We hear passages like Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him…”, and roiling questions rush into our minds: Who am I to judge? What will their response be? Isn’t this a pastor’s job? What if I do more harm than good? Whichever the case, it all reduces down to one question – is confronting my brother or sister in Christ really a good thing? The Bible answers with a resounding “Yes!” Correction among believing brothers and sisters is good, right, and needed in the local church body. To encourage us toward this prickly prescription, God’s Word catalogs the benefits produced for all those involved in faithful, truthful, and loving correction.

(Side note: Though it is not within my article’s scope to discuss what correction is and ought to look like… I do think godly confrontation and correction cannot be anything less then faith-driven, truth-filled, and love-motivated. I summarize these three characteristics into the term “Brotherly Correction” throughout my article. For more on what “brotherly correction” is and looks likes I humbly direct you to Pastor Jesse’s article “Giving Correction Graciously”, over at New Creation Living.)

Brotherly correction is a necessary part of a believer’s sanctification – Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance as he suffers through aftermath of his sin with Bathsheba. In his prayer David confesses his sin to God, pleads for His mercy and healing, and asks for the strength to move forward with a changed heart. David’s repentance is good, right, and needed and it was initiated by the prophet Nathan’s rebuke (2 Samuel 12). Nathan brought to David’s attention his sin and God’s holiness and David responded. Confronting and correction is a key piece in a believer’s sanctification because repentance is the believer’s main instrument of sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5 tells us that God’s will for our lives is sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which we grow in holiness – willingly giving up on sin and giving in to faithfulness. Believers, though freed from sin, need other believers to help them see ongoing sin and grow in their Christlikeness through repentance.

Brotherly correction is a necessary part of a believer’s faithfulness – Correction is difficult, as is most of what the Lord calls us to do. It requires faith to step into someone else’s life and help them away from sin and toward God. Listen to Hebrews 3:12-14:

Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the realitythat we had at the start.

God calls believers to watch out for each other in the battle against evil, unbelieving, and hard hearts. Hebrews sketches the church as participants in Christ. Let us not miss the truth that the believers unity with each other rests upon their unity with Christ. Unified participation provides both motivation and direction in correction. Motivation as we consider it loving obedience to the Lord to help our brothers and sisters fight sin, and direction as we consider the goal of correction to be a deeper love and obedience to Christ. This is faith-driven work, as love for God will give us love for God’s people. This is ongoing and proactive work, not a once-and-done reactionary work. This is blessed work, just as it is hard work. This is supplied work, as the Spirit provides all we need for godliness.

Brotherly correction is a necessary part of the church’s life. Galatians 6:1-2 tells us to fulfill the law of Christ by pursuing restoration of the church member stuck in sin with gentleness by sharing their burdens. Believers help each other toward God and away from sin because that is exactly what God has done for them. God sent Jesus Christ to save us from our sin and bring us into His church. The basic plot line of brotherly correction follows the gospel track: God is holy, we are rebellious, Christ is Savior, and we respond with repentance and faith. It is no wonder then that the body saved by the gospel must now together rehearse and rely on the same gospel for ‘ongrowing’ faithfulness. This means that brotherly correction serves the church as a whole by reminding its participants of their daily need for the gospel and God’s grace in providing it freely (both in Christ and the church). Correction reminds the church of the efficacy of the gospel as God’s plan to rescue us from sin and reduce our unfaithfulness. As the church prompts each other to turn toward the Lord we all grow in our understanding of God’s grace and glory. 

Brotherly correction is not easy, it can be nerve-wracking, but it is necessary and blessed. As Ephesians 4:16 says, “From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.” Let us enjoy the blessing of being built up toward Christ as a church saved by grace through relationships that exercise patient brotherly correction.