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Understanding true fellowship (1)

By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi
26 February 2023   |   3:11 am
God calls us to fellowship with His Son. This call is a command from the Father. We are also called to fellowship with the saints and the servants of God. Fellowship with the Son transforms our lives when we come to Him in repentance and continue in relationship with Him.

Pastor Kumuyi

God calls us to fellowship with His Son. This call is a command from the Father. We are also called to fellowship with the saints and the servants of God. Fellowship with the Son transforms our lives when we come to Him in repentance and continue in relationship with Him. This transformation brings us into the assembly of the saints and true fellowship with believers of like-precious faith. Our fellowship with the servants of God, that is, the leaders over us, is a trustworthy fellowship.

Fellowship is a two-way thing. It involves getting and giving, responding and receiving, blessing and benefitting. It is not being fed, helped, cared and prayed for without giving anything back. The Son of God has given us everything we have. To be in real fellowship with Him, therefore, we must give something back to Him. The same thing applies to fellowship with the saints and the servants of God. As we get from them, we must give back to them.

In our fellowship with the Son, we feed on His word; embrace His will; love His word; learn His ways; obey His word; withdraw from the wolves (because He guides us as the true Shepherd). We seek His wisdom; help in His work; increase in (the time we give to) His witness; and praise His worthiness.

In the fellowship with the saints, we forgive and forbear (irrespective of whatever happens among us); edify one another (by sharing the word of God, testimonies and encouragement together); love and lift up one another; observe one another; warn one another; serve one another (in love and by faith); help one another; intercede for each other (especially for those with known problems); and please one another (Romans 15:1,2).

When we have fellowship with the saints; there is no fear, envy, lying, lust, oppression, warfare, slander, hypocrisy, ill-will or pride. To be in fellowship with the servants of God, we will follow them (know their pattern of life, understanding, faith, faithfulness, dedication to the word and will of God, testimonies and expectations (Hebrews 13:7); esteem them (1 Thessalonians 5:12,13); love them; learn from them (Philippians 4:9); obey them (Hebrews 13:17); walk like and with them (Philippians 3:17); stand with them in times of challenges (2 Timothy 4:16,17); honour them (1 Timothy 5:17); inform them properly (1 Corinthians 1:11); and pray for them (2 Thessalonians 3:1,2).

The foundation of true fellowship is the experience of genuine salvation. The dead cannot fellowship with the living as darkness cannot fellowship with light. Demons and Satan cannot fellowship with Christ; cults cannot fellowship with the Church; human depravity cannot fellowship with heavenly divinity; the Canaanites cannot fellowship with true Israelites and sinners and backsliders cannot fellowship with the saints and believers.

God Himself calls us “unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,” by sending us the word of repentance. The word reaches us and we realise we are sinners. When we repent and call on the name of the Lord, He saves us and brings us into union and fellowship with Christ who prays for our sanctification “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”

Sanctification removes the Adamic nature or depravity, makes our hearts tender and deepens our fellowship more than it was when we received salvation from Jesus Christ. Before they were baptised in the Holy Ghost, the house of Cornelius, in the Acts of the Apostles, was not in good fellowship with Peter. This shows that salvation gets us in, while sanctification takes us deeper and the Holy Ghost baptism aids us to have a richer and tighter fellowship together.

• Further Reading (King James Version): 1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 1 John 1:3. 1 Corinthians 1:9; John 17:17,21; Acts 11:15-17; John 13:34,35; Romans 12:10,16; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2,3,31,32.

Thereafter, to proceed to build up the fellowship, we move on to love one another practically. We do to others what we want them to do to us.

To achieve true fellowship, we should be prompt to attend to the needs and challenges of the brethren. Even when the timing of their request or need causes us some discomfort, for the sake of love, we should attend to them. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” We should be kind and not cruel to members of our fellowship. Snubbing or looking down on them hinders our pursuit for true fellowship.

• Further Reading (King James Version): 1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 1 John 1:3. 1 Corinthians 1:9; John 17:17,21; Acts 11:15-17; John 13:34,35; Romans 12:10,16; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2,3,31,32.

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