When interacting with the world, believers must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Anyone trapped in sin, if it is drug addiction, sexual sin, idolatry, or greed, will be defensive about their habit. The best approach is to focus less on the specific category of sin and instead on the person in need of salvation.
No amount of debate, pressure, name-calling, or anything like that is going to help someone want to receive Jesus. The best way to handle the situation is to be friendly and ask for their name and where they come from. Ask if they’re having any health problems or life struggles, and then offer to pray for them. Then testify about how good God is rather than call them a sinner and condemn them to hell. The only way anyone can stop sinning is if they are first saved and receive the Holy Spirit. It takes spiritual power to overcome sinful nature, and unsaved people don’t even know what sin is or why they should stop, so we can’t scold them without teaching them why they are wrong. This is why Jesus said “teach” all nations in Matt 28:18-20.
The same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the same Holy Spirit that dwells in believers in Christ (Rom 6:10-11, Romans 8:11), and that Spirit is their gift for receiving Jesus as Lord (John 14:15-17, Romans 8:5-11). That same Holy Spirit is available to save anyone willing to accept the covenant that Jesus offers. The same Holy Spirit is what frees people from the stronghold of sin. They need the Spirit to be free from sin. When living by the spirit, we will overcome the desires of our flesh (Gal 5:16) and produce the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Believers in Christ must remember that our warfare is not with people, it’s with powers and principalities (Eph 6:12). The best way to fight a spiritual war is with spiritual weapons, not natural ones (2 Cor 10:3-6).
Jesus came to bruise the serpent’s (Satan’s) head, not the heads of the sons of the serpent (Gen 3:15).
Genesis 3:14 (NLT) Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. 15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
The sons of God (1 John 3:4-10) are supposed to go and rescue the sons of the serpent, since now the serpent’s grip is loosened. However, those people adopted by the serpent must want to leave the serpent behind.
1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life[a] is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers[b] does not belong to God.
If they don’t leave the serpent’s team, his team will inherit his punishment; but if they do, they will inherit eternal life as joint heirs with Jesus, the firstborn son of God (John 3:16-21). A deeper breakdown of the sons of God vs the sons of the serpent is explained in depth in this article.
The goal is to rescue, not persecute, so believers must handle everyone with care. Believers are not obligated to save people; they are only obligated to share the good news that they can be saved. Additionally, Believers, meanwhile, should live their lives as a testimony to what God is capable of. Christians should live their lives as a living sacrifice, no longer conforming to the world (Rom 12:1-2).
Romans 12:1 (NLT) And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
We are held to higher standards because we know God, so let us ensure that we have removed the logs from our own eyes before helping our neighbors remove the specks from theirs (Matt 7:1-5). If people reject the gospel, Jesus said this was expected, as seen in Matthew 7:6, where he talks about giving pearls to swine (referring to people who reject God’s truth). A believer’s response is to shake the dust off their feet and leave (Mark 6:7-13).
Matt 7:1“Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For the way you judge others is how you will be judged — the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you. 3 Why do you see the splinter in your brother’s eye but not notice the log in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when you have the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you will see clearly, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother’s eye! 6 “Don’t give to dogs what is holy, and don’t throw your pearls to the pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, then turn and attack you.
Mark 6:7 And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. 8 He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. 9 He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes. 10 “Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. 11 But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.” 12 So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. 13 And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.