Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: April 13, 2008
FIVE POINT PLAN OF ACTION TO RESTORE UNFAITHFUL
MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). Apostasy is real! The
work of the church is to prevent apostasy from taking place. It is keeping the saved, saved
through the proclamation of the word of God. Of course, the individual has the personal
responsibility to make application of God’s word to his/her life. It is often the case that “a
man be overtaken in a fault.” The term “fault” properly denotes a “trespass.” A “trespass”
is a defection or deviation from the truth. Thus, it equals sin.
Those who have been overtaken in a trespass are to be sought out by the “spiritual,” that
is, those who continue to live faithfully. It refers to those walking so as to please God.
Those overtaken in a fault would refer to those walking after the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21, 24-26).
Paul issued this command to the spiritual toward those overtaken in a fault: “Restore
such a one.” This phrase is in the present imperative, which denotes a command.
Present tense denotes that of trying to restore, not that one will actually be able to restore
the one overtaken in a sin. James put it like this: “Brethren, if any of you do err from the
truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his
way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).
Restoring such a one does not mean restoring him to the church after withdrawal of
fellowship has taken place. Corrective discipline (or withdrawal of fellowship) is not under
consideration in this verse. Corrective action should not be resorted to until all other
methods of instruction and admonishment have been exhausted (cf. Matt. 18:15-17).
Why should the one in sin be restored? Obviously, to save his soul. The spiritual must be
concerned and show concern to those in sin. Whenever there is a defective member of the
body, then effort should and must be made to bring about restoration. As one brother so
very well stated,
If brethren were as concerned about members of the body of Christ as they are about the
members of their own body, they would surely do more to restore the fallen (George
Pledger, Burdens We Must Bear, “Studies in Galatians,” Fifth Annual Denton
Lectures — Dub McClish, Editor, Pg. 218).
There are different levels of apostasy. Don’t misunderstand: ALL APOSTASY WILL RESULT
IN ETERNAL DAMNATION (cf. 2 John 9-11). This is true with regard to the one who
spasmodically attends the services of the church, and it is true with the one who has
completely left the church altogether. Those who believe that by attending only on Sunday
morning and not the other services and still land safely in glory are deceived (cf. Heb. 10:
25; Matt. 6:33).
We must do more to try and restore those who have left the faith. The men of the
congregation have realized that this is indeed the case. It was unanimously decided by the
men to put forward a FIVE POINT PLAN OF ACTION TO RESTORE UNFAITHFUL MEMBERS
OF THE CHURCH. This plan is specifically designed to reach out to a specific class of
individuals: THOSE WHO HAVE COMPLETELY FALLEN AWAY FROM THE CHURCH. Of
course, the men are very much concerned with those who are unfaithful in attending the
services of the church and steps are being put forward to reach out to these as well via the
“Faith in Action” teams. But, the five point plan of action is specifically aimed at those
who have completely and totally abandoned the Lord’s church. The five point plan of action
is as follows:
1.) Within the next couple of weeks, a letter of encouragement and admonishment from
the men will be sent. This letter will also inform them that a visit will be made within two
to four weeks, provided there is no response from the letter of encouragement.
2.) A visit will be made within two to four weeks of sending the letter.
3.) If there is no positive response, then a congregational letter of encouragement will be
sent.
4.) Individuals will send cards and letters and make personal visits if needed.
5.) If there has been no positive response to the above efforts, then a final visit will be
made. This visit will be to inform the erring of the consequences of continuing to live in
apostasy. Efforts will be put forward to impress upon them the serious nature of departing
from the Lord with a plea to repent and be restored to the fold of God’s fellowship. This is
our goal and aim — to restore those in sin.
Please pray for this congregational effort that it will be successful in reaching out to these
who have fallen away. We don’t want people to be lost eternally. Thus, these efforts are
being put forward, which the men believe are biblically demanded. The men also believe
that this five point plan is a responsible and balanced approach. — Ben Justice
“NOT A HOOF BE LEFT BEHIND” (Ex. 10:26)
God had already delivered eight plagues upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The ninth
plague was a plague of darkness (Ex. 10:21-26). The darkness is described as “thick” and it
was “in all the land of Egypt three days” (v. 22). Verse 23 states, “They saw not one another,
neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their
dwellings.” Pharaoh had enough. He called for Moses and said, “Go ye serve the Lord; only
let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you” (v. 24). Moses
informed Pharaoh that the cattle were needed in order to sacrifice unto the Lord our God
(v. 25). Then, in v. 26, Moses declared, “Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an
hoof be left behind;” Moses had already informed Pharaoh earlier that the flocks and herds
would also go (v. 9). Pharaoh wanted Moses to compromise. But, Moses forcefully said,
“not a hoof be left behind.” There was nothing left for negotiation; Moses was not about to
compromise. Not one single hoof would be left behind. Can we not learn a very valuable
lesson about faithfulness? When it comes to the truth of God’s word, we must not
compromise one hoof of it. When it comes to God’s truth, compromise is never an option
for the Christian. — Ben Justice