Proclamation:
“In the
name of The Lord Jesus Christ ... keep away from every brother who is idle and
does not live according to the teaching you received ... If anyone does not
obey our instruction ... Do not associate with him ... Yet do not regard him as
an enemy, but warn him as a brother." 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 3:14-15
(NIV)
Explanation:
These
words were written by the Apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit
of God, to the believers in Thessalonica.
Paul was both admonishing them and warning them not to associate with
non-believers. They were to tell the
non-believers what The Word of God says.
If they chose not to accept it then the believers were to keep away from
them.
Application
Christians
are to separate themselves from, and not continue to fellowship with,
habitually disobedient believers and from non believers. We are not to hang out with or frequently
interact socially with the blatantly sinful, non believing individuals or with
so-called believers who live a pattern of life that is not conforming to The
Word of God. We are to warn them, in
brotherly love, of the consequences of their behavior and their non-belief, but
we are not to continue to “walk with” them.
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3) Be very careful regarding the people that you
choose to "walk with". Our
friends are our friends because we chose them and we choose to associate with
them when nothing forces us to do so. Who
our friends are says a lot about us and who we are. Only birds of the same feather will flock
together. If we cannot pull them up, we
should let go of them and not let them pull us down.
No comments:
Post a Comment