2. Responsibility to the fallen brother (5:16-17)

The redemptive attitude represented here presents us with no difficulty of understanding. The distinction between a sin unto death and one that is not does. As Bruce puts it, “It is difficult to see how they could recognize the distinction except by the result” (p. 124). Various theories have been offered. Perhaps the safest course is to assume that any fallen (or falling) brother is redeemable and to seek to be the divine instrument in his restoration.