Of the withdrawing from and avoiding of apostate and separated members, is confessed:

As separation is commanded by God for the reformation of sinners, and the maintenance of the purity of the church; so God has also commanded and willed, that in order to shame him to reformation, the separated individual shall be shunned ,and avoided. This withdrawing proceeds from the separation, and is a fruit and proof of the same, and without it separation is vain and unavailing. Hence, this ordinance of God shall be practiced and maintained, by all believers, with the separated persons. This withdrawing extends to all spiritual communion, as the Supper, evangelical salutation, the kiss of peace, and all that pertains to it. This withdrawing extends likewise to all temporal and bodily things, as eating, drinking, buying and selling, daily intercourse and conversation, with all that pertains to it.

Thus, believers shall, according to the word of God, withdraw themselves, from the separated in all spiritual, evangelical matters, as well as in all bodily and temporal things. And as in separation no persons may be regarded or spared, but must, by consent, be separated from the true members of the body; so also in withdrawing, extending to all spiritual and temporal matters, none may be spared or excepted, whether man or woman, parent or child, or whatever relation it may be; seeing we nowhere read, where God gave His church a general commandment or ordinance, that any members of said church was entirely exempted and excluded from such commandment; but on the contrary, it appears in many places, that the whole number, without exception, had to regulate themselves according to one rule set before them by God; hence this ordinance of God must be practiced and maintained by all the members of the body of Christ, without respect of persons, in the fear of God, to shame sinners to reformation, until the person punished is again received into the church.

But as all divine ordinances must be tempered with Christian kindliness and discretion, these also must have their place in this matter of shunning. Hence, the believers must conduct themselves with more discernment and equity with regards to separated persons, than did the scribes and Pharisees with regard to the Sabbath; who, as it appears would rather let men perish than that they should receive help on the Sabbath, thinking that the Sabbath should be broken thereby, though they themselves, in such a case, broke the Sabbath for various minor matters. But, even as the pious followers of the law did not sin, nor break the Sabbath, when they, on this day, performed not their own, but only the works which God had commanded them, so the believers neither sin nor act contrary to the commandment of shunning, when they perform not their own works, but only the works which God has commanded them concerning separated persons; as, in case of necessity, to minister to their bodies with food and other needful things, and to their souls with the word of God, as well as to assist them by virtue of the commandment of God, in case of danger from water, fire, and the like; these all believers are in duty bound to do; and they must thus, with great carefulness, seek that which is lost, and lead that which has erred, back to the right way, reprove and instruct them with the word of God, where such Christian admonition may take place, according to the example of Christ; but in all human works believers must with all diligence withdraw themselves from the separated persons, until they have reformed and been united again with the church.

In order rightly to understand this matter, it must be were under the power and dominion of the Romans, and considered that the people of Israel at the time of Christ could not punish transgressors according to the law of Moses, hence they separated from their communion and avoided those who departed from the law of the fathers, and went over to the Gentiles, Samaritans, or open sinners. Concerning this, read: They regarded them as unclean, abhorred them, compared them to heathens and enemies, avoided all dealings and intercourse with them, and hindered them in their business (3 Maccabees 2:34. Read also: John 18:31; 4:9; Acts 10:28; 11; Galatians 2:12).

This custom Christ also observed, and commanded that the disobedient in the church should be so regarded, saying "If he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican" (Matthew 18:17).

This the apostles also practiced in like manner, according to the doctrine of Christ. Read: "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no not to eat" (1 Corinthians 5:9-11).

Here the holy apostle forbids us to company and eat with apostate brethren or sisters, which he did not mean or command with reference to the unrighteous of this world, but permitted it with them; else we would needs have to go out of the world, seeing the whole world lies in wickedness; hence it must necessarily be understood with reference to daily intercourse and eating, buying and selling, and the like. "A man that is a lunatic, after the first and second admonition, reject" (Titus 3:10; 2 Timothy 4:15; 2 John 10).

"And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed" (2 Thessalonians 3:14).

How this withdrawing is to be observed by all believers, with regard to all apostates, walking disorderly, without respect of person, read: "Now, we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us" (2 Thessalonians 3:6).

Understand this withdrawing according to scriptures (Galatians 2:12; 3 Maccabees 2:34, and the like), according to the spirit of the Gospel of Christ.

How believers must seek the lost, and not count the separated as enemies, but admonish them, as brethren. Read: 2 Thessalonians 3:15; James 5:19; Luke 19: 10; 15, the whole chapter.

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