Second Thessalonians 3:15 tells believers not to treat a fellow Christian who is refusing to live responsibly as an enemy, but to warn him and bring him back as a brother. The verse asks for firmness and affection at the same time: the church is to address the problem directly, yet keep the relationship intact. Paul wrote this near the end of his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, a congregation he had founded and was still guiding from a distance.
Don’t count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
2 Thessalonians 3:15 (WEB)
What 2 Thessalonians 3:15 Means
The verse begins with a prohibition: do not count the person as an enemy. The Greek idea behind “count as an enemy” is treating someone as hostile, cutting them off and regarding them as an adversary of the group. Paul forbids that stance, even toward someone who has ignored the apostolic instructions given earlier in the letter.
The second half gives the positive instruction. The church is to “admonish” him, a word meaning to warn, correct or gently confront, and to do so as a brother. The word “brother” frames the whole exchange. The person is still part of the family, so the correction is meant to restore him, not to punish or expel him.
The verse does not promise that the person will change, nor does it say exactly how long the process should last. It describes an attitude and a method for the church to follow. The outcome belongs to God and to the one being corrected.
The Context of 2 Thessalonians 3:15
Second Thessalonians is traditionally attributed to Paul, written shortly after his first letter to the same church. Some believers in Thessalonica had apparently stopped working, perhaps because they believed the Day of the Lord had already arrived or because they expected Christ’s return so soon that ordinary labor seemed pointless. Paul had already said in verses 6 to 13 that idle, disruptive behavior should not be tolerated and that the believers should work quietly and earn their own bread.
The verses just before 3:15 describe a specific step: if someone refuses the instruction in the letter, the church should take note of him and withdraw company from him, so that he may feel the weight of his conduct. Verse 15 then softens that discipline. It shows that the withdrawal is meant to provoke shame that leads to repentance, not hatred. Read this way, the verse guards the church against both laxity and cruelty.
Key Phrases in 2 Thessalonians 3:15
Matthew 18:15
“If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
(WEB)
Jesus gives a practical sequence for addressing a sin between believers, beginning with a private conversation. It shows the same goal of restoring a brother rather than publicly condemning him, and it fits naturally with Paul’s call to admonish a fellow believer.
Galatians 6:1
Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted.
(WEB)
Paul tells spiritual believers to restore someone caught in a wrong, doing so gently and with self-awareness. The passage reinforces the spirit of 2 Thessalonians 3:15, showing that correction belongs in the context of humility and care for the one who has stumbled.
A Short Prayer From 2 Thessalonians 3:15
Lord, you have never written us off, and you have brought us back again and again. Give me the courage to speak the truth when someone I love has gone astray, and give me the gentleness to speak it as a brother and not as an enemy. Guard my heart from bitterness and from the quiet pride that tempts me to walk away. Let my words be honest and my affection real, so that the one I correct may feel your patience in mine. Amen.
