“Reject a factious man after a first and second warning” (Titus 3:10).
Federal Visionists love this verse because they think that factious men ought to be rejected on the principle that they are factious. In other words, if someone is proved to be factious, we should reject them and pay no attention to what they say.
However, this is the fallacy of the poisoned well, that something is bad because of where it came from. Rather, we ought to listen carefully to factious men and treat them as reputable witnesses, giving them every opportunity to malign the brethren.
Those who reject factious men ought to be rejected after a first and second warning.
