It’s not easy to get involved in the dispute of others, in fact, it’s not even safe. Proverbs says, “Anyone who asks the question to another is like the one who takes a dog that pierces his ears?”(Proverbs 26. 17).
However, Jesus knows that sometimes the dog must be grabbed by the ears, because any fight between two members of a church is, in a sense, his own struggle (see 1 Corinthians 12:26). So, when an offended brother confronts his offender. and the offender refuses to repent, Jesus commands, “Take with you one or two people, that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every word may be confirmed” (Matthew 18:16).
So who are these others one or two?
Who are you?
John Nolland suggests that they should witness to the sin committed and should be “aware regardless of the problem” – 1. However, the text gives us two reasons to reject this view. First, Jesus doesn’t call them witnesses, Does He demand the offended?brother take one or two? (Matthew 18:16), not that He takes one or two witnesses, Jesus expects them to become witnesses later, but they do not have to witness the offense. # 2
Second, this meeting must have an initial and private purpose, regardless of the sin from which the brother refuses to repent. One or two must witness the offense, so the second encounter must be conditional: it can only happen if one or two see sin committed. Since many offenses have no witnesses and that Jesus did not have the second conditional encounter, the?One or two don’t have to witness the offense. Even if the sinful brother does not repent, they will become witnesses of sin in the church, so that, as Jesus says: “By the testimony of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established?”(Matthew 18:16).
In a sense, one or two are not witnesses to a crime, but as witnesses to the signing of a person’s will, they did not come to testify of anything that had happened in the past, but to participate in the encounter between two brothers. Then you can testify in front of the church.
Why are they important?
Since the goal is restoration, the other or the other two must act as advisers and mediators, not as mercenaries hired to offend their brother, although they came to the meeting at the request of the offended brother, they should remember that they have a ministry. on both sides: help the sinful brother repent and help the offended brother forgive. They are not lawyers for the offended brother; they are advocates of the spiritual growth and true repentance of the two brethren and the restoration of the broken relationship.
The role of others? It’s not easy, but it’s important.
They are important to the offender and the offender
They will deal with a person confronted with their sin and another person offended by this sin. They should help the sinful brother, who may have difficulty repenting. In addition, most people do not react joyfully when their sins are exposed. You should also help the offended brother, who may be deeply wounded or too bitter to forgive immediately. In his struggle and bitterness, he may not have realized that the sinful brother was ready to repent, or even to try to repent when the first encounter occurred between When that happens, the?One or two will have to help the offended brother forgive instead of helping the sinful brother repent.
They’re important to the church
Others also have a great responsibility for the church. If the offended person refuses to repent, he or she must act as a witness before the church of what he saw and heard at the second meeting. You may have to appear before the church and be lawyers for the excommunication of the unrepentant.
Therefore, elected officials should be wise counselors capable of preaching the gospel and helping people restore a broken relationship; they must also be people of trust and good reputation who have integrity in the eyes of the congregation; as wise counselors, they can help those involved repent or forgive them and work with them to reconcile with God and among themselves. As whole people, will your testimony before the congregation ensure that, through the testimony of two or three witnesses, each word is established?(Matthew 18:16). The reputation of witnesses will allow the congregation to act without entering into a public and independent investigation into sin. Such research is likely to underscore the church’s mission to extend the gospel to the excommunicated person.
1 John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), 746-47. If they know nothing of the offense until they are called to attend the second meeting, Nolland says that “the call to multiply witnesses makes no sense. “
2 This is the position taken by Jay E. Adams :?Aren’t they just witnesses? They are designed as an active participant in the reconciliation process. Is it when rejection occurs, and only then, that they become witnesses?Will they become witnesses if and when the matter is formally brought before the church?Jay E. Adams, A Handbook of Church Discipline: A Right and Privilege of Every Church Member (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1974), 60 (emphasis on the original).
By: Stephen Matteucci. © 2010 9Marks. Original: Catching a Dog by the Ears: The Role of Witnesses
Translation: Matheus Fernandes Review: Yago Martins © 2016 Faithful Ministério All rights reserved. Website: MinisterioFiel. com. br: Matthew 18. 16: The Role of Witnesses
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