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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
6 Now [de] we command [paraggello] you, [humin] brethren, [adelphos] in [en] the name [onoma] of our [hemon] Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ, [Christos] that ye withdraw [stello] yourselves [humas] from [apo] every [pas] brother [adelphos] that walketh[peripateo]
disorderly, [ataktos]
and [kai] not [me] after [kata] the tradition [paradosis] which [hos] he received [paralambano] of [para] us. [hemon]KJV-Interlinear
6 Now we command you, brethren,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep
aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the
tradition which you received from us. NASB
The objective of Bible
instruction is not to impress with lofty heights of analytical concepts, but to
present practical applications for day to day living.
And thus the Bible is
filled with practical sayings that teach us the habits that we should follow in
our life.We have all heard the phrases,
If you play with fire If you run
with the wrong crowd etc, etc.And then what
happens to you?You get burned or hurt
in some way.
And that is exactly
what happens to the person who lives within the wrong environment of life.
There are only two
environments in which you can live.First, there is the environment of truth, which comes from God.And second, there is the environment that
comes from the world.The world
environment comes with a mixture of truth, blended in varying degrees, into the
vast realm of what everyone believes in life.
Thus all of the
philosophies, beliefs, religions, variations of religions, cults and so forth,
generally carry with them some form of truth just to make them seem more real
or acceptable to those who follow them.
But here Paul teaches
that you have only two choices, truth, or anything else.
In life, a wrong thing
done in a wrong way, is wrong.
In life, a wrong thing
done in a right way, is wrong.
In life, a right thing
done in a wrong way, is wrong.
Only a right thing done
in a right way, is right.
And of course the right
thing in life, is the pursuit, the objective pursuit,
of Bible doctrine.Any other blending or
compromise, or pretense, or even outright rejection of truth, is wrong.
You cannot mix the
world in with truth, and still maintain truth.Once filth is introduced, then the whole batch will eventually rot.
So, Paul commands us
here to avoid making associations with people who are obvious rebels against
Christ or truth.
Now, use common sense
here.You cannot isolate yourself from
the entire world.What is Paul talking
about?
He is speaking of the
pattern of life which you choose to pursue for yourself.Everyone will make different choices, but
your choice must be for truth.And you
learn truth by engaging in a daily bible study. That is your textbook for life.
Do not pursue the
obvious bad habits or lifestyles that are out there.You do not socialize or entertain in your
thoughts, the beliefs that others have.
You obviously can hear
what people say, see how they live, recognize the things that they believe, but
your command here is to follow the traditions taught by the Word of God, not
the enticements presented by the world.
Command, paraggello, is not a suggestion, not an option, but an
explicit order.In the military if you
disobey an order, what happens?You are
shot on the battle field right then and there, for your disobedience.
In the spiritual life,
if you disobey, then what happens? You are shot (out of fellowship) so to
speak, rendered spiritually inactive, immediately.When out of fellowship, you are dead to your
spiritual life. In order to regain your spiritual functionality, you then must
confess your sins to God the Father (resume your obedience), and that places
you back in fellowship, 1 Jn. 1:9.
But if you continue in
your disobedience throughout your life, then what happens?You lose any or all of your spiritual assets.
As a believer you are still saved. You can never lose that.But your spiritual growth would be
non-existent, as it were, and the blessings that will be associated with that
spiritual growth, will likewise fade away, too.
Disorderly, ataktos, means to be irregular, disoriented, and this is
used in contrast to the order and correct orientation to life that is provided
through ones spiritual life.
Withdraw, stello, means to abstain, repress, avoid, to detach from.
And therefore, Gods command
to you, Gods order to you, is to leave the lies, the
disorder, the disorientation of the world, to separate from them permanently,
and pursue truth as your chosen source for life.
For in truth, there is
correct understanding of everything that goes on in life, complete orientation
to everything around you.There is
order, security, meaning and purpose, and even more, there is blessing and
happiness that is not available by any means, from this world.