17. Of Shunning the Separated

Concerning withdrawing from, or shunning, the separated, we believe and confess that if anyone, either through his wicked life or perverted doctrine, has fallen so far that he is separated from God, and consequently also separated and punished by the church, that person must, according to the doctrine of Christ and His apostles, be shunned, without distinction, by all fellow members of the church, especially those to whom it is known, in eating, drinking, and other similar dealings, and no company be kept with him; that they may not be contaminated by dealings with him, nor made partakers of his sins; but that the sinner may be made ashamed, pricked in his heart, and convicted in his conscience, to his reformation. First Corinthians 5, verses 9 to 11; Second Thessalonians 3, verse 14.

Yet in shunning, as well as in reproving, such moderation and Christian discretion must be used that it serves not for the destruction, but for the reformation of the sinner. For if he is needy, hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or in any other distress, we are bound in duty, when necessity requires it, according to love and the doctrine of Christ and His apostles, to give him aid and assistance; otherwise shunning would in this case tend more to destruction than to reformation.

Therefore we must not count them as enemies, but admonish them as brothers, that by this they may be brought to a knowledge of their sins, and to repentance and sorrow for them, so that they may become reconciled to God, and consequently be received again into the church; and that love may continue with them, as is proper. Second Thessalonians 3, verse 15.