What Is Fellowship?

First of all we should note that the words ‘fellowship’ and ‘communion’ come from the same Greek word, (koy-nohn-ee’-ah). So it is important to understand that these two words have the exact same meaning, and the word that is most pertinent to the defining of ‘koy-nohn-ee’-ah’ is 'intercourse.’ Now we know what physical intercourse is, so if we just apply that knowledge to the spiritual aspect, then we have the meaning of fellowship, as well as communion. It’s really very simple, but also very overlooked and confused in the body of Christ today. Jesus said in John chapter 10, “I and my Father are one.” And he went on to explain what he meant: “That ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him" (Jn. 10:30,38). Many have taken John 10:30 to mean that Jesus was saying he IS the Father, but in fact he stated that he and the Father were 'one’ by means of spiritual intercourse. He is in the Father, and the Father is in him. Now one must cast off the notion of physical intercourse to understand the meaning here, as he was not referring to a physical intercourse between he and the Father, but rather a spiritual intercourse. The meaning of this beautiful truth comes home with the prayer that Jesus offered to his Father for his followers in John 17: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:" (Jn. 17:21). So Jesus prayed that we might also be one with one another, as well as with he and the Father, by means of us being in them; which means we have to become partakers of that same spiritual intercourse. But let’s continue with Jesus’ prayer, as he explains how this takes place: "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; [so] that they may be one, even as we are one”(Jn. 17:22). So the 'glory’ that Jesus mentions here IS the means by which we are made one, in the same manner that he and the Father are one. So what is that glory? According to Romans 6:4 and I Peter 3:18, that 'glory’ is the Spirit of God, the power that raised Jesus from the dead. And in the next breath Jesus stated just how we were to be made one, as he and the Father are one: “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one" (Jn. 17:23). So Jesus and the Father are in one another by means of sharing the same Spirit [the glory], or spiritual life (Rom. 8:2,10). When we come to the state of being ‘in him,’ and him ‘in us,’ as he stated; then we are also in the Father, because they are already in one another. This is how we are "made perfect [complete] in one.” So it all comes down to how one gets into Christ (Remember ‘the glory’).

The three scriptures that definitively state how we get into Christ all agree that it is baptism that puts us into Christ (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27; I Cor. 12:13). The latter scripture clearly says that it is the baptism of the Spirit that puts anyone into Christ. Actually that is just as clearly seen in the other two references when they are viewed honestly and practically. So it is evident that the baptism of the holy Ghost, which began on the day of Pentecost, is the only way that anyone can come into fellowship, or oneness with God and his Son. But after becoming one with the Father and the Son, one can either increase that fellowship or lose it, depending on whether he decides to continue in obedience or not. To be in Christ is one thing, but to abide in Christ is yet another (Jn. 15:4-6). The only way to abide in Christ, and keep that blessed fellowship alive, is to be taught and led by his Spirit (I Jn. 2:27; Rom. 8:14). The scripture says that we fulfill the law by walking after the Spirit, and it also says that loving our neighbor as ourselves is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:14). So the real fellowship that Jesus died for only comes about by loving one another as he has loved us (Jn. 15:12). True fellowship is to be in one mind in the Spirit, as the apostle Paul noted: “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” (I Cor. 1:10). There is no variance or division of minds between the Father and the Son, and neither is there between believers who are being taught and led by God’s Spirit. The Spirit of God is one mind, and those who abide therein are in one mind, even as the Father and the Son are. Just because people are gathered together does not mean that true fellowship or communion exists there. But the 'Christian’ mindset is in fact that the act of believers gathering together is what defines fellowship. As long as God’s people accept the carnal mind of modern Christianity, they will not know the real fellowship that was ordained of God for the body of Christ. Neither will they understand the truth about the Father and the Son, which I believe is the most beautiful and powerful truth that exists. Forsake the doctrines and commandments of men my friend, and seek the “treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are [hidden] in him" (Col. 2:3). Amen!