2 Thessalonians 3:6 KJV
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.
Sometimes Paul exhorted and
urged believers to do a thing. Sometimes he besought them. In this case Paul
used the strongest term; he commanded them to withdraw from other Christians
who would not follow after and live according to the traditions Paul had given
them.
Paul later says that in doing
so we are not to think of them as enemies, for they are not, yet we still mark
them and have no fellowship with them.
Christianity in our day is
becoming so feeble minded that the very idea of being commanded to do a thing
is offensive to us. To be commanded to withdraw from someone and not to
fellowship with them would be considered unspeakably harsh. What I see is the
importance Paul places on this practice. It's not a suggestion or even a
request. This is so important to the advancement of the Gospel that he issues a
command. It is important because it is necessary to prevent the decline of
Christian faith and practice into anything a person might want to call
Christianity. We have no right, no authority to create our own traditions and
culture around our faith. We are duty bound, obligated yes, even commanded to
carry on our faith exactly as we have received it.
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