Fact Check, 39

~ Christians Shouldn’t Associate with Non-Christians ~

People Think  ~  If you become a Christian you should cutoff your friendships and association with those of different beliefs. 

God Answers  ~  “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’  Amen” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Jesus also said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The early Christian church understood this.  The Apostle Paul wrote: “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

The Significance  ~  Jesus Christ was and is our example.  He regularly associated with all kinds of individuals—including those who were considered the worst of the worst.  “But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, ‘Jesus has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner’” (Luke 19:7). 

Comments  ~  (1) It is true you should not remain in an unhealthy relationship—whether the other(s) in the relationship are believers or non-believers.  (2) These selected passages are only a portion of what the Scriptures have to say on this topic.  This post is not intended (nor do the Scriptures) to say our only involvement with non-believers is for witnessing about God and evangelizing them.  

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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