully. This is what the offender needs to overcome their problem.
At this point a new program is initiated. God has a greater purpose in allowing a problem to come within the church than just resolving it. God, some times, uses it as a way to warn and cleanse the church. It is often true that when one member stumbles, there are many others with the same weakness. This is why biblical church discipline is often neglected! We don’t want to deal with others sins because it may mean addressing mine.
At this point, A church will often come to an unpleasant realization! Do they really believe the Bible is God’s authoritative revelation to mankind? Do they have true convictions about the inspiration of scripture or is their belief concerning the scriptures really only a preference b Convictions are steadfast; Preferences change!
What should the congregation should do at this point b Fast & Prayer. When the offender sees or hears of the spiritual response of the church (fasting and praying) they are more likely to experience a powerful motivation to repent.
If the Lord reveals to the congregation that they have contri-buted somehow to the brothers offense, they must ask the offender for forgiveness.
EXAMPLE: If the church leadership has decided to appropriate funds for an unscriptural purpose and this has caused a person within the church to become disgruntled and involved in gossip. Their bad attitude and gossip should be repented of, but the church leadership should confess and repent as well.
9. “If he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” This statement raises an important concern b is the entire church in agreement as to the wrong of the particular offense. If there’s division in the church with some saying it’s okay and others saying it’s not. . .
This is God’s call for the pastor to teach God’s standards so that there is one mind and one spirit among them.
1 Corinthians 1:10 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
This may be God’s call to cleanse the church.
Matthew 23:27 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”
1 Corinthians 5:1-5 “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
Geneva Bible Marginal Notes on 1 Corinthians 5:5 To c deliver such an one unto Satan for the 6 destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
The one who is excommunicated is delivered to the power of Satan, in that he is cast out of the house of God.
What it is to be delivered to Satan the Lord himself declares when he says, "Let him be unto thee as a heathen and publican"; Matt 18:17. That is to say, to be disfranchised and put out of the right and privileges of the city of Christ, which is the Church, outside of which Satan is lord and master.
The goal of excommunication is not to cast away the excommunicate that he should utterly perish, but that he may be saved, that is, that by this means his flesh may be tamed, that he may learn to live to the Spirit.
Warren Wiersbe on 1 Corinthians 5:1-5
For the Good of the Offender (5:1-5). Discipline in the church is not like a policeman arresting a culprit; rather, it is like a father chastening his son. The first motive is to help the sinner, to show Christian love in seeking to bring him to repentance. For us to allow church members to live in open sin hurts them as well as Christ and the church. This particular member apparently was living with his stepmother (see Lev 18:8) in an immoral relationship. The woman was apparently not a part of the church family, otherwise Paul would have had the church deal with her as well.
What a terrible thing for a Christian to live in sin with an unsaved person while the church does nothing about it!
The church was "puffed up" and boasting about its "liberal attitude." Paul told them that they should be mourning, and the Gk. word he used means "to mourn over the dead." (Later on he compares their sin to leaven, and leaven always "puffs up" whatever it infects.) Their "broad-minded attitude" toward sin was only hurting the offender and the church, not to speak of the sorrow it was causing Paul and the Lord Himself. Paul judges the man and instructs the church to dismiss him from the fellowship. "But doesn’t Jesus tell us not to judge?" some may ask, referring to Matt 7. Yes, fie does; but this does not mean we should close our eyes to sin that is known by sinners and saints alike! We cannot judge another believer’s motives (which is what Matt 7 refers to), but we can and must judge the actions of God’s people.
The discipline was to be handled by the church collectively, and not by the leaders alone (v. 4). The matter was known publicly, so it had to be dealt with publicly. If the man refused to repent, he was to be dismissed from fellowship. To "deliver a man to Satan" (v. 5) does not mean to send him to hell, for no church can do that. Rather, it means to cut him off from church fellowship so that he must live in the world, which is controlled by Satan (John 12:31 and Col 1:13). The purpose of such discipline is not to lose a member, but rather to bring the sinner to the place of repentance that he might be saved from loss of reward on the day of judgment.
Church discipline is a forgotten ministry in many churches these days. Yet, if we really love one another, and if the pastor really loves his flock, he will see to it that wandering ones are warned and disciplined for their own good.
For the Good of the Church (5:6-8). How foolish for a church to say it is "open-minded" and willing to accept any and all members, no matter how they live! Would you open the door of your home to all who want to enter? Then why should we allow any and all who want to enter to come into the fellowship of the church? It is harder to join many worldly organizations than it is to unite with the average local church! "Your glorying is not good," warns Paul. "Don’t you realize that one member living in open sin can defile the entire church?" (see v. 6).
Paul used the Passover supper to illustrate his point; see Ex 12:15 ff. Leaven to the Jews was always a symbol of sin and corruption; so, before Passover, they always scoured their houses to remove all traces of leaven. Christians must have the same attitude; we dare not allow the yeast of sin to grow quietly in the church and produce trouble and shame. Christ died for us, not to make us like the world, but to make us like God. "Be holy for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). This does not mean that church leaders are to be cc spiritual detectives" who pry into the lives of the members. But it does mean that each church member must see to it that the leaven of sin is not growing in his or her life. And, if sin becomes known, the leaders must take steps to protect the spiritual welfare of the church.
There are several kinds of Christians that we are warned about in the Bible, believers who should not be permitted fellowship in the local church: (1) the member who will not settle personal differences, Matt 18:15-17; (2) the member who has a reputation for being a flagrant sinner, 1 Cor 5:9-11; (3) those who hold false doctrine, 1 Tim 1:18-20 and 2 Tim 2:17-18; (4) those who cause divisions, Titus 3:10-11; (5) Christians who refuse to work for a living, 2 Thess 3:6-12. Those who are suddenly overtaken by sin we should lovingly seek to restore; see Gal 6:1.
(Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Copyright © 1992)
1 John 2:15-19 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”
10. What offenses may require church discipline?
1 Corinthians 5:11-13 “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a 1 fornicator, or 2 covetous, or an 3 idolater, or a 4 railer, or a 5 drunkard, or an 6 extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”
Fornication (Gr. por’-nos) is a person who indulges in fornication; a whoremonger; illicit sexual intercourse – adultery, prostitution, sodomy, molestation, etc.
Covetousness (Gr. pleh-on-ek’-tace) Holding and desiring more, i.e. eager to have what belongs to others; avaricious, greed, a defrauder.
Idolatry (Gr. eidololatres) Someone who worships idols or is involved in or promotes false doctrine.
Railing (Gr. loy’-dor-os) a mischievous, abusive person; a trouble maker; a blasphemer, skeptic. One who speaks irreverently or profanely of God and sacred things. To rail is to curse or revile.
Drunkness (Gr. Methusos) a person given over to intoxication.
Extortion (Gr. harpax) a person who gets money by threats or theft.
11. Scriptures on Church Discipline.
Romans 16:17 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 “And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
1 Timothy 5:19 “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.”
12. Each step in this process must be in harmony with the following.
To restore the offender.
To involve as small a number of persons as possible.
To examine our own life before we attempt to approach an offender.
CONCLUSION: Philippians 4:6-9 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
