Fellowship is one of the greatest blessings Christians have. We often think of fellowship as talking across the table at a potluck meal; and while spending time together and being in community with fellow Christians is a wonderful thing, there’s a lot more to fellowship than that.
Fellowship is everything that’s involved in our relationship with God, everything we share or participate in because we are Christians. To be without it means we are lost, and not saved. As Christians, we must have fellowship with God and one another.
Fellowship begins with the gospel
Fellowship is based upon a person’s obedience to the gospel of Christ. 1 John 1:2-3 says, “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” There is no fellowship with God or other Christians apart from the preaching of and obedience to the gospel. That’s why we must continue to preach the good news to a world in which people have no relationship with God, and thus no fellowship with Him.
Through the gospel, God calls men into fellowship: “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9); “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:14). When the gospel is preached, men are called into fellowship with God. When they obey, they come into relationship with Him. And when we have a relationship with God, we have a relationship with other Christians.
Fellowship together
The relationship we, as Christians, have with one another is completely inseparable from our relationship to God. The word fellowship means sharing. First, we share the blood and body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, Paul writes, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” While we might literally share bread and grape juice, we are symbolically sharing in the cleansing blood of Christ. Without the Lord’s Supper and this remembrance of redemption through Him, we would be lost; “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9).
We also share the Holy Spirit. Every child of God, once he has obeyed, is sealed with the Holy Spirit; “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13). A mark of being God’s child is the presence of the Holy Spirit, and if we do not have the Holy Spirit, we do not belong to Him (Romans 8:9). This is not mysterious or charismatic; this is how God’s presence is felt in the lives of every Christian. God does not dwell in Christians and non-Christians in the same way. The Holy Spirit “helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit strengthens us spiritually.
We share in the work of the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 8:23, Paul writes, “As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.” ‘Partner’ is a Greek word that is usually translated as ‘one who has fellowship.’ Our shared effort in the work of the Lord is illustrated in Ephesians 4:16: “...from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” As members of the body of Christ, we work together in harmony, and we are all workers in the Lord’s church.
We share in the needs of our brothers and sisters. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). In this context, fellowship means ‘contribution.’ They shared goods, possessions, and took care of the needs of their fellow believers so that no one lacked anything.
We share in the suffering of Christ. In 1 Peter 4:13, Peter writes, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” ‘Partakers’ is the same Greek word as the word for fellowship: sharers, participants.
Fellowship requires a certain life
None of that matters if we don’t live a life of fellowship. “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 John 1:6). If we are not living according to Scripture, we are not in fellowship with God. Even if we, as people, accept the sin of others, God does not. Fellowship can be broken by false teaching; “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them” (Romans 16:17).
But walking in the light doesn’t mean we’re perfect. God knows Christians who are striving for fellowship and perfection are not perfect; if we were, we wouldn’t need the blood of Christ to cleanse our sins. We all stumble, but the difference is that someone living in fellowship with God repents and learns to do better.
Sometimes, the church must withdraw fellowship. If we truly love and care about someone, we must be willing to hold them accountable to their behavior; we withdraw for the sake of their salvation, that they will return to the church and renew their fellowship. We also withdraw so that one bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch; or, as Paul says, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? (1 Corinthians 4:6).
As Christians, our only options are fellowship with God or separation from Him. In fellowship, we are able to share the Holy Spirit, the work of the church, the needs of our brothers and sisters, and the suffering of Christ. Fellowship is a precious thing.
Reflection questions
