“If your brother commits a sin, go lay bare his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”​—Matt. 18:15.

⁹ Jesus evidently was not speaking of a “sin” in the sense of some small personal offense such as we read about in Philippians 4:2, 3. (Compare Proverbs 12:18.) Rather, it appears that he meant sins such as fraud or slander, sins serious enough that they might lead to a person’s being expelled from the congregation.a If the one sinned against could resolve the matter through a private approach, he would have ‘gained his brother’; when the sinner has evidenced heartfelt repentance and tried to rectify the wrong, there is no need to take the matter further.