Fellowship with the wicked is a concept addressed throughout the Bible, warning believers against forming close associations with those who live in opposition to God's commandments. The Scriptures emphasize the importance of maintaining purity and righteousness by avoiding the influence of those who practice evil.

Old Testament Foundations

The Old Testament provides numerous admonitions against associating with the wicked. In Psalm 1:1, the psalmist declares, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of mockers." This verse highlights the progression of involvement with the wicked, from walking to standing to sitting, illustrating the increasing entanglement and acceptance of sinful behavior.

Proverbs also offers wisdom on this topic. Proverbs 4:14-15 advises, "Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and go on your way." The emphasis here is on active avoidance, underscoring the danger of even beginning to associate with those who do evil.

New Testament Teachings

The New Testament continues this theme, urging believers to separate themselves from ungodly influences. In 2 Corinthians 6:14-15, Paul writes, "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?" This passage clearly delineates the incompatibility between the righteous and the wicked, using the metaphor of light and darkness to illustrate the stark contrast.

Ephesians 5:11 further instructs, "Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." Here, believers are called not only to avoid participating in wickedness but also to actively reveal and oppose it.

Practical Implications

The biblical warnings against fellowship with the wicked have practical implications for the life of a believer. Engaging in close relationships with those who reject God's ways can lead to moral compromise and spiritual decline. The influence of the wicked can subtly erode one's values and convictions, making it essential for Christians to be discerning about their associations.

The Bible encourages believers to seek fellowship with those who share their faith and values. Hebrews 10:24-25 exhorts, "And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching." This positive fellowship serves to strengthen and edify the believer, providing support and accountability in the pursuit of holiness.

Conclusion

While the Bible calls for love and outreach to all people, it also warns against forming close bonds with those who live in opposition to God's truth. By heeding these warnings, believers can protect their spiritual integrity and remain steadfast in their walk with the Lord.Genesis 49:6
O my soul, come not you into their secret; to their assembly, my honor, be not you united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dig down a wall.
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Exodus 33:15,16
And he said to him, If your presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
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Exodus 34:13-16
But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
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Numbers 25:1-8
And Israel stayed in Shittim, and the people began to commit prostitution with the daughters of Moab.
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Deuteronomy 31:16,17
And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
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Joshua 23:12,13
Else if you do in any wise go back, and join to the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you:
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Ezra 6:21,22
And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,
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Ezra 9:14
Should we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? would not you be angry with us till you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?
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Psalm 6:8
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.
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Psalm 26:4,5
I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
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Psalm 50:18
When you saw a thief, then you consented with him, and have been partaker with adulterers.
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Psalm 102:6-8
I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
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Proverbs 12:11
He that tills his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that follows vain persons is void of understanding.
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Proverbs 28:19
He that tills his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that follows after vain persons shall have poverty enough.
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Proverbs 29:24
Whoever is partner with a thief hates his own soul: he hears cursing, and denudes it not.
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1 Corinthians 5:11
But now I have written to you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortionist; with such an one no not to eat.
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1 Corinthians 15:33
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
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2 Peter 2:18,19
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
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2 Peter 3:17
You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
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Of the Babylonish Captivity, and the Things Signified Thereby.
... Now, as Jerusalem signifies the city and fellowship of the saints, so Babylonia
signifies the city and fellowship of the wicked, seeing that by interpretation ...
/.../chapter 21 of the babylonish captivity.htm

Sanctification in Fellowship with Immanuel
... Sanctification in Fellowship with Immanuel. ... good works are the result, but in such
a way that our own person as such remains just as wicked and unprofitable as ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/viii sanctification in fellowship with.htm

But as we had Begun to Remark it is not Sufficient for a Christian ...
... to beware of the sin of all pride and boastfulness, and live, humble and meek, after
the example of Christ, avoiding fellowship with the wicked so completely ...
/.../severus/life and writings of sulpitius severus /chapter vii but as we.htm

Letter cii. (AD 409. )
... For as the truth counsels men to seek the fellowship of the holy angels, in like
manner impiety turns men aside to the fellowship of the wicked angels, for ...
/.../augustine/the confessions and letters of st/letter cii a d 409.htm

Petilianus Said: "But There is no Fellowship of Darkness with ...
... death, of innocence with guilt, of water with blood; the lees have no fellowship
wit93 ... You look at the seed sown by the wicked one, which shall be separated in ...
/.../chapter 39 92 petilianus.htm

Parable of the Wicked Husbandman. (Matt. , xxi. , 33-44; Mark, xii ...
... more prominently in the parable of the vineyard and the wicked vine-dressers ... The
former represents the kingdom in its consummation in the fellowship of the ...
/.../section 256 parable of the.htm

The Fellowship of those who Fear the Lord. --Malachi iii. 16-18 ...
... James Montgomery. The fellowship of those who fear the Lord."Malachi 3:16-18;
iv.1. ... When all the proud are swept away,. The wicked, root and branch, undone. ...
/.../montgomery/sacred poems and hymns/hymn cxlix the fellowship of.htm

What Shall be done to the Wicked at the Day of Judgment?
... Answer: At the day of judgment, the wicked shall be set on Christ's left ... be cast
out from the favorable presence of God, and the glorious fellowship with Christ ...
/.../anonymous/the westminster larger catechism/question 89 0 0 what shall be.htm

Not to Participation in Mysteries, Then, and to Fellowship in the ...
... and to fellowship in the wisdom hidden in a mystery, which God ordained before the
world to the glory of His saints, [3616] do we invite the wicked man, and ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter lxi not to participation.htm

How Powerfully the Evil Spirits Incite Men to Wicked Actions, by ...
... gods rather than by divine grace to withdraw himself from their fellowship,"who
does ... let it be observed that such pugnacious gods must be very wicked or very ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 25 how powerfully the evil.htm

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