The New Testament describes fellowship as something to be valued, built, and maintained among Christians. In his first epistle, John declared that the apostles taught the message of the gospel “so that you too may have fellowship with us” (1 John 1:3). When the apostles in Jerusalem wanted to demonstrate their acceptance and approval of Paul and Barnabas, they “gave to [them] the right hand of fellowship” (Galatians 2:9).
The word translated fellowship is the Greek word koinonia. It contains the idea of association, community, communion, and joint participation (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). Because of this definition, this same word is used elsewhere in the New Testament to describe a contribution made for needy saints (Romans 15:26; 2 Corinthians 9:13) and participation in their support (2 Corinthians 8:4), a sharing in the body and blood of Christ as we partake of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 10:16), and a participation with Paul in the work of preaching the gospel (Philippians 1:5).
While we sometimes think of fellowship in a generic sense and talk about the “fellowship” we have with Christians around the world (even those we have never met or even know of), the way the term is used in the New Testament has a much more limited scope. It is true that all Christians – whether they know one another or not – have a common bond in Christ. We are all brethren (1 Peter 1:22; 2:17) and part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). But fellowship – the sense of community, the close association, the shared communion, and the way in which we jointly participate in the Lord’s work – demands a more personal and localized view of fellowship rather than one that is vague and impossible to see how far it extends.
The reason this is important is because of the limits that we see in the New Testament on fellowship. There are certain people to whom we must not extend fellowship (not associate with them, not welcome them into the local church community, not commune with them, and not work with them in the cause of Christ). It would be impossible to respect the limits placed on fellowship if we were automatically “in fellowship” with others, whether we knew about them or not.
What are these limits? Notice some of the people or groups we are not to have fellowship with:Continue Reading
