“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.