2 Thessalonians 3:15
“Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Even so, they must not treat the disobedient person as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
What Does 2 Thessalonians 3:15 Mean?
Paul immediately guards the previous instruction from being misused. Even when discipline is necessary, "count him not as an enemy." The withdrawal of fellowship was never meant to turn into hostility or contempt. The erring person remains a "brother," and the church's posture toward him must reflect that, even in correction.
Instead of treating him as a foe, they are to "admonish him as a brother," warning him with the affection due to family. This single verse keeps all church discipline tethered to love. It is possible to confront sin without abandoning the sinner, to be firm without becoming cruel. The whole point of any correction is restoration, not rejection, and that aim must shape the spirit in which it is carried out. Paul models a beautiful balance: serious about holiness, yet never letting accountability curdle into bitterness. The wanderer is to feel, even in the warning, that he is still loved as one of their own.
In the Original Language
noutheteo (νουθετέω), "admonish" — to warn or counsel, to put something in the mind so as to correct gently.