Paul writes:
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. . . Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.” 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15
In the same way, Paul writes to Romans:
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.” Romans 16:17
What is Paul saying?
He is saying do not be friends with the so called “Christians” but do not follow the teachings of the Bible.
First, we may ask, what was the main or core message of Paul that he passed on to them?
This was one of the core messages:
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
So, if you’re a born-again Christian young man and you have a friend who is sleeping with his girlfriend, separate from him.
If you are a born-again Christian girl and you know for sure that one of your friends is into partying and doing dating and all that in a worldly way, the word of God commands you to separate from her.
Why is the word of God commanding us to do that?
For two reasons:
1. When you separate yourself from your friend, you give your friend a chance to come to his/her senses and repent of their sins and come back to God.
2. And, according to the word of God, sin is like yeast and “a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough.” If you continue your friendship with a rebellious Christian, it’s a matter of time before you join “the club.” So, the best way to save yourself is to separate from that friend for “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33
The Church of Corinth had this issue. One man was sinning against God openly (he was sleeping with the wife of his father) and he was coming to church as if nothing was going on with his life.
And the other church members who knew what was going on with this man’s life accepted him into their fellowship as if everything was normal. Not only that but they also boasted about their lives and church to Paul, probably saying, “God is among us. He is blessing our worship time. We always see the cloud of God among us.” (just like the church of our time)
But Paul didn’t join their reckless life. Instead he rebuked their boasting and addressed this issue directly in his first letter to them:
“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.” 1 Corinthians 6:6-11
Very serious command that we should not ignore!
So, choose your friends wisely. If your Christian friend chooses to walk away from the lifestyle that the word of God is calling us to, separate yourself from that friend so you influence your friend to repent of their sin and come back to God again and you also spare your life from getting infected by sin for sin is contagious. ///