“WHAT ARE THE LIMITS
OF FELLOWSHIP?”
It is ironic that one of the most divisive
issues in the church today is fellowship. It divides us because there are so
many different ideas regarding it. That is why it is imperative that we take
the time to study about the subject. We
need to come to a better understanding of the meaning of fellowship and its
limits.
What is Fellowship?
The Greek word that we
translate “fellowship” is koinonia. The noun
form of the word is found nineteen times in the Greek New Testament while the
verb koinoneo
is found eight times. The following are definitions and descriptions offered by
different sources:
Numerous scriptures clearly
validate the definitions we have noted. Before addressing the problem of division
in the Corinthian church, Paul told them, “God is faithful, by whom you were
called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians
1:9) He had told the Thessalonians that they had been called by the gospel (2
Thessalonians 2:14), and he exhorted the Ephesians to “…walk in a manner worthy
of the calling to which you have been called, with all gentleness, with
patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3). He reminded the Galatians
that, “…James and Cephas (Peter) and John…gave the
right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me…” (Galatians 2:9) And he fondly
remembered that the church in
What Makes Up the Company of
Fellowship?
Who are those to whom we should (as Paul said),
“Extend the right hand of fellowship?”
u Those who are in fellowship with
God
There are two directional aspects of fellowship. It is first vertical
and then horizontal. To have fellowship with others, both they and we must have
first entered into fellowship with God. John began his letter by bearing
witness to the fleshly existence of Jesus and their personal encounter with
him. He said they had heard him speak, seen him with their own eyes—gazed on
his features, and touched him with their own hands. He was not a spirit or a
figment of their imagination. (1 John 1:1, 2)
But
more than merely seeing him, they had entered into fellowship with him. They
had answered his call to discipleship and had proclaimed his identity as the
Son of God to the world. Their purpose in doing so was that they might enter
into fellowship with God. It was only when they answered the call of the gospel
(2 Thessalonians
v
Those who are in Christ and God’s family.
Paul identified how they
became part of God’s family when he wrote, “…in Christ Jesus you are all sons
of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither
slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians
3:26-28) Never forget the key phrase, “In
Christ!”
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church and
stated emphatically, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) He said the same to the Ephesians: “For we
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…” (Ephesians 2:10) We
are not the same old person, but have been born again spiritually to be a child
of God…a new creation!
As in any birth there must be a seed. For
physical birth, it is the seed of man. But in the new birth, it is the seed
provided by God. Peter identified it when he wrote, “…you have been born again,
not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word
of God.” (1 Peter 1:23) The word of God, not the doctrines and ideas of men, makes children of God,and that happens only “in
Christ!”
There is a special relationship that comes
with being children of God. Paul said, “The Spirit himself bears witness with
our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of
God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:16, 17) If we are fellow heirs,
then we are in fellowship! But only children can be fellow heirs! Therefore
only children can be in fellowship! Those outside the family have no share in
the inheritance of the father.
No man has the right to include those in
the family that God says he will not include. A common statement we often hear
today is, “Surely God wouldn’t condemn that person. He’s such a good soul.”
That is presumptuous. Paul says that no matter how good we might be by man’s
judgment we are still unrighteous by God’s! (Romans 3:9-18) I do not have the
right to extend family fellowship to those that God says are not in the family.
Human decision and human acceptance doesn’t make one a Christian!!
Luke records in Acts 2:41 and 47, “So those
who received his (Peter’s) word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand
souls…the Lord added to their number
day by day those who were being saved.”
His words validate the words of Jesus himself, “Whoever believes and is
baptized will be saved…” (Mark
On day of Pentecost, Peter convicted the
Jews of crucifying the Messiah, Jesus Christ. They were “cut to the heart and
said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” He
answered, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.” It was in baptism that they reached the blood of Christ that redeemed
them from their sins.” Sin had separated them from God (Isaiah 59:1, 2), and
only when they were forgiven could they enter fellowship with God once again!
Three thousand were baptized on the day of
Pentecost. Luke wrote about their relationship with each other, “And they
devoted themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to fellowship and
to the breaking of bread and prayers…And all who believed were together and had all things in common...” (Acts
We today are to devote ourselves to the New
Testament, the record of the teaching of Christ and the apostles. In it, we
likewise are told not only how to become a Christian, but how we are to live
and worship as God’s family, the church.
In the Old Testament, only those within the
family of
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an
inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for
you. (1 Peter 1:3, 4)
He identified those who are included in the
wonderful promise as the “elect”. They
had entered that special election by, “sanctification of the Spirit, for
obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling
with his blood…” (1 Peter 1:1, 2) But that happens only “in Christ!” Paul said, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7) We get into
Christ only through baptism—immersion in water. And once we are in Christ,
there is “no condemnation” (Romans 8:1), and we are recipients of “every
spiritual blessing,” (Ephesians 1:3)
Jesus
taught in one of his parables the impossibility of those outside of the
“In Christ”
relationship sharing in the blessings reserved for those who have clothed
themselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:27) He compared the kingdom of heaven to a
king who gave a wedding feast for his son. In order to attend the feast, it was
necessary to be invited and to wear a wedding garment, apparently provided by
the king for all his guests.
When the king came in to view the attendees
he saw a man there without such a garment, and he commanded his servant to
“cast him out into outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:1-14) Even though he had been invited, he failed
to meet the “dress code” and was cast out.
Our dress code is that we must be “in Christ” if we are to share in the
feast of good things provided by our Heavenly Father, the King of kings. If we
try to share in the benefits without meeting the qualifications we too will be
cast out into outer darkness. Only those who are clothed with Christ can attend
the feast.
What is the point? It is simple: We cannot
have spiritual fellowship with anyone who has not been baptized (immersed) into
Christ for the forgiveness of their sins!
Ž
Those who are walking in the light
After showing that only
those who are in fellowship with God can be in fellowship with his people, John
spoke of the maintenance of that fellowship with God and fellow Christians. He
said:
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)
What does it mean to walk in the light?
First of all, it’s walking where Jesus is. It is being his disciple—his
follower. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31) Remember!
John wrote this statement as well as the instruction we have noted from First
John. He also wrote the words of Second and Third John, where he said the
following:
I
rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we
were commanded by the Father…For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and
testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no
greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth… (2 John 4;
3 John 3, 4)
Truth is determined only by what the
Word of God teaches about spiritual matters! Jesus said that it and it alone is
truth! (John 17:17) We are in fellowship with each other only so long as we are
walking in the truth.
Paul further delineates the truth by seven
key foundational elements of unity:
I
therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the
calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with
patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one
body and one Spirit—just as you
were called to the one hope that
belongs to your call—one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians
4:1-6)
Once we are baptized into Christ for the
forgiveness of sins, we are added to the one body, the church, by God. But
there is careful maintenance work that must be done to preserve that unity in
Christ. The maintenance begins by examining my own attitude and willingness to
bear with others and seek for peace. Fellowship once established, should not be
flippantly abandoned. It is not ,however, a peace at all cost. It is
maintaining what God identifies as the core elements of unity, not what we want
as a standard.
A good example of how fellowship is broken
is when something other than the truth is taught regarding the seven foundation
stones of unity. Scattered throughout the teaching of Paul, John, Peter, Jude,
as well as others, are clear reference to false doctrines relative to these
seven elements.
John, for example, dealt with false teaching
regarding the “one Lord,” Jesus Christ. The Gnostics were teaching that Jesus
didn’t really come into the flesh. He borrowed the body of a man named Jesus,
but when Jesus died on the cross the real Christ went back to heaven to be with
the Father. They had other false beliefs such as allowing the practice of
immorality, while falsely believing they still maintained fellowship with God.
The false doctrine of the Gnostics broke
fellowship. John wrote, “They went out from us, because they were not of us;
for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went
out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.: (1 John
Paul exposed another false doctrine that
broke fellowship. It was the attempt on the part of some Jewish converts to
require both the keeping of the Law of Moses and the Gospel as requirements for
salvation. Peter was at the forefront of the difficulties in the churches of
Paul also taught insisted that individual
fellowship had to be broken over impenitence in the practice of sexual
immorality, greed, idolatry, gossip, slander, dishonesty or anything else that
biblically caused one to become an “evil person.” (1 Corinthians 15:11-13).
Fellowship should also be broken in the
case of someone who was lazy and would not work at a job if they were capable
to doing so. If you warned them, and they refused to straighten up and get busy
then Paul said, “If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note
of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not
regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” (Titus 3:14)
What should we do with those who
advocate unscriptural change?
Two statements are made by Paul that speak
directly to the issue of those who cause division by bringing in unscriptural
practices:
F Paul knew that as an evangelist, Titus would have to face such people.
He instructed him, “As for the person who stirs up division, after warning him
once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a
person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” (Titus 3:10, 11)
F Paul’s
instruction to the Romans is also written for us:
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. For
such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by
smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naďve. (Romans 16:17,
18)
All of us would do well to heed the warning
of Paul to the church in
Let
no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of
God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them;
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as
children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and
right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part
in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians
5:6-11)
In the context of this passage, Paul talked
about various sins, but the principle is clear. Anything that is outside the
description of things that are good, right and true according to God’s will are
to be excluded from our participation. We just cannot have fellowship with
them. I don’t join in with them. I don’t call them brother if they are outside
the family. I don’t extend God’s blessing if they are teaching false doctrine
(2 John 9, 10). I don’t invite their teachers and preachers to be guest
speakers in our pulpits.
For example, John would never have invited
a Gnostic scholar to come as a guest lecturer in the church in
sThat
includes those who bring in changes into our worship such as instrumental
music.
sThat
includes those who would expand the role of women in the work of the church to
positions of leadership in shepherding and preaching that are not authorized by
the New Testament.
sThat
includes those who would advocate fellowship with denominations.
sThat
includes those who seek to soften God’s plan of salvation to allow for open
membership without immersion for the remission of sins.
sThat
includes those who advocate that the Lord’s Supper can be observed on some day
other than the Lord’s Day.
sThat
includes those who infiltrate churches and work in private, behind the scenes,
to gather a following to either take over a congregation or lead away disciples
after them.
But let me say in conclusion that there is
a big difference between the divisive and just someone who is weak and lacks
knowledge. Let’s patiently bear with each other and strive to stay together.
The breaking of fellowship is the final act after all attempts have failed to
bring a person back to the truth.
This does not mean we cannot associate in
any way with those who are not in Christ. Otherwise, how will we ever lead them
to the truth? Many a lost soul has been reached by sharing a meal or a cup of
coffee, which helps to prepare their hearts to receive the gospel. Paul makes
allowances for this kind of association in 1 Corinthians 5:9, 10.
Paul’s statement to Timothy serves as a
good thought with which to end our study of fellowship:
And
the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach,
patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may
perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may
escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
(2 Timothy 2:24-26)