What Should Be Done to Christians Who Sin?

By James Quansah, Pastor

It is impossible to live in this world without temptations to sin. When God’s children are tempted, some of them may triumph and wisely escape as the Lord Jesus did in the wilderness and as Joseph did while in Potiphar’s house. Others particularly, the immature or careless ones, may be overtaken in it completely or fall as Samson and Judas Iscariot did.

A true worshipper will not deliberately practice sin, but sometimes he may fall into it when tempted. As long as Christians live in this corrupt, fallen and immoral world with daily temptations, while awaiting the return of our Saviour, King Jesus, we may slip here and there. We should understand that Christians are saved from the bondage of sin, but not the presence of sin.

Christians should also know that no believer has attained sinless perfection in this world. All are in the hands of God, living by the mercies of God and are being helped by the Holy Spirit to live a life pleasing to God. This requires that believers apply Godly wisdom in dealing with a brother or sister who sins.

Paul, the Apostle, knows about this truth so he gives an instruction concerning it. He writes, “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. Bear one another’s burden, and so fulfill the law of Christ,” (Galatians 6: 1-2).

Here, Paul is clearly making a reference to children of God. He was not talking about unbelievers. Thus, he admits that a born-again Christian can be caught in a sin. There are various examples of Christians who sinned which are recorded in Scripture. We can remember the account in which Peter is said to have fallen into a sin of hypocrisy and Paul had to rebuke him. He “opposed him to his face…” In the end, he won back his brother (Gal. 2: 11-14).

In the Corinthian church too, some of the believers were overtaken in sins which were actually reported to Paul for action (1 Cor. 5: 1). To ensure the purity of the church, Paul taught that sin should be dealt with immediately. This is to deny the devil an opportunity to continue to tempt other believers to sin. After all, true believers are not ignorant of the devil’s schemes.

But how should the believer who has sinned be handled? Paul advised that “YOU WHO ARE SPIRITUAL SHOULD RESTORE HIM IN A SPIRIT OF GENTLENESS.” This means fellow mature Christians who obviously know the believer who has sinned personally should restore him or her. The Apostle did not say that we should abandon them to their fate and gossip about them. He did not say we should make hate speeches about them or speak evil about them publicly or privately to kill them slowly.

All he instructed was that they must be restored; they must be saved and not destroyed with hurting words. Paul did not end there. He also taught about how the sinning Christian should be restored. To be restored is to be revived and resuscitated. It means to bring back the believer onto the right path. In other words, the fellow believer should be restored to a love relationship with Christ Jesus.

And then Paul says the restoration should be done IN A SPIRIT OF GENTLENESS, which means it should be done in a spirit of meekness. This means those who volunteer to restore him should avoid behaving or portraying themselves as if they are better off in terms of having the ability to practise righteousness.

Moreover, it is interesting to note that the Gentile-sent Apostle does not end here; he gives further directions concerning the restoration process. Paul instructs that mature Christians seeking to bring back the fallen brother or sister to the right path must learn to “KEEP WATCH ON YOURSELF, LEST YOU TOO BE TEMPTED. Bear one another’s burden, and so fulfill the law of Christ,”

In keeping watch on oneself, Paul draws attention to the fact that no child of God is free from daily temptations. Consequently, even the spiritual disciples of Christ must learn to stay on the lookout for temptations that the devil may unleash on them. The main thing the devil aims at in tempting believers is to overthrow their positions in Christ or breaking their relationship with Him.

Then, Paul, again, gives the exhortation that children of God must learn to BEAR ONE ANOTHER’S BURDEN. He alludes to the fact that a temptation is a burden, a weight, a problem or an affliction. Thus he asks believers to learn to help one another when they are faced with temptations or faced with troubles or difficulties.

Then, finally, he emphasises that when spiritual believers gently succeed in restoring those overtaken in faults or sins, they actually fulfill the law of Christ. To fulfill the law of Christ is to practise the teaching of Christ that says believers should love their neighbours as themselves.

Consequently, the willingness of a Christian to help bring back a fallen brother into union with Christ is tantamount to fulfilling the law of Christ. And he who loves his neighbour as himself reshapes his own destiny.

Similarly, James, the Apostle, supports Paul’s view on this matter when he also writes that, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5: 19).

In conclusion, a child of God may fall into a sin, and when this happens God expects fellow believers to help restore or bring them back in the faith. However, I believe that in extreme cases, rebellious persons and others who are unrepentant may be expelled from the church as was the case in First Corinthians Chapter Five.

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