Article - How Does the New Testament Define “Fellowship”
The New Testament word for “fellowship” is from a Greek word which means “common” (“koinos”, where we get our English word “coin”, which is our “common” currency). There are two aspects to this word. One has to do with physical fellowship and the other has to do with spiritual fellowship. From the standpoint of physical fellowship, all human beings share in common or “partake of” the physical traits of flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14); but what about the spiritual aspect of fellowship? First and foremost, spiritual fellowship is a “sharing in common” with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Philippians 2:1; 1 John 1:3). In order for one to have the true spiritual “fellowship” mentioned in Ephesians 3:9, he must become a joint-heir, part of the joint-body and a joint-partaker of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Ephesians 3:6). In other words, he must obey the gospel and get into the body of Christ in order to become a “partaker” of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8; 1 Corinthians 12:13). According to the doctrine of Christ, the persons who are in fellowship with God are only those who have heard and believed the gospel, repented of their sins, confessed Jesus, been baptized scripturally “for the remission of sins”, been added by the Lord to the church of Christ and are remaining loyal to Jesus and His doctrine (Acts 2:38, 41, 47; Romans 10:9-10, 17; 16:16; 1 John 1:5-10; 2 John 1:9-11; Revelation 2:10). Are you in fellowship with God?
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