2 Thessalonians 3:6

[Guest Guest]

What does this Bible verse mean?

2 Thessalonians 3:6
"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."

[lettheredeemedsayso]

I believe vs 12 explains it.

[PreacherE]

I believe Paul was warning the church at Thessalonica of those Christians who were refusing to follow the Word of God. Paul had been instructing the churches on how they should behave and on what constituted proper doctrine. At the time this was their Bible because all of the epistles and writings of the apostles had not been gathered together into one volume. If any Christian was refusing to follow proper doctrine then he was instructing them to withdraw from that particular person. Judging from the next few verses I believe the specific problem the church was having was some were not doing their fair share as he instructs them that if someone does not work then he should not eat. Apparently, these people were more interested in gossiping then they were in doing the work of the Lord. However, even though they were to separate themselves from this person they were not to ostracize him to the point of no return. If the man repented then the church was to allow him back into fellowship.

Though I believe Paul may have been specifically speaking of people not doing their fare share of the work we could apply this Scripture to other areas as well. If any person refuses to follow the Scripture where it plainly teaches against sin then that is someone we should separate from. Not only are they committing sin, but they may bring others down in the process.

I hope this helps answer your question.

In Christ,
PreacherE

[Madeline]

In the context (verses 6-15), the particular "disorderly" behavior Paul has in mind is the habit of some of the Thessalonian believers had gotten into of sponging off the church and other believers rather than working for a living. The verse itself states a principle that is general and applicable to other sorts of "disorderly behavior". Where one "draws the line" is not set out by Paul, so that this must remain a matter of how one applies scripture. We could put forward hypotheticals which would most certainly be over the line (like a believer involved in a real-estate scam and conning the other members of the church) and others which would certainly not be over the line and would not demand our separation (like a person who doesn't dress exactly the way we think they ought to dress). But from Paul's example we see that the standard of separation is very high. No doubt the Thessalonians were not perfect any more than we are and no doubt many of them were still having problems with sin. But the case he mentions is extremely outrageous and could bring down the church if enough people stopped working and relied on other people to support them. Further, Paul also intimates the need to receive these people back into fellowship if they respond to this rebuke (v.14-15). So whilst the principle here is pretty clear, namely, we must separate from those whose conduct has so departed from Christian good order as to be characterized generally as "disorderly", the application has to be based on the specifics we observe. The word "disorderly" is actually a military term (ataktos from whose root we get "tactics") and means "out of ranks". In the ancient world, keeping your order in ranks was essential for success in battle, and a soldier who was perpetually "out of ranks" or "in disorder" was not only a danger to himself but to the whole formation. This would seem to be the litmus test: if a person's aberrant behavior is severe enough to affect not only him or herself but also the entire church (as in the case of the freeloaders in Thessalonica), then they would qualify for this command to separate. If not, then they may perhaps be tolerated and allowed to grow, letting the Lord handle their imperfections whilst taking care not to be dragged down into questionable behavior ourselves.

***edited :lol ***

Love,
Madeline

[Guest Guest]

Yes, it has to do with lazy gossiping Christians that weren't working. The tradtions that Paul spoke of was the example he set buy working and not charging any off the Thessalonians for his service.

Wil

[Calvary]

All 7 of these verses speak of work, laziness, gossip and "busybodies".

Seperation is commanded exactly as it was demanded when a Christian shows up with 'fair speeches" - Romans 16:18

One should compare that verse in Romans with 2 Cor 10:10 and Acts 4:13. Watch out for men who wish to deceive the brethren.

The laziness in this passage is a sin as equal to drunkeness, fornication, extortion and idolatry. - 1 Corinthians 5:11

God bless,

Calvary

[lettheredeemedsayso]

You know I took a second look at this portion of scripture. I think the first two verses help us to understand the context.



2Th 3:1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have [free] course, and be glorified, even as [it is] with you:
And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all [men] have not faith.