2 Thessalonians 3:14

2 Thessalonians 3:14. If any man obey not our word. Paul had just (2 Thessalonians 3:12) laid his command, in Christ's name, on the idle busybodies; but he viewed it as a possible thing that they might disregard this command. Already he had learned that his authority was not by all parties willingly acknowledged and submitted to. He proceeds, therefore, to give instructions as to further dealings with recalcitrant, obstinate offenders.

Note that man. This does not mean, set a mark upon that man; but merely, take note of him in your own minds. The first step was to discriminate between those who obeyed and those who did not; the second was to brand the disobedient

Have no company with him. This is a repetition of the counsel given in 2 Thessalonians 3:6. At first sight the term employed might seem to indicate only the avoidance of intercourse in business and social life with the offender, and not the extreme ecclesiastical censure of excommunication. It might seem to be advice given rather to guide individuals in their treatment of the offender, than to guide the church. But the similar passage in 1 Corinthians 5, where the same expression is used, proves that exclusion from church fellowship is meant; suspension, if not excommunication. If they were not to hold intercourse on worldly matters, nor enter into secular contracts with such a man, much less were they to sit with him at the Lord's table, and hold that fellowship which implied and signified the closest possible union. But they were not to give him up as lost; they were to watch for the good results of this treatment.