QUESTION:
If a brother is committing sin and of his own 
free will quits the church does he cease to be a 
brother? If he is committing one of the sins 
listed in lCor.5:9-13 does the church have any 
obligation toward him since he has voluntarily 
left the church?  

ANSWER:
An individual does not cease to be a brother or child of God just because he sins 
and leaves the church. The prodigal left “the Father’s house” but did not cease 
being a son or brother. In l John 5:16 says “If any man see his brother sin a sin 
which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin 
not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” 
In this verse a brother has sinned, yet he remains a brother in spite of that fact. 
Galations 6:1 teaches that “if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are 
spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness...” The man overtaken is a 
brother both before and after the sin. If one should cease to be a brother merely 
because he sins and leaves the church, what would he have to do should he decide to 
return? If he ceased to be a brother because of his sin, would he need to be 
baptized again? Surely not. The very question answers itself.  But what obligation, 
if any, does the church have toward a sinning brother if he leaves the church? 
First of all the church should seek to restore him. Secondly, the church should 
have no fellowship with him in his sin. Paul in I Corinthians 5:11 writes “But now 
I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be 
a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an 
extortioner;”  This passage forbids social fellowship whether the person has left 
the church or not. Thirdly, there are situations that demand withdrawal of 
fellowship. The matter in 1 Corinthians is such a situation. So also the matter in 
II Thessalonians 3:6 where the inspired writer says “Now we command you, brethren, 
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every 
brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of 
us.” The disorderly person in this verse was out of step, having broken rank with 
the rest of the church. We must remember that fellowship is not a one time thing 
that happens for an hour or two each week, but rather a seven days a week and 
twenty-four hours a day relationship. The discipline demanded by the bible is not 
pleasant. In fact it is often very distasteful, but it is nevertheless enjoined by 
the scriptures.