Question on Separation: An Answer

In a previous entry, I asked the following question:

In your view and considering 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15, how would Paul deal with professing believers who reject (1) a six-day creation; (2) a millennial reign of Christ; and (3) the cessation of revelatory sign gifts?

Dr. Robert McCabe from Baptist Theological Seminary responded to this question as follows:

“In the context of 2 Thes 3:14-15, along with Matt 18, and assuming that a believer has been clearly taught about (1) a six-day creation; (2) a millennial reign of Christ; and (3) the cessation of revelatory sign gifts, I would say that a church needs to hold this brother/sister at arm's length.”

“However, I need to nuance this in two ways. On the one hand, principle in 2 Thes 3 goes beyond a specific local assembly in that it seems to apply to anyone with whom a local church has an existing relationship. On the other hand, I do not think this applies to evangelicals with whom I have no existing relationship. I think the better term to use is non-cooperation, rather than separation. This is to say, I would not do joint ministry efforts with an evangelical leader/church who do not embrace (1) a six-day creation; (2) a millennial reign of Christ; and (3) the cessation of revelatory sign gifts. However, this does not involve separation since there was no existing relationship. I would think it better to refer to this situation as one of non-cooperation.”

I want to offer a word of thanks to Dr. McCabe for offering an answer to the query.