Stay Close to the Righteous and End the Division

1 So we too, brothers and sisters, ought to cling to examples such as these. 2 For it is written; “Be loyal to the saints, for those who are loyal to them shall be sanctified.” 3 And again He says in another place; “With the guiltless person you shall be guiltless, and with the elect you shall be elect, and with the crooked you shall deal crookedly.” 4 Let us therefore cling to the guiltless and righteous: and these are the elect of God. 5 Why are there quarrels and outbursts of anger and factions and divisions and war among you? 6 Have we not one God and one Christ and one Spirit of grace that was poured upon us?⁠a And is there not one calling in Christ? 7 Why do we tear and rip apart the members of Christ, and stir up factions against our own body, and reach such a pitch of folly that we forget that we are members of one another? 8 Remember the words of Jesus our Lord: for He said, “Woe to that man; it would have been good for him if he had not been born, rather than cause one of My elect to stumble.⁠b It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around him and be thrown into the sea⁠c than to lead astray one of My elect.” 9 Your division has led many astray; it has brought many to despair, many to doubt, and all of us to sorrow. And your rebellion still continues.