2 Timothy: Avoid Such People

PatriotandLiberty ^ | 7/23 | Nuakh

[lgjhn23]

“..It seems some people are unable to receive the Gospel due to psychopathy....”

Satan is indeed a cunning and very deceptive enemy.
He comes as angel of light, but is really out to steal, kill and destroy.
He’ll use whatever means he finds available to blind a person to the Truth because he knows once Truth is revealed, acknowledged and accepted, the Holy Spirit can, and will, provide spiritual discernment that reveals him, his minions and their tactics for what they are.
The Apostle Paul nailed it: spiritual warfare and our weapons are not carnal.

[Roman_War_Criminal]

I’m bilingual and Spanish is my primary language.
Even as a young child I could see how sophomoric and basic the English language was compared to Latinized languages, which have a lot of Greek root words.

The word love is a perfect example of it.
One word in English versus at least 10 in Spanish for the various levels of “love”.

I love pizza.
I love traveling.
I love this person.

etc...

[ViLaLuz]

We are in agreement.

[MurphsLaw]

However, avoiding people who claim to be Christians who show no fruit of the Spirit seems to be what is being commanded here.

Commanded? By whom? and How?

I'm trying to square that thinking with Christ purposefully eating, drinking and sharing the company of lepers, sinners and tax collectors...

And how does avoiding sinners achieve what Christ told us about his mission?:

31 And Jesus answered them,
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick;
32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”+++

[metmom]

Commanded by Peter.

First off, Peter is referring to false prophets and wolves in sheep's clothing, NOT unbelievers.

And Peter is not the only one to command that. Paul says here.....

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

2 John 6-11 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

[MurphsLaw]

Yes those are nice passages, but I was talking about - the topic of the post-
the avoidance of those lowly sinners.
Your re-direct to the passages about the "association" of sinners is not the same, nor germane to my point. Not "associating" with and joining in and sharing in the sinful ways of other is NOT to be misconstrued as the need to be "avoiding them" just the same.
Don't hang with a bad crowd for sure. Obvi.

Though at the same time- we know if were Christian-
that there is only ONE way these sinful others will be able to overcome their sinfulness-
and resisting those in need, of ignoring their slavery to sin
in not a position any Christian should willfully retreat to.

So to morph that rejection of these other sinners like us,
into a justification to avoiding said sinful people
-as you seem to be expressing-
is a Non-Christian Christianity that is becoming more and more popular today.

Christ went - out of his way - not to do so.
That's what the Good Samaritan is all about.
That's what leaving the 99 sheep in the field to search for that One lost sheep,
was what Christ was all about.
To the lowly, sinful traitorous tax collector he said - "Follow Me.."
On and on... Christ tells us as Christians we must do the exact opposite of "avoiding" other sinners back to Christ's true Word.

Now- if they still won't listen, after honest effort, well than that's all you can do.
But to adopt what I feel is a new approach-
this new "doctrine of Avoidance" stand-offishness
(Lets call it the "rejection of the Leper"),
than I think that plainly goes against God's Will- as stated over and over in Scripture.
And we always need to remember,
there is even a pretty important salvific nature and reward
attached to this aspect of the Christian faith-
as we read in James:

+++19 My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back,
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.+++

Yet another way... to be saved.