By Dennis Pollock
In this brief Bible study, I want to explore the concept of restoring and forgiving brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone astray. This is a subject that you rarely hear addressed from the pulpits or discussed by most TV preachers. It is so rarely spoken of that many Christians might find it hard to believe, if it weren’t for the fact that it is easy to look up the corresponding verses in the Bible.
Let’s start in the Book of Galatians. The apostle Paul writes:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
Notice Paul’s exhortation begins with the word “brethren.” He is talking to Christians about Christians or at least men and women who attend church and profess Christ. He is encouraging mature and spiritual believers to go and restore those church members who have been “overtaken in any trespass,” or in other words, caught up in some form of fragrant, frequent sin.
Talking About Believers
Paul is not talking about those outside of the church. If we were to try and correct sinners of their bad habits and sinful lifestyles, there would not be enough time in the day for that, nor would non-Christians ever put up with our meddling in their lives. Paul is referring to fellow believers, men and women who attend church regularly, have been baptized, and say things like “Praise the Lord!”
Some might suppose that it would be judging to go to some professing Christian and attempt to restore them from some pattern of sin in their lives. They might even want to challenge the apostle, protesting, “But Paul, don’t you remember that Jesus said, “Do not judge?” But Paul did not see it that way. He insists that when Christians in a local church get caught up in sin, or as he puts it, “overtaken in any trespass,” some of the more spiritual believers in that church need to go to him and attempt to talk some sense into him. But he warns them that this must be done gently and that the ones who go on this restoration mission must be careful that they do not get tempted and dragged down into the same sin from which they are attempting to deliver their brother.
Paul is not saying that we should try to restore imperfect Christians to a state of perfect holiness. If we tried to do that, we would soon wear ourselves out, because all Christians are imperfect, including the one we see when we look in the mirror. No, Paul is saying we should restore the captives, those caught up in regular, deliberate, glaring, flagrant sin.
In another place, Paul, the leading grace preacher among the apostles, writes about a man caught up in sexual immorality. This man is a church member and considers himself a Christian but refuses to repent. Paul writes:
For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 5:3-5)
“Turn Him Over…”
Here Paul essentially says, “I have already judged this situation, this man, this sin, and I am ordering you to turn this man over to Satan for his destruction, that at least his spirit may be saved on the Day of Jesus Christ.” Kind of tough talk coming from the apostle of grace! This is not some random sinner caught up in sex sins. The world is full of immoral sinners, and it is not our job to rebuke them or confront them over their sins. It is our job to confront them over their need for Jesus. But in this specific case, there was a brother in the church who was living like the world, and Paul is hot about it, and says, “Turn him over to the devil!”
The pulpits of our churches these days are strangely silent over passages like this one. We are told over and over, ad nauseum, to be tolerant, non-judgmental, and never confront anyone over anything. But Paul was of a different mind.
The Bible says much about forgiveness, and most believers understand that we must forgive those who sin against us. But the Lord Jesus comes at this from a slightly different angle when He says:
Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17)
Tough Love
This would come as a surprise to many believers who don’t read the Bible much. They might suppose that when some brother or sister sins against us and deeply wounds our spirits, we should say something like, “God bless you, brother! God loves you and so do I. Have a wonderful day!” No, Jesus tells us that if a brother sins against us, we should go bring a couple of other brothers to him and confront him over this sin, evidently in the hope that he will repent. And if he refuses to admit his sin and repent, we should bring the matter up before the whole church. And when the church rebukes him, if he still will not repent or express his sorrow for hurting you, then the church is to shun him the way they would do a heathen or a tax collector.
This is tough counsel regarding what to do when wounded by a brother, and it is a far cry from the impression we might get by listening to most pastors and TV preachers.
At another time, Jesus said, “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4). He does not say, “If your brother sins against you, give him a hug and tell him how much you appreciate him.” He does not counsel us to say, “I never thought a thing about it,” or “Don’t worry about it, my brother! God thinks you’re swell!” or “God doesn’t see your sins and neither do I.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God says, “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. But if he repents, forgive him.”
Real Christianity
What we discover in this brief study is that New Testament Christianity is quite a bit tougher than modern Christianity. Modern Christianity is more like cotton candy and sugary breakfast cereal, but New Testament Christianity is like steak and salad. And you can guess which one is healthier for you. The solution for our fuzzy, erroneous, insights about sin and repentance is a knowledge of the Bible, and especially the New Testament Scriptures. Anyone who reads and knows the Bible would not be shocked or surprised by this little Bible study I have shared with you because they would have read these verses numerous times. But sadly, for many Christians, the only Bible knowledge they have is what they hear on Sundays, or worse still, what they learn from the TV preachers. If they read a study like this one, they might say to themselves, “Is this really in the Bible?” The answer is, “Yes, it is, but you wouldn’t know it from most of modern Christianity.”
Your first step toward God is to be born again. Receive Jesus Christ by faith as your Savior and Lord, believing He died for your sins and was raised from the dead. And secondly, pick up your Bible and begin reading it, and learn the ways of God.
