Mat 18:15-17 | PNT | STEP | If thy brother . Brother in the church. Compare . Sin against thee . Personally. Injure you or do you wrong. Shew him his fault . Go to him privately and have a kind, brotherly talk over the matter, and try to show him his fault. Gained thy brother . For thyself, by restoring good feeling; for God, by leading him to a sense of sin and repentance.

‏ Matthew 18:15-17

If thy brother. Brother in the church. Compare Mr 9:38 Lu 9:49.

Sin against thee. Personally. Injure you or do you wrong.

Shew him his fault. Go to him privately and have a kind, brotherly talk over the matter, and try to show him his fault.

Gained thy brother. For thyself, by restoring good feeling; for God, by leading him to a sense of sin and repentance. Take with thee one or two more. If the private interview is of no avail, take other brethren as witnesses and intercessors. These witnesses, hearing the matter talked over, can report the facts. Tell [it] unto the church. If neither effort is of avail, then report it to the church for action. This is the second instance in the New Testament use of the word "church". The first is in Mt 16:18.

If he neglect to hear the church. The admonition and entreaty of the church through its elders. The church has power to admonish and to exclude.

Let him be to thee as an heathen man and a publican. Have no religious fellowship with him, more than you would have with a heathen, or a publican. The publicans were usually apostate Jews. The orthodox Jews had no social intercourse with heathen or publicans.