The warnings in The Bible that must be taken seriously and heeded, are for believers, not those that are outside of the body of Christ:
2 John 9-11
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Dear one, the company we keep matters, and the long term ramifications that result from intimate and personal relationships with those that profess faith in Christ, but do not obey the Word of God, can at one end of the spectrum, be befuddling, and at the other end, devastating, with lots of sorting and cleaning up required, in order to get a house back in order.
The apostle John is known as the love apostle. He was the only apostle that was not martyred, but he was, as were his fellow Christ followers, persecuted for his faith. John's elder years were spent in exile, and one would think that perhaps, this isolation would prevent his preaching the gospel; alas, you and I have the benefit of his godly wisdom, all these centuries, and in fact, millennia later, accessible to us, in The Good Book. Look again with me, to the apostle John's note.
Whosoever trangresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.
Back then, and now, we have the convoluting of the Word of God; we have excuses and made-up teachings; we have men and women taking liberties and attempting to rewrite God's rules, which are truly, natural and commendable laws, not to be tampered with, or set aside for a more becoming of the day version that permit, what God deems as sin and condemns.
As a believer in Christ Jesus, there is no room for obvious, subtle, or subconscious sin. The conscience in a believer, meaning the Holy Spirit of God, cannot abide his people blatantly, openly, or secretively for that matter, sinning in disobedience to his orders and commands. This said, we can plainly see when a professing Christian, hath not God, when they are not abiding in the doctrine of Christ. The thou shalt not's, along with all the thou shalt's in The Bible, make conspicuous for anyone reading The Bible, what doctrine of Christ means.
He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
The Father and the Son, are inseparable: if you have one, you have the other, because they are indivisible, meaning what one says, the other agrees with. Humans are duplicitous and often times we are a house divided, wanting what we must not touch, and touching what we must not have. People want it all, including the fulfilling of their ungodly desires, with God as their soulmate and friend, believing he will bear them up in their sinful thoughts and activities. God the Father does not condone misconduct, mischief, or mishandling of his precepts, and the Son, perfectly represents his holy and righteous Father, in every way. Sometimes we do this too, isn't that right, dear one? we perfectly represent our own, sin soaked, disobedient, obnoxiously stubborn, father or mother... the apple, as the saying goes, does not fall far from the tree.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.
The love apostle speaks these words in writing, and I can hear them in my head as an echoed reminder, of all the times I did not heed this warning. It is in love that he instructs Christ followers, to keep from their door, to prevent from entering in, those that bring not this doctrine. Christian: you are to share the gospel because the hearer may be converted to Christ in the listening, but you must not, hold their hand while they are living in the filth of their own sin, while feigning faith in Christ, in the hope that by your example, and via exposure to you as a faithful follower, that somehow the Holy Spirit will rub off on them. It is by the mercy and grace of God that you were saved from your sinful self, and if your friend or family member is to be saved, your role has played out, once you have spoken the gospel Truth: the best you can do for them is be the shining light and salt of the earth for them to watch closely out of curiosity, if they care to do so.
The last part of the sentence above, is a clincher: neither bid him God speed. We do not bid a person good luck, may you prosper and have peace, when they are not abiding in God and living the doctrine of Christ. For instance, if you know someone that professes Christ as their King, but they steal, lie, cheat, feign innocence, fornicate, use God's name as a swear word etc, can you bless them with God speed, knowing full well they are wanton in their sins? Christian: you cannot transform someone into a Christ follower, but they most certainly, can influence and impact you, which is why the warnings in The Word of God are for believers, not those that fake faith in Christ by professing him with their mouths, while living like heathens.
Now for the linchpin:
For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Dear one, the sentence above deserves deep contemplation. Sending good vibes, love, peace, hope, light (all new agers say these things), to someone that is not a Christian, is a way of condemning them and partaking of their evil deeds. God knows what people do in their secret moments, and Christians must pray for a cleansing of souls, a clarifying of the mind, a purity of the spirit via truth spoken, heard, and received as life altering, for the lost and godless, not for a soft place to land for them to soak up gentle and ineffective healing, that does nothing for the soul sickness they suffer as far from Christ earthlings.
I speak from experience as a Bible study leader and group facilitator, when I say that I used to have a come one, come all philosophy, when inviting people to my home to share the Word of God. In what I thought was a show of love, I believed I could foster faith in those that seemed on the cusp of committing to a life of following Christ as Saviour, but I was dead wrong. Some of the people that crossed the threshold of my home, wreaked havoc in my life, as back biting, mischievous trouble makers, that I wish I had never met. I did not wish them God speed when they got prayed out of my house, I hoped to never see or hear from them ever again.
Dear one, it is not what you can do for them, it is what they can do to you, that John, the love apostle, warns about. We are influenced and can be misled, when the company we keep has us colluding with them in their sin: we become guilty by association, when it seems we are condoning their transgressions, while they call themselves Christian.
As a Christian, I love people to Christ, and when they are living a life with the evident desire to be holy and sin free, there is nothing I enjoy more, than to share the reading of God's Word. The blessing of fellowship, and the ability to freely speak God's speed without hesitation, is awe inspiring. I want this with and for everyone, but I know I cannot give it away, or have my faith rub off... God's hand is needed for the plucking of a soul as a brand from the fire, and mine is to hold in friendship, when I know I have been given, a brother or sister in Christ.
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