"Avoid which people?"
But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. (1 Corinthians 5:10 NLT)
In this passage, Paul is teaching the church to avoid sexually immoral believers who refuse to repent. And in this he clarifies that the church cannot avoid sexually immoral people who are unbelievers because we would have to go out of the world.
The issue then is not with sexually immoral people but sexually immoral people who claim to believers & will not repent. This distinction is important. People who act as if they know & love God but refuse to repent of sin are not to be allowed to continue in the church without an attempt at restoring them to Christ. And those outside of the church are not to be ignored or shunned because of their sin. We must seek to share Jesus with them & reach out to them in love.
Jesus was always eating with & meeting with sinners so that he might bring them to God. We have to continue to live & love like Jesus. We should befriend people that need Jesus & not be afraid of building real relationships with them.
Who do we know who needs Jesus? How are we building relationships with people who need him?
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