Of Shunning

Since daily association and mingling with ungodly apostates, in common eating, drinking, buying, selling, and similar unnecessary temporal or worldly dealings, is not only dangerous for the pious, who may in this way become contaminated, or be counted as companions of the apostate, but is also harmful to the apostate himself, since through such mingling he may well harden in sin, and think his offense of less consequence, therefore we understand from the Word of God that, in order to avoid the dangers of sin and offenses according to the anointing of the Spirit, and to bring the apostate sinner to shame and repentance, the true member of Christ must withdraw from daily association and communion with unrepentant apostates; must shun them, and have nothing to do with them; and this without respect of persons, so far as they are not bound to the apostate by any command of God; for no one may do anything in the matter of shunning which is contrary to love, benevolence, Christian propriety and justice, which supreme virtues a Christian is duty bound to show to all people, even to his enemies, for which purpose God has given all laws, which may for no reason be lessened, much less broken or transgressed. [n42-1] First Corinthians 5, verse 5; Second Timothy 2, verse 21; Second Thessalonians 3; Titus 3; Second Thessalonians 3, verse 14; Second Peter 1, verse 6; Titus 2, verse 12; Romans 13, verse 8; Matthew 5, verse 44; Romans 13, verses 9 and 10; First Timothy 1, verse 5; Revelation 22, verse 19; Matthew 5, verse 19; James 2, verse 1.