1 Timothy 5:20

The first of these commands has nothing in particular to do with the elders. It opens out into the wider field of believers in general. The apostle backed the elders in a work that was bound to stir up harmful talk from rebellious people. Even so, he was far from shielding an elder who was accused on solid evidence. So here he insists that no one guilty of ongoing wrongdoing should be spared.

The word "rebuke" is the same as found, for example, in John 16:8, where it is translated "reprove"... In both places the more exact translation is "convict." The very presence of the Comforter on earth "convicts" the world of sin — in the rejection and crucifixion of Christ. So in our passage, those who sin are to be "convicted" before all. To understand this, remember that this scripture does not clash with other passages. Those passages guide us in dealing privately with believers who fall into sin... To convict them before all is to show their sin in a way that reaches their conscience, so as to lead them to confession and restoration.

"Those who sin." It does not say, "those who have sinned," nor each time they have sinned. We all have sinned. We all do sin. But we are not all, each time we have failed, to be dealt with according to the directions given here to Timothy. Someone might be caught in a fault, as Galatians 6:1 describes. Those who are spiritual were to restore such a person gently, watching themselves in case they too are tempted. In that case, rebuking before all would go beyond what the Word allows.

The passage literally says, "Those who are sinning — the tense means those found going on in a sinful course — convict, or put to shame before all." The sin here is of a kind that affects the public testimony of the gathering. A public rebuke is needed to clear the assembly and convict the offender.

Suppose the private warning has failed to reach its aim. Then another step follows: public rebuke... To spare a brother the shame and humiliation of a long time shut out from fellowship, someone must bring him face to face with his wrong... There should be no display of anger or resentment, and no self-righteous, Pharisee-like spirit. Sorrow fits those who realise that it is not they but their Lord who has been injured in the house of His friends.

Suppose the guilt is serious and obvious, so that the shared conscience of the saints rejects such offenders. Then simply rebuking the person does not "purge out the old leaven." The assembly is left a leavened lump, not a new one.

The shame of a public conviction may tell upon the person. But the special aim set before us in 1 Timothy 5:20 is the profit of all, "so that the rest may stand in fear." With this in view, as we carry out the directions of Scripture, there will be no wish to point the finger of scorn at the one who has failed. Instead our hearts will feel more deeply what we are by nature, and how much we need real watchfulness, in case a rebuke should one day fall rightly on us.

Public rebuke of those who are sinning is rarely seen in the assemblies of saints today. But we believe that if it were practised more, we would see more godly fear in the hearts of believers, and more care in their walk. We would also see fewer cases of excommunication from the assembly. The ones going wrong would be rebuked and stopped at the start of their path of sin.