Fellowship in the Bible (My learnings on "Fellowship")

 

Here's my personal journey and research with the word fellowship in the Bible. 

1)     Fellowship should be perceived as an offering to the Lord.  This offering should be our active participation and our efforts to offer the best. Leviticus 3:1 - “‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect. This verse teaches us that fellowship is an offering and involves our active participation and best efforts.

2)     In the Old Testament, we have many men of God who had Fellowship with God. Enoch was known to have close fellowship with God and so was so many other men of God like Moses, Joshua, Abraham, Jacob, David, the prophets and many more. Genesis 5:23, 24 - Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God.

3)     In the New Testament, our Fellowship is further strengthened with Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. 1 John 2:27 - But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. 1 John 5:20 - And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Today we get to have fellowship with God because we live in Fellowship with his son Jesus Christ. 

4)     Once we have fellowship with the father son and holy spirit we must have fellowship with each other. 1 John 1:7 - But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

The believers did the following when they had Fellowship with each other.

a)     They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. prayed together. participated in the Lord’s supper and shared their meals and had Fellowship through prayer. Acts 2:42 - All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

b)     They earnestly prayed for each other. Colossians 4:12 - Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.

c)       They praised God. Acts 2:47 - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

d)     All were one-minded. Acts 4:32 - All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

However, fellowship with each other didn’t mean that all were in the right spirit. The Bible clearly says that there were people who were like wolves among the sheep. 1 Corinthians 5:2 - You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship. 2 Peter 2:13 - Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. Jude 1:12 - When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots.

There were people within the fellowship that could deceive others with their hypocrisy. They looked beautiful and soft from the outside but were interested only in themselves. Beware of them for they are doubly dead and they bear no fruit!!