"15 If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17; NASBU).
Go to your brother. These words follow Jesus’ parable of a lost sheep: “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish” (Matthew 18:16; NASBU). Your Father in heaven does not want your brother to perish. Win your brother. Save your brother from the consequences of his sin.
Take one or two as witnesses. If he does not respond to your act of love, take one or two others with you to admonish him. The witnesses will serve to confirm your innocence and his guilt if he does not repent.
Tell it to the local church. Next, the Head calls upon us to tell the entire body. If the brother fails to repent after steps one and two, the entire local church is to be made aware of the situation for the good of the sinning brother.
Let the church speak. The church is to admonish the sinning brother to repent. This is the will of “the Head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18; NASBU).
Do not fellowship him. The expression “a Gentile and a tax collector” speaks to the subject of fellowship. If a brother sins and he is unwilling to repent the local church is to view him as he is in truth, a sinner in need of forgiveness from GOD which comes as a result of repentance. He is not in fellowship with the Head, therefore, remove him from the body.
Discipline is about love. Love the Father and do His will. Love your brother and go to him. Love the Father and your brethren and repent. Always remember the heart of the Lord: “…not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9; NASBU).
Jason Cicero
