How Christ commanded that small offenses between brother and brother should be punished, read: “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matt. 18:15–18; Luke 17:3; Gal. 6:1; Jas. 5:19.
“If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death.” 1 John 5:16.
But open offending members Christ commanded to sever and cast away without exercising admonition, intercession, or forgiveness in regard to them, before the separation. Read: Matt. 18:8; Mark 9:42.
Thus did also the apostles, according to the doctrine of Christ, deny eternal life to all the known works of the flesh, condemning them to death, and in their assembly; delivered the Corinthian fornicator unto Satan, with the word and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, without using the aforesaid admonition with regard to him. 1 Cor. 5:3. Read also: 1 Tim. 1:20; 5:20; 2 Cor. 13:2.
“There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” 1 John 5:16; Numbers 15:30; Heb. 10:28; 1 Cor. 5:13; 2 Cor. 13:2; Ps. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:20; 1 Cor. 6:9; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5.
ARTICLE XXIX.
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 member 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 considered that the people of Israel at the time of Christ were under the power and dominion of the Romans, and 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; Gal. 2:12.