Why must a fallen believer be restored in a spirit of meekness?
Restoration must be done in meekness because every human, including church leaders, is equally prone to sin and could fall into the same or greater sin. Meekness recognizes that anyone can be overtaken, so the fallen believer is restored with humility and caution, not harshness, remembering that the restorer could likewise fall.
Les teaches that Galatians 6:1 commands spiritual believers to restore a fallen one in the spirit of meekness, lest even church leaders be taken in just as great a sin. He stresses that all are human and just as prone to fall into sin as the next person. While spiritual teaching and spiritual keeping may prevent such things, they can still happen to anybody. So restoration must be humble, not harsh. In the surrounding context, John deals with a sin unto death: a believer who refuses to come away from a sinful lifestyle may have God take his physical life lest he keep bringing reproach to His name. Yet no believer or church body ever has the right to pray for the death of an erring believer; that is in God's hands. Meekness fits this because restoration is not about pronouncing final judgment, which belongs to God, but about humbly seeking to restore someone who could just as easily have been oneself.
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
More Questions
Who is supposed to restore a believer who has fallen into a fault?
It is those who are spiritual — especially the leaders of the church — who are to restore a person who has fallen into a fault.
How should a spiritual believer restore someone who has fallen into sin?
A fallen believer is to be restored in a spirit of meekness, not in a spirit of arrogance and pride.
How should a believer caught in sin be restored, and why in meekness?
A fallen believer is to be restored in a spirit of meekness, and the reason given is "considering thyself, lest thou also be" — that is, lest you fall too.