John 20:22-23 “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. (23) If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Nevertheless, scripture does teach us that there are times when we do not forgive brethren, and we hold the person accountable for their sin. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that our Lord Jesus gave authority to His church to withhold forgiveness in certain instances. And so in this section we want to discuss which circumstances qualify for forgiveness to be withheld from a fellow believer.
Matthew 18:15-17 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. (16) But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ''by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' (17) And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”
We have already looked at part of the above quoted passage, but now we want to look at the rest of the teaching that our Lord gave on this occasion. In this passage our Lord Jesus went on to say that if a believer remains unrepentant after two or three believers have spoken to him about his sin, then the church is to become involved. And if after the church has spoken to the individual, they still refuse to hear, then the individual is to become like a heathen and a tax collector to the church. In other words, we do not forgive when a fellow believer has committed sin and has been counselled to repent of that sin, and refuses to do so. In that instance, the Lord has given us the authority to withhold forgiveness from that believer, and there are no negative consequences that impact upon the believers who do not forgive. But I also want you to notice that the Lord’s counsel to His church is to withdraw fellowship from that believer at the same time.
1 Corinthians 5:1-13 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles--that a man has his father's wife! (2) And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. (3) For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. (4) In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, (5) deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. … (11) But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person. (12) For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? (13) But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is an example of forgiveness being withheld from a believer who refused to repent of their sin. What had transpired in this account is that a believer in the church at Corinth had started committing adultery, and he was sinning against his own father. This believer had been spoken to but refused to repent, and so the apostle Paul had judged him. But I want you to notice that when Paul dealt with the sin being committed by the church member, that he also counselled that the church member should be removed from their midst. In other words, when we withhold forgiveness from a Christian that refuses to repent of their sin, the Church is also counselled to withhold fellowship from the sinning believer. This is in line with what our Lord Jesus taught us as quoted above in Matthew chapter eighteen.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. (15) Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
So what is the purpose of withdrawing fellowship from the unrepentant brother? The above quoted passage of scripture teaches us that we do not keep company with believers who choose not to repent of their sin, so that they may become ashamed of their behaviour, and thus repent of their sin. If you read the account in scripture of the incident that occurred in the Corinthian church, you will see that the unrepentant brother in that church eventually came to his senses and repented of his sin. And as a result, Paul counselled the church to forgive him and restore him to fellowship (2 Corinthians 2:6-8).
Michael E.B. Maher
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