Are we accountable?

[Asenath]

Are we accountable for friends who were Christians and have drifted from the church? Is there scripture to back this up?

 

[royal priest]

Are we accountable for friends who were Christians and have drifted from the church? Is there scripture to back this up?

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Friend or not, if they are our brother or sister in Christ, then we definitely have a responsibility to love them. If they are fellow members in a church, then formal discipline might even be in order.

Matthew 25,
The King will say to those on His right,
‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him,
‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
The King will answer and say to them, ‘
Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left,
‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
Then they themselves also will answer,
‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
Then He will answer them,
‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

[Tigger45]

Genesis 4:9 "am I my brother's keeper?"

 

[MWood]

Are we accountable for friends who were Christians and have drifted from the church? Is there scripture to back this up?

We will not be accountable to God for the actions of our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children, or friends, or even our neighbors. But, as a Christian how could we ignore our Christian duty and let them wander in the foolish, earthly, fleshly ways and not try to help turn them back to god? We can put forth our best efforts continuously to show them the error of their ways, even though it may make them mad at us. Love them anyway and never give up on them.

 

[Asenath]

Genesis 4:9 "am I my brother's keeper?"

Hehe...I'm not sure that's a great example ; I mean...he killed his brother, you know what I'm saying

 

[Tigger45]

Hehe...I'm not sure that's a great example ; I mean...he killed his brother, you know what I'm saying

You missed the whole point to the lesson. The answer to his own question is yes you are your brother's keeper ('care' taker). The antithesis to his action of doing his brother harm.

 

[Asenath]

You missed the whole point to the lesson.

Hence the wink.

 

[Tigger45]

Hence the wink.

Okay sorry bro, ya just never know on the internet now a days if ya know what I mean. Anyway I see you're new welcome to CF

 

[bibledoctrine]

the correct response for treating our saint friends is in this verse :

1 Thessalonians 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

 

[bibledoctrine]

the Angels of God watch our love for saints & how well we suffer with Christ in persecutions even from other believers as Paul so did who was appointed by Christ as today's apostle for God's grace with I suffer for sound doctrine as many of my grace saint friends so do as Paulnso did & I am a spectacle unto Angels :

1 Corinthians 4:9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

 

[bibledoctrine]

God grace preached & taught at www.abbafather.co/

 

[Asenath]

Okay sorry bro, ya just never know on the internet now a days

Yep. True that.
The internet is obviously very useful...but it's kinda the devils wild, little playground too. A level of caution is always advisable. And half a brain, which is helpful for various other things too

Thanks for the welcome.

We have some friends who have really lost themselves in the world; they'd basically deny the existence of God if pressed, I reckon. It's heartbreaking. It happened before I got to know them. I was cautioned this weekend by an elder about spending too much time with them.
I suppose he was concerned that they would rub off on me, but my agrument was that since I am their only Christian friend left...maybe I (and by I, I don't mean me, I mean God) would rub off on them. It bothered me that they had all watched these two drift further and further away from God without doing too much about it. I know there isn't much one can do to change a person's mind, not only that...God certainly doesn't need my little old help to do anything... but I feel like we have to be accountable for them.
The reality is...if they don't come back to God they will be separated from Him for eternity; hell is going to be a lot worse than what they consider to be the one-tracked, strict 'rules' of Christianity.
It is troubling, is all.

 

[royal priest]

Yep. True that.
The internet is obviously very useful...but it's kinda the devils wild, little playground too. A level of caution is always advisable. And half a brain, which is helpful for various other things too

Thanks for the welcome.

We have some friends who have really lost themselves in the world; they'd basically deny the existence of God if pressed, I reckon. It's heartbreaking. It happened before I got to know them. I was cautioned this weekend by an elder about spending too much time with them.
I suppose he was concerned that they would rub off on me, but my agrument was that since I am their only Christian friend left...maybe I (and by I, I don't mean me, I mean God) would rub off on them. It bothered me that they had all watched these two drift further and further away from God without doing too much about it. I know there isn't much one can do to change a person's mind, not only that...God certainly doesn't need my little old help to do anything... but I feel like we have to be accountable for them.
The reality is...if they don't come back to God they will be separated from Him for eternity; hell is going to be a lot worse than what they consider to be the one-tracked, strict 'rules' of Christianity.
It is troubling, is all.

Staying away from them is a good idea. We are just as vulnerable to falling away.Such people don't have real hope and live accordingly, as Paul quoted one Greek Philosopher: “Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.” Then he warns us by following that with another quote: Do not be misled, “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:32-33

 

[Asenath]

Staying away from them is a good idea. We are just as vulnerable to falling away.

I hear you...and I agree to a certain extent; it is what happened to them in the first place, they strayed while hanging around those without faith.
And I don't presume myself to be any smarter, stronger spiritually or any different from them really except for two things: I have a really great support system (which, sadly, they didn't have) and I am aware that I am at potential risk and therefore spiritually prepare myself before seeing them.

Maybe I am being silly about it.
This is the path they have chosen...having known God, they have wilfully chosen to walk without Him.
But... I don't know.
I know you can't save everyone...but I really don't want to see them die.

 

[Chris Tan]

Genesis 4:9 "am I my brother's keeper?"

Was this not what the reprobate Cain said to God when he was asked, where was his brother?

 

[AlexDTX]

Are we accountable for friends who were Christians and have drifted from the church? Is there scripture to back this up?

Ezekiel gives us an answer, but it must be viewed from New Testament eyes.

18When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.19 Yet if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also you have delivered your soul. (Eze. 3:18-21)

For both lost and saved we have a responsibility to speak the truth to them in love. But in reading this passage we must make a distinction between the Law and Grace. Ezekiel is written to Israelies, not gentiles, who were under the law. Jew and gentile under grace are not saved by our works. Therefore when we read verse 20 on the righteous it is speaking to Israelies under the law. Christians sin without losing their salvation, because sin is not ascribed to them by God since all our sins have been paid for by Jesus. But consequences to sin always remains. So if a brother or sister in Christ sins, we need to warn them of the consequences.

Ultimately, however, our accountability is to God. God holds us all accountable. God always speaks to us first. He follows his own directions listed in Matthew 18. We can harden our hearts through stubbornness of will and not hear God when He speaks to us. That is when God will lead brothers or sisters to speak to us if we are ignoring the subtle communications of the Lord. God is able to take care of his own. When a believer strays from the Lord for indulgence of sin, God knows why he or she is straying. He knows what needs to be done to bring that believer back to trust in Him. That process for some may take many years. Ultimately it is in His hands, not ours. Our duty is to speak the truth in love to those people the Lord directs us to speak to.

Some of the comments have discussed leaving a congregation. That is not a sin. Real community in Christ is created by the Lord not institutions. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor labor in vain (Ps. 127:1). Unless you actually know of wilful sin a brother or sister is engaging in that would cause them to leave, we should not assume the worst. Community in Christ is found in a multitude of ways outside organized religion.

 

[Kezia]

The Bible talks about how can the love of Christ be in us if we see our brother in need & do nothing about it. But I don't believe this applied to all relationships,
Probably doesn't apply to abusive people

 

[Tigger45]

Was this not what the reprobate Cain said to God when he was asked, where was his brother?

Yep, exactly.

 

[Chris Tan]

Yep, exactly.

Your reply is one of ignorance to what occurred in Genesis 4. Let us revise what occurred in Genesis 4:8-10

"Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground."

One is to not assume that God does not know what Cain did to his brother when he was questioned by God. That Cain's reply to God's questioning him was one that's filled with hate toward God, basically unrepentant. This account does not imply nor teach that one is being held "accountable" for a church member drifting or falling away as Asenath asked when he started this blog, saying - "Are we accountable for friends who were Christians and have drifted from the church? Is there scripture to back this up?"

Therefore, Cain was held "accountable" for the murder of his own brother.

 

[Heismysaviour]

Hello all,
In response to whether we are accountable to our brothers/sisters:
I am Christian, my family is not. I pray to God every day that they might encounter Jesus Christ our Saviour and accept Him in their hearts! I feel this is my duty as a Christian to pray for everyone to know Him and receive His grace and mercy! I know that God hear's my prayers and he is a faithful God! Ultimately, it is the choice of our brothers and sisters to accept Christ into their lives, and until they do that they will remain lost. Continue to pray!
Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17