Fellowship

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The Fellowship of Jesus

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.  For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1 Corinthians 1:9-13 NKJV

Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin and rose again so that we who believe in Him can be reconciled to God, the Father. He brought us from death to life by snatching us from the devil’s domain and bringing us into Himself. That is why the Bible says we are “in Christ.” We are unified with Jesus Christ. That is how we have continual fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit. We are bound together with the Lord.

Worshiping the Church?

Paul’s correction to the Corinthian church is for today as much as it was for believers in the early days of the church. People sometimes attach themselves to the “name” of their church. The temptation is to become bound to the organization or pastor of their church while letting their relationship with Jesus fall to the wayside. When believers shame one other over trivial matters such as church preferences, they have exalted their church above the Lord. Becoming angry or prideful over things that will not matter in eternity will not produce the good fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Worshiping the Message and the Messenger?

The believers in Corinth were arguing over who was “the best,” Paul, Apollos or Cephas (Peter). Paul was observing this misguided focus with great concern. He did not want to be their object of worship, so he urged the people of God to unify once again under Jesus Christ. Paul was not against Apollos, Peter, or any apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers they may have been criticizing. He was very much in favor of them! If the Corinthian believers had focused their energy into sharing the Good News of Jesus instead of arguing, their fellowship with Jesus and with one other would have grown. The enemy wants to distract us with pride to cause division. When that happens, we get “off mission” and our relationship (fellowship) with the Lord suffers.

Fellowship With Light!

Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 AMP

In this scripture, some translations use the term “yoked” instead of “bound.” Yokes made of wood were used to bind two or more oxen together while they were at work pulling something like a cart, or plowing a field. Paul was not telling the believers in Christ to never talk with unbelievers. Of course not. In fact, Paul traveled the civilized world preaching to unbelievers. He loved them and want them to come to know Jesus Christ.

Paul followed Jesus’ instructions, taking a fellow believer with him on these journeys. The fellowship in Christ between Paul and his Spirit-filled friend helped them stay focused on their purpose. But that wasn’t the only reason Jesus instructed His disciples to travel together. The power of the Spirit multiplies when two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name– when they are unified in the Spirit of God’s love.

Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. Matthew 18:20 NIV

No Compromise

Like the early Christians, Jesus wants us to share the Good News with others at work, school and everywhere we go. Our goal is for others experience God’s presence through our love and good behavior. When we stay yoked to Jesus and follow the Holy Spirit’s lead we produce good fruit!

Compromise leads us out of fellowship with the Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ. If for some reason you get too close to unbelievers and sin, you can repent, and you must. By the same token, if you allow offense against a brother or sister in Christ to remain in your heart, the Lord is always willing to forgive you if you sincerely want to change. Holy Spirit grieves (Ephesians 4:29-32) when we move out of fellowship with Him. And if we get out of fellowship with fellow-believers we are out of fellowship with God. Together we are one in the Spirit (Ephesians 4:1-6). He desires to heal us of the need to impress others or win arguments.

Correction

There are times when we are supposed to correct another believer for their behavior. But it only should be done if the Holy Spirit has led you to do so– and not out of pride, but genuine concern. That keeps you in fellowship with God and His Body.

Keep the Light On

We do not help the unbeliever find Jesus by binding ourselves to them. And the Body of Christ suffers when even one member holds onto hurts. Those mindsets reveal that the believer doesn’t understand that they have been brought out of darkness into the light. And Jesus is the Light.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7 ESV

Darkness and light don’t mix. But if we remain in fellowship with God and fellow believers, God’s light can shine through us into the darkness. That is how the lost can find Jesus!

Fellowship with Life!

A person that is one with Jesus will run from the demons of darkness and death in order to remain in fellowship with Jesus, our Light and Life!

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:1-3 NLT

Jesus is life itself, so when we were brought from death to life, we were brought into Him (Ephesians 2:1-6). Eternal life in Christ is a gift from God, but we had to choose to place our faith in Him. Together, we have chosen to be bound, or yoked, to Jesus through the Spirit of God.

More Than Activities

Fellowship may involve eating together and doing a variety of fun things as believers. But it is more than simply activities. Non-believers can also do wholesome activities together and have a wonderful time. What we as believers have in common is the transformational power of God that produces eternal light and life! We have the priceless fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the endless love of the Father and the extravagant grace of God through Jesus Christ! My prayer for you is:

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14 NIV