The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 1300, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.

Question

What is true fellowship?

Answer

What is true fellowship? We talk a lot about fellowship and I guess I get on this a lot. You know, I was raised in a church where fellowship was associated with a room down below the auditorium that had a linoleum floor and a shuffleboard court, where you had those stale cookies and lousy church punch… Right? I mean, that was Fellowship Hall! Remember that? We’d all go down there and do everything but have fellowship. You grew up thinking that fellowship was stale cookies and that pink punch, and that was it.

We really throw the word around a lot. I was watching this afternoon Pittsburgh do it to Oakland and one of the commentators said, “They’re all going to go into the dressing room and have fellowship!” Did you hear him say that? He doesn’t know what fellowship is. But then again, I’m not sure most people do; they think it’s donuts or something.

Well, if you want to know what fellowship is, the first thing you have to do is look at I John 1:3. “That which we have seen and heard,” John says, “declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us.” Now here he comes, “Truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” Now, whatever our fellowship is, it’s with each other as believers and it’s with the Father and the Son. And you know that Paul talks about the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t he?

So, the fellowship with the Trinity and the fellowship with the saints--what is it? The word is “koinonas,” the noun form. “Koinonia” is the adjective form, and the feminine form here--“koinonia.” The noun form “koinonas,” from which we get the basic root, has the idea of a partner. Fellowship means partnership.

Now, let me hasten to say this--and I have some of this in the book on the church, The Body of Christ and I won’t go into detail--but the word fellowship means partnership. And once you receive Jesus Christ, you’re a partner with him, is that right? How long does that partnership last? Forever! Fellowship means partnership.

Now, Christians come along very often and say, “Well, so-and-so’s out of fellowship.” Could you be out of fellowship? That would be tantamount to losing your salvation. All you’ve done when you’re out of whack with God is--you’re not out of fellowship, you’re not cut off the partnership. You’re still a joint heir with Christ, you’re still a partner with Christ and He’s not ashamed to call you “brother,” according to Hebrews. You’re still one with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and every other believer; you’re still in the body. You’re still in the fellowship--you’ve just forfeited the joy.

So, don’t say you’re out of fellowship; say, “I forfeited the joy that I should have in the fellowship.” You see, fellowship is our common unity, our common life, our common oneness in Christ and with each other. True fellowship is the partnership we share with the Trinity and with each other. We’re one great partnership.

Now, that’s the positional fellowship, but how does fellowship operate? Well, I believe true fellowship isn’t, you know, eating cookies and drinking punch; true fellowship is ministering to one another, isn’t it? It’s exercising the ministry of the partnership.

True fellowship is me meeting your need. True fellowship is you meeting my need. I like to think that fellowship embodies all the one-another’s of the New Testament--confessing your sins one to another, rebuking one another, exhorting one another, edifying one another, comforting one another, praying for one another, teaching one another, admonishing one another--all of the one-another’s! That’s real fellowship. When you get together and exercise the one-another’s, you’re really exercising the prerogatives and the ministries of fellowship.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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