Principles of Separation pt 1

Introduction

Romans 16:17–18 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

This verse is so important because it is often assumed that those who mark and avoid are the one’s causing problems. We don’t like conflict so when someone decides its time to separate, the person obeying these commands is viewed as being schismatic or destroying the unity. While this could be true, the believer who separates over biblically determined issues in a biblical spirit is not the one being divisive. According to the text, the one splitting the church is the one teaching things contrary to the doctrine. As we have said before, no one will ever agree on everything and every decision ever made in a church, but there are times and beliefs that are essential to our faith that we must separate over.

As a matter of clarification, there are two types of separation spoken of in the bible.

Types of separation:

Personal

Ecclesiastical

We will be dealing with personal separation in a few weeks, but primarily, right now we are talking about ecclesiastical separation. When must we as a church separate from a believer, another church, a college, a fellowship? We are going to take a brief look at each of the passages that tell us to separate from a brother in Christ to get a wholistic picture of separation. I have a list of 7 different situations where we should separate and there is some overlap between each, but I think it is important for us to look at the individual contexts of each of the passages. Lord willing this message will be divided into two. We have already discussed 1 Cor 5 so we will not include that one in our list though it goes along with our first point.

Separation from a Persistently Sinning Brother

Matthew 18:15–17 “Moreover 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 an heathen man and a publican.”

The first passage that deals with separation is one that deals with what we call church discipline. Discipline has two aspects to it teaching and correcting. We do the teaching through the preaching, teaching, counseling and discipleship ministries of the church; but the other half of discipline is correcting. It is much like parenting. You try to teach your kids right from wrong and how to live life; but sometimes they choose to do the wrong thing. This is where discipline comes in.

We discipline because God disciplines.

Discipline in God is a loving act. Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” And for the church it should also be a loving action. It is loving because we are seeking his best. It is also loving because our goal is restoration. The point of discipline is to push him towards repentance and a restored, healthy relationship with the church. Its loving for the sake of the rest of the church and its loving for the lost because it protects our testimony with the community.

So let’s look at Matt 18 and what it teaches about separation from a persistently sinning brother.

Those involved in the sin should be the one’s to confront the brother if possible. if your brother trespass against thee. As a church, we should have enough love for our brothers, that we are willing to confront issues lovingly. If it is an issue you cannot move past then it is an issue worth confronting. If it is an issue that is going to do drastic damage, then it is an issue worth confronting.

It should involve going to that brother- go and tell- most times splits happen behind closed doors, people choose to separate without giving the other parties involved a chance to deal with it. According to everything the bible teaches about dealing with issues in the church, this is not right.

Keep it as private as possible- there is no reason to air it to everyone else and tear down a brother. If he repents, amazing. However, there are times when great public sins need to be made public. Consider 1 Cor 5 where Paul wrote a letter to the church to deal with the sin publically because everyone in the church knew about it. The text goes on to say that if he refuses, then slowly broaden the amount of people involved. Taking it to the church is a last resort.

The final step is excommunication. Most people think of church discipline as merely this last step, but at any stage of this process we are involved in the process of church discipline.

Now notice who it is that we are separating from: this is a brother in Christ who has been confronted because of his sin. It is a sin issue. His sin is

unrepentant

verifiable

significant

Scripture tells us that we are to forbear the average every day offenses, but when something become destructive, continual, unrepentant, we must lovingly confront. But when there is no possible way forward because of their refusal to repent, then we separate.

Separation from a Disorderly Brother

The next passage we are going to look at is found in:

2 Thessalonians 3:6–15 “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. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with…”

The key phrase here is to withdraw yourself- This is a pulling away and a separation. We cannot maintain fellowship with this person. This is separation. But what is the circumstance for our separation?

The text speaks of a disorderly brother. This word speaks of living irresponsibly or not submitted to discipline and order. They want to do things their way and it doesn’t matter how it affects others, or what others might think. Honestly, this person is so laid back that you cannot depend on them. Paul says that walking disorderly is not after the tradition which he received of us. Their manner of life is not consistent with what the scriptures teach. I think this is an important point because there are a lot of people who live different than we would have them live and yet it is not living disorderly.

Some Christian can get so wound up over vax or not, home birth or not, certain diets or not that they cast judgment on everyone who disagrees with them. They leave churches because they aren’t homeschool enough or they fight over whether skirts should be mid calf or ankle length or at the knee or above the knee. While scripture may in principle speak to some of these issues, the nitty gritty details are not spelled out in scripture and we must allow liberty.

Walking disorderly must be limited to what scripture actually teaches and not our personal opinions. But in this text we are given one example of a disorderly brother: the lazy brother.

Paul’s example vs 7-9 even as a church planter and an apostle Paul worked with his hands to provide for himself. He made this decision not because he didn’t have a right to be supported. Vs 9 he had the right to be paid and supported for his ministry, but Paul chose to set an example for this new born church. 2 Thessalonians 3:9 “Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.” That word ensample means a pattern to follow. He wanted to leave a legacy for them to follow.

Paul’s command- Paul gives two commands in this passage. The first is a negative command 2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” Key words here are would not- this is willful refusal. They know what is expected of them and they refuse. This does not apply to the handicapped, mentally challenged, or elderly. So if they refuse to get a job, the church should not be bailing him out. If he won’t work he shouldn’t eat. (Just as an aside, this becomes more complicated when he has a family and wisdom must be involved). The positive command is found in 2 Thessalonians 3:12 “Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.” We are to work without grumbling and eat our own food.

The church’s response- 2 Thessalonians 3:14 “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.” Again we are told to separate from this brother, with a result he will experience shame over his unrepentant sin. As long as people continue to act like nothing is wrong, he will keep on doing what he is doing and he will abuse the church’s generosity.

The church’s attitude- 2 Thessalonians 3:15 “Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” It is important to remember this is still a brother. We cannot entertain evil hearts toward him. We treat him as a brother. I think this implies that if an emergency ever came up, we would still be there for them.

Separation from a Heretically Divisive Brother

The final example for tonight is more common than we think. There is the heretically divisive brother.

Titus 3:10 “A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;”

Tonight I want to define three bible word

apostacy- The word is often translated in our bibles as a falling away. Probably the best illustration of this word is turn coats. Back during the revolutionary war, soldiers like Benedict Arnold switched sides and they way you knew they switched sides was that they wore a different uniform. The changed jerseys. These are not struggling Christians, an ignorant christian or even a normal lost person; but this is a person who claimed to be a christian but leaves Christianity or repudiates the essentials of Christianity. Jesus declares that these people went out from us because they never were of us to begin with. You can have entire organizations that go apostate. Most of the time, we call them cults; however, in the case of the United Church of Christ, they haven’t been recognized as such officially. This is what happened to the Northern Baptist Convention that led the early fundamentalists of the FBF to leave. Earnest Pickering in his book on separation gave the following ways to know when a church or denomination has become apostate:

the leadership deny the essentials of the faith

Official media, books, videos, literature express views opposed to Orthodox Christianity

Schools that they use have professors who hold views contrary to the essential Christian doctrines

No effort is made by leadership to expunge the offending parties

Heresy- The next bible word is heresy. This word is used only in our text here. Heresy speaks of causing party divisions. So heresy and apostacy are not the same thing, but back in Romans 16:17–18 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Heresy sometimes accompanies apostacy. So not every heretic is an apostate, but every apostate is a heretic.

A person can become a heretic when they elevate personal interpretation of a passage in opposition to the expressed preaching in the church and seek to cause divisions. They lobby to get people on their side, to listen to their persuasion 3 John 9–10 “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.”

In Titus, this verse comes on the heals of foolish questions and genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law. They do not affirm the truth and lifestyle that accords with the gospel in Titus. These men are heretics because they allow questionable things to become points of separation. So here we must beware of becoming too separatist. The word we use for this is schismatic. Within Fundamentalism, there are differences on dress, bibles, exactly where to draw the line on music, questions of obscure theology, and practice that have too often become divisive. This is the counter balance to our doctrine of separation.

Extremes- like a scale

A schismatic in the church can do all kinds of damage by destroying the love and unity of a church. According to this passage, we are to confront, admonish them atleast twice and if they refuse, they are to be rejected.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this series is helping you to see more clearly God’s desire for the church. As a fundamentalist, there are times to separate. We separate from unrepentant sin, unbiblical practices and unnecessarily divisive brothers.