A brother had a five-year affair. His wife didn’t know about the affair. He says he has repented. Can he work in the worship service and be one of the spiritual leaders? What does he need to do?<\/p>\n\t
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness<\/em>” (I John 1:9).<\/p>\n
“Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him<\/em>” (Luke 17:3-4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
How long the brother sinned does not matter. Who knew of his sins does not matter. What matters is that he has had a change of heart and a change of behavior. If he has gone to God to ask for forgiveness, then it can’t be held against him.<\/p>\n
You should put him to work. It would be advisable not to put him in a position where he might be tempted to sin again since he has already shown a weakness in that area, but where he can be of use that is safe for him, then put him to use.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: A brother had a five-year affair. His wife didn’t know about the affair. He says he has repented. Can he work in the worship service and be one of the spiritual leaders? What does he need to do? Answer: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[66,1571,50],"class_list":["post-31349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-adultery","tag-forgiveness","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24049,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-forgive-even-though-the-elders-refuse-to-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":31349,"position":0},"title":"Do we forgive even though the elders refuse to change?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, \u2018I repent,\u2019 you shall forgive him\" (Luke 17:3-4). After reading\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":45446,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-found-out-months-ago-that-my-husband-is-having-an-affair-but-i-cant-bring-myself-to-forgive-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":31349,"position":1},"title":"I found out months ago that my husband is having an affair, but I can’t bring myself to forgive him","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, Almost two years ago I found out that my husband was having inappropriate conversations with women. I prayed for God to reveal to me what I needed to know. That's when I spoke to one of the women that my husband was having an affair with last year.\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":31349,"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":37949,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-of-christians-who-find-it-hard-to-forgive\/","url_meta":{"origin":31349,"position":3},"title":"What do you think of Christians who find it hard to forgive?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What do you think of Christians who find it hard to forgive and this prevents us from coming together. What can a Christian do to change his or her unforgiving spirit? How should Christians respond to other Christians who display a non-Christian-like behavior toward us? Answer: \"For if you\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":70001,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/forgiveness-without-repentance\/","url_meta":{"origin":31349,"position":4},"title":"Forgiveness Without Repentance?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson via Seeking Things Above The Bible emphasizes the importance of forgiving those who sin against us. In fact, failing to do so is very frightening because, in Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus taught, \"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if\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":37851,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-wasnt-satan-and-his-angels-offered-forgiveness\/","url_meta":{"origin":31349,"position":5},"title":"Why wasn’t Satan and his angels offered forgiveness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I just stumbled into your website. I have a question. God commands us to forgive and this I accept but my question is: Why did God not forgive Lucifer, the devil? We need to follow the examples of God. 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