What does God require of the church when a believer falls into deep, open sin?
God mandates that the church deal with the sin through disciplinary action, aiming first and foremost to restore the believer to fellowship. The church is also admonished never to pray for the death of such a person, even though God may remove them physically.
Les teaches that when a believer falls into deep, open sin that people generally know about, God has mandated first and foremost a disciplinary action on the part of the church to restore such a one to fellowship. It has to be dealt with by the church, and God is going to deal with it. In 1 John 5, John addresses sin in the church: there is a sin not unto death, and there is a sin unto death. For believers who go into such gross sin, God may take them out of their physical existence, but they do not lose their salvation. The believing community is admonished never even to pray for the death of someone like that.
More Questions
How should the church respond to a believer who has been caught in sin?
When a believer is caught in a fault, those who are spiritual are to restore such a one in the spirit of meekness (Galatians 6:1).