Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Thessalonians 5:22

"abstain from every form of evil." — 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (ASV)

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

By this, it is not meant, as some interpret it, "from everything that someone claims looks like evil." Such an interpretation would undermine Christian liberty.

Rather, it means that wherever evil makes an appearance, particularly when it seems to be good or has been dressed up—for the word "appearance" may refer to a Roman spectacle or a grand procession—you should avoid it.

Avoid evil even when it is dressed up in its finest, when it presents itself in all its alluring display to attract you.

Avoid every species and kind of evil—which itself is almost a translation of "all appearance of evil"—and abstain from it altogether.