The Christian Duty Towards Those Who Sin

Galatians 6:1
"Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, less thou also be tempted"

Our Responsibility
Every Christian has a responsibility towards an unfaithful brother or sister in Christ.
If you are aware of sinful conduct on their part , you are absolutely obligated to take action.
It is NOT the sole responsibility of the elders, deacons, or preacher.
It is NOT the exclusive duty of a handful of the stronger members of the congregation.
You have a specific burden in this important matter.

We Are Here For Each Other
Our job is to help people get to heaven.
If a brother or sister is involved in sin, they cannot go to heaven.
If we do nothing to help them get to heaven, what makes us think we can go to heaven?
What happens when we fail to try to correct the erring brother or sister?

You Are Guilty Of Sin
You are directly choosing to not do what God commands that you must do.
Matthew 18:15-17
Luke 17:3-4
Jude 22-23
The person in error may not even know if they are in error, so they must be told what they are doing is wrong.

You Demonstrate No Love
You are demonstrating a lack of love for the one who is in sin.
Do you not care that he/she is on a course that will lead to their soul's eternal damnation in hell?
How many times do we read that we are to love our brethren?
If you do not love your brother or sister, how can you say you love any lost soul?

You Allow It To Continue
You are allowing a situation to continue which will bring shame and reproach upon the Lord's church.
We ALL have the responsibility to keep the purity of the Church.
We all ARE the church.
You thus become responsible, at least in part, for the loss of respect and reputation that the church will suffer in the community.

You Do Not Care For Souls
You are showing that you don't have a serious concern for the lost souls in the community.
Why would anyone listen to anyone who does not care about you? About your soul?
Your failure to act will likely cause them to focus on the hypocritical conduct of the sinning brother and thus turn away from the truth and their own salvation.
People look for churches so that their soul can go to heaven.
If this church allows what is clearly condemned in the Bible, what does it say about this church?

You Bring Down Other Christians
You are contributing to the discouragement of other Christians who will ultimately become aware of these sins.
Your inaction will simply add to the grief caused by the initial sins of the brother or sister you should have corrected.
“I was in sin, yet you did not correct me”
How would we respond if someone said that to me?

Toleration = Approval
That is what happens in the process of compromise.
Though you may not approve, you say nothing against it.
Everybody else assumes you approve because you say nothing against it.
“Oh, I just don’t want to get involved”
Is this the attitude of a true Christian?
Even a child thinks that if mommy does not say no, it must be okay.

Conclusion
There are many negative consequences by failure to try to correct your brother or sister who is in error.
Whether they listen to you or not is up to them, and they will have to live/die with the consequences.
If you care for their soul, don't you see that you really MUST do the right thing?
When you become aware of a sinful situation we must show our love of a brother or sister in Christ?
Otherwise, we demonstrate that we really do not care at all about their soul (and our own soul).

By Carey Scott from an article

Return to the Sermon Outlines page

Home / Bible studies / Bible Survey / Special Studies / General Articles / Non-Bible Articles / Sermons / Sermon Outlines / Links / Questions and Answers / What Saith The Scriptures /Daily Devotional / Correspondence Courses / What is the Church of Christ / Book: Christian Growth / Website Policy / E-mail / About Me /