15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 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. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:15–20 (ESV)
What comprises a true church belong to Jesus Christ? In other words, what is a biblical church? The following characteristics of a biblical church are taken from the New Testament.
First, a true, biblical church preaches the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Timothy 4:1–5). Second, a true biblical church observes the ordinances of believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:38–40; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26). Thirdly, as attested by today’s text, a true, biblical church observes church discipline (1 Corinthians 5:1–8; Galatians 6:1-2; 1 Timothy 1:18–20).
“Jesus has been warning against the evil of tempting others to sin. Instead of becoming the cause of someone else’s ruin every follower of the Lord should make it his business to find the sheep that has gone astray and to bring it back to the fold. But suppose the shoe is on the other foot. Suppose I myself am not the sinner, the one who causes others to become ensnared in sin, but instead the one sinned against, what then? In answering this question the Lord starts out by saying, “Now if a brother sin against you.…” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.
What is a believer in Christ to do when another believer sins against them? In some instances, it is wise to ignore the sin. Proverbs 19:11 (ESV) says, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
Matthew 18:15 states that if a brother in Christ sins against you, go and privately tell him his fault. A sin (ἁμαρτάνω; harmartano) means a violation of God’s Law. To go and tell the individual their fault (ἐλέγχω; elencho) means to expose, reprove and correct.
“The prescription for church discipline in vv. 15–17 must be read in light of the parable of the lost sheep in vv. 12–14. The goal of this process is restoration. If successful, “you have gained your brother.” Step one is to “tell him his fault” privately,” states Dr. John MacArthur.
How are believers to expose, reprove and correct a person when they sin against them? Galatians 6:1–2 (ESV) says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
“Jesus means that the offended brother should in the spirit of brotherly love go and show the sinner his fault, and this not—certainly not most of all—for the purpose of receiving satisfaction for a personal grievance, but rather in the interest of the offender, that he may repent, and may seek and find forgiveness. Whether the offended brother should make only one personal visit or should go more than once is not stated, and may depend on circumstances. To spare the honor of the brother who has sinned Jesus adds that such an interview with the offender must take place “while you are alone with him,” literally, “between you and him alone,” that is, privately. There must be a tête-à-tête, a brotherly “face-to-face” confrontation. The Dutch and the Germans frequently use an expression which, literally translated into English, is (a meeting) “between four eyes.” says Dr. Hendriksen.
“If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” This is the goal for such a confrontation and conversation. It will not be an easy encounter but it is a necessary one.
“The admonition of verse 15 is all the more appropriate because the brother who has been sinned against is, after all, also himself a sinner, one who should at all times first of all examine himself (7:3, 4; 1 Cor. 11:28; cf. Ps. 139:23, 24),” concludes Dr. Hendriksen.
Pray that if you ever have to confront a fellow believer, concerning their sin against you, it will done in a spirit of gentleness.
Soli deo Gloria!
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