(9) God is faithful,
by whom ye were called
unto the fellowship
of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
(10) Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all speak the same thing,
and that there be no divisions among you;
but that ye be perfectly joined together
in the same mind and in the same judgment,
(11) For it hath been declared unto me
of you, my brethren,
by them which are of the house of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you.
-1 Corinthians 1:9-11
Paul is sounding the alarm. Something is seriously wrong in the Corinthian Church. There are divisions and contentions among the members. He encourages them to come to an agreement.
Because Paul exhorts members of the Corithian Church not to let divisions exist among them, should we presume like the world and so many churches today, that divisions are wrong? Or should we conclude that divisions are a valuable means to alert us, when doctrinal error creeps into the body of believers, so doctrine can be corrected and genuine unity maintained?
(18) For first of all,
when ye come together in the church,
I hear that there be divisions among you;
and I partly believe it.
(19) For there must be
also heresies among you,
that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you.
-1 Corinthians 11:18-19
Paul is teaching that division in the church is God's means of separating truth from error so the true doctrines of Christ may become evident and plainly recognized. If it were not for the light of Truth, we would never realize that we are living in spiritual darkness.
(We will discover more regarding this in future chapters.)
(19) What say I then?
that the idol
is any thing,
or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols
is anything?
(20) But I say,
that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to devils,
and not to God:
and I would not that ye should have
fellowship with devils.
(21) Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord,
and the cup of devils:
ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table,
and of the table of devils.
(22) Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?
are we stronger than he?
-1 Corinthians 10:19-22
When we do not follow God's specifics regarding our worship and service to Him, we become guilty of idolatry. It does not matter whether we are bowing down to a statue made with human hands or trying to establish our own will above God's will. Both are considered idolatry and bring us into fellowship, (association) with devils, whether we are aware of it or not.
Through the idolatry of our own good works we become partners in crime, with the devil and are assisting him in his destructive plans, instead of living in harmony with God's plan for abundant and eternal life.
Please note that I did not say "living in harmony with others." On the contrary, when we live in harmony with God's plan, He has told us that it is more likely that we will be out of harmony with others and suffering persecution as a result of it.
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12)
(1) Paul and Timotheus,
the servants of Jesus Christ,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus
which are at Philippi,
with the bishops and deacons:
(2) Grace be unto you, and peace,
from God our Father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
(3) I thank my God
upon every remembrance of you,
(4) Always in every prayer of mine for you all
making request with joy,
(5) For your fellowship
in the gospel
from the first day until now;
-Philippians 1:1-5
Paul and Timotheus are writing to the Church in Philippi and describing the foundation for true fellowship among believers. They are referring to this specific type of association as their "fellowship in the Gospel."
To discover what true fellowship is, it is also helpful to understand what it is not.
Is the "fellowship" in this verse a type of exclusive socialization established by the church and granted to members who profess to believe the Gospel and the church's specifically sanctioned doctrines, sacraments, and/or traditions?
Or is true fellowship not socialization at all, but a unique interaction established on something more important than a church or any religious group?
Could it be possible that true fellowship depends exclusively on the Gospel itself--the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
(4) And did all drink the same spiritual drink:
for they drank of that spiritual Rock
that followed them:
and that Rock
was Christ.
-1 Corinthians 10:4
(18) And I say also unto thee,
That thou art Peter,
[Peter=#G4074=a stone=soul hard=unyielding]
and upon this rock
[#G4073=large solid rock,
Jesus Himself=firm strength of soul]
I will build my church;
and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.
-Matthew 16:18
There is a slight, yet very significant difference in the two types of rock mentioned in the above verses. The true Rock of our salvation is Jesus Christ. Then there is the smaller rock or stone that is Peter.
Peter is a tough, hard-headed fisherman, yet he would deny Christ three times by yielding to fear and peer pressure. Jesus knew this so in their initial meeting, He wanted Peter to know that He would not expect him to do something he was not equipped to do. The Church of Jesus Christ was not going to be built on the efforts of a mere man, but on the superior strength of Christ Himself, the Solid Rock.
The Church which is made up of the fellowship of true believers cannot have any other foundation but Christ. Therefore the real Church of Jesus Christ cannot be built with human hands or independent good works. Christ is the Creator and Leader of His Church which is His true Bride. She loves Jesus as her Husband and is committed to following Him and His specific will alone.
Because the true Church is based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ Himself, fellowship in the Word of God definitely involves much more than socialization. There is nothing wrong with socialization, but let us put socialization in its rightful place on our list of priorities. We would be more accurate if we brought back the phrase, "church social," than to mislabel social interaction in the church as "fellowship."
If you have ever attended church or are currently attending a church, think about what your church fellowship looks like.
Certainly when we get together with other Christians, we need to be concerned about what is happening in their lives. But does "How are you doing?" refer to wanting to know all about the sports activities the kids are involved in or what color you decided to paint your living room?
Or should the question really refer to how your life has been recently affected by the Word of God or how it relates to the Gospel of Jesus Christ today?
If someone actually desired to engage in this type of real fellowship, they might be required to get permission from church authorities before speaking on the topic of what Christ is actually doing in their life today.
It may not be "pc" (politically correct) or in this case, "cc" (church correct) to freely fellowship in the Word of God without some sort of control through special training or a "discipleship program" provided by the church or denominational headquarters to insure that new members understand the boundaries of acceptable speech and conduct in their church.
While fellowship during a time set aside for socialization should be encouraged, a time set aside for fellowship should not turn into a social session. This was the real purpose of Paul's warning to the spiritually immature church at Corinth.
Most churches today do not have a clue regarding what true fellowship is. Unfortunately, the majority of church members associate fellowship with catching up on the latest news in the hallways of the church after the service, sitting around the fire pit in the back yard swapping stories, exchanging political views or sports scores, meeting for coffee, breakfast, lunch, or supper, attending church pot luck, musical events, remodeling projects, and quilt-making clubs.
Whew! There are only 24 hours in a day! Maybe it is time to take another look at our priorities. Or should I say, "the priorities God has really given us."
While the exchange of information, social interaction, and entertainment are all necessary functions among believers, these activities must be conducted as such and not deemed "fellowship." Fellowship has been designated by the Word of God to occupy an exclusive position and priority above socialization and entertainment.
What would happen if a true believer came into your church and attempted to actually fellowship "in the Word of God?"
If there be therefore
any consolation in Christ,
if any comfort of love,
if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any bowels and mercies,
-Philippians 2:1
Genuine fellowship is a fellowship of the Spirit via the Word of God. This gives us a picture of the Spirit of Christ right in our midst as we interact with one another. When Christ and His Word are not present in the conversation, the conversation ceases to be true fellowship.
Fulfil ye my joy,
that ye be likeminded,
having the same love,
being of one accord,
of one mind.
-Philippians 2:2
When Christ and His Word are present in the conversation, believers will be in unity and harmony in their thinking. They will be communicating through the same type of love. Perhaps this is referring to the first love lost. I did not say that fellowship is the first love lost, but that the type of love lost is the same type of love missing from true fellowship.
The point is, when the first love was lost, real fellowship was also lost.
I John, who also am your brother,
and companion in tribulation,
and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ,
was in the isle that is called Patmos,
for the word of God,
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
-Revelation 1:9
John speaks of this fellowship also as "companionship in tribulation." True believers share something else in common. That is tribulation and their similar testimonies regarding their relationship with Christ. Tribulation (#G2347=pressure, oppression, and affliction) comes from the world, the flesh, and the devil.
When we are members of the Kingdom, all true believers will suffer similar circumstances and tribulation because we are all holding fast to the same truths of the Kingdom.
Yes, when we remember what was lost, repent, and do the first works, we will also find true fellowship and genuine unity among believers.
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