We had\u00a0a couple who were members until we learned that their marriage was\u00a0unscriptural.\u00a0 They refused to repent.\u00a0 Are they considered “brethren?”<\/p>\n\t
“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. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother<\/em>” (II Thessalonians 3:14-15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
They are fallen brethren, but still a brother and sister. That means that if they ever are restored, they will not need to be baptized again because they are already are a part of the children of God.<\/p>\n
Yet, while they are in this state, all the relationships that make it special to be a child of God among many are withdrawn. They are no different than other sinners in the world. “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<\/em>” (Matthew 18:17). Thus, we are polite, as we would be to anyone else in the world. We are insistent that they turn their lives over to Christ, but it is the same as we treat everyone else in the world. But we don’t make them feel that their current state is acceptable. “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 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<\/em>” (I Corinthians 5:9-11). Notice that even in this last verse the sinner is still called a “brother.” In fact, it is because he is a brother in sin that he is treated in this manner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: We had\u00a0a couple who were members until we learned that their marriage was\u00a0unscriptural.\u00a0 They refused to repent.\u00a0 Are they considered “brethren?” Answer: “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. Yet do not count him as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[50,254],"class_list":["post-16039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-repentance","tag-withdrawal"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28504,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-christian-obligated-to-forgive-the-sinner-who-will-not-repent\/","url_meta":{"origin":16039,"position":0},"title":"Is the Christian Obligated to Forgive the Sinner Who Will Not Repent?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Curtis A. Cates The above question has often been asked of this scribe. Every accountable being at times sins against others; some sin publicly, even against the church. Clearly, those who repent and ask for forgiveness are to be fully forgiven. But, not everyone repents and asks for forgiveness.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53644,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-a-christian-who-teaches-error-still-a-brother-in-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":16039,"position":1},"title":"Is a Christian who teaches error still a brother in Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A big fire started after our morning services this morning! One of our members here adamantly disagreed with me when I mentioned that when a brother sins by teaching doctrinal error, he must repent, and if he refuses to repent he is \"a brother in error.\" Until he does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60416,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/three-quotes-on-forgiving-a-brother\/","url_meta":{"origin":16039,"position":2},"title":"Three Quotes on Forgiving a Brother","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"From Questions Answered, Lipscomb and Sewell, Kurfees, pg. 260 Question: If a brother in the church offends us, is it right for us to forgive him whether he comes and asks us to or not, or must we hold it against him until he comes and asks our pardon? Would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5289,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-ok-to-turn-another-christian-into-the-police-for-stealing-from-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":16039,"position":3},"title":"Is it OK to turn another Christian into the police for stealing from you?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it right for an elder to detain a sister in a police station because she collected the elder's ID card and two mobile phones? Answer: Christians are required by God to stop stealing (Ephesians 4:28) and not make a practice of it. Our interactions regarding Christians and what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-not-forgive-the-unrepentant\/","url_meta":{"origin":16039,"position":4},"title":"Do we not forgive the unrepentant?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does Luke 17:3 imply that we are not to forgive a brother or sister until they have repented? I know God will not forgive until we have repented and asked him for forgiveness. Answer: \"Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19223,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-those-who-teach-institutionalism-or-liberalism-be-called-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":16039,"position":5},"title":"Can those who teach institutionalism or liberalism be called brethren?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you please help me? I am a preacher of the gospel who is striving to teach and practice the truth. I respect the God-given work of the church and I do have a problem with churches doing what is not authorized in the Bible as far as using\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}