A Believer Who Sins

ByJim Stephens

Scripture:  Matthew 18:15-17  (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

15 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. (Matthew 18:15–17 NLT)

If another believer sins against you! Friends, it’s gonna happen sooner or later, and here’s how Jesus says to deal with it! This is serious! But before we initiate the process, there are a couple of things we need to consider:

  1. If we pull the trigger on this and set the process in motion, it ends one of two ways: The person at stage one, two, or three acknowledges the sin against you, you forgive the person and the relationship is restored (you’ve won the person back!); Or, The person doesn’t listen to you, doesn’t acknowledge the sin, and is treated by the church as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. And guess what? You still get to forgive the person for their sin against you, or you end up full of bitterness with a shrunken soul!
  2. What if we first push the pause button, and examine our own heart to see whether the person actually sinned against us? Or were we being over-sensitive to an action or word by a person who was having a really bad day, or who is immature and insensitive and the confrontation would likely end up making a mountain out of a molehill? If we do this and are still convinced we’ve been sinned against and need to confront, then back to point 1 and pull the trigger. (But seriously consider the consequences!)

Apparently, as Jesus sees it, there’s no place here for just carrying a grudge and hating the person, and living the rest of our lives with a broken relationship and a wounded, unhealed soul. (Unless I’m missing something. Insert Smiley emoji here!)

Prayer:

Father, I know you’re a forgiver, Jesus is a forgiver, and you’ve called us to be the forgivers for our little part of the world in our generation. May great grace be upon us all as we contemplate sin, forgiveness, and reconciliation. In Jesus’ Name!