The First Epistle of John: Lesson Five

"God is faithful,

by whom you were called

into the fellowship of

His Son Christ our Lord."

1 Cor. 1:9

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Let's begin with prayer.....

"Our Father in heaven, we praise Your Holy name this day. I am so grateful to have Your word to study today, LORD. You alone are worthy to be praised and worshiped. I thank You for giving us fellowship through Christ that we may know more of You.

I seekthe forgiveness of my sins this morning, LORD, and ask that You forgive me and cleanse me from my unrighteousness. Make me an instrument, a weapon, of Your righteousness today.

I pray for the ladies reading this study this morning. I pray that she will hear from You, be encouraged by You, and learn something new about You today. I pray that You will give her strength for a new day and courage to face whatever comes.

In Jesus' name.....amen."

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Fellowship With Us

Today's lesson will peek at the purpose of First John: fellowship with God through Christ.

1 John 1:3-

"..that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."

The Greek word for "fellowship" used here is: koinonia

It means:

fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse
the share which one has in anything, participation
intercourse, fellowship, intimacy

Remember that Chapter One uses this word four times for a reason. John wants us, the readers, to know that his purpose in writing this letter and the whole purpose behind his testimony is that we may have fellowship with other believers and with God through Christ.

Please read:

• Acts 2:40-42

It was the joy of the believers to see new believers come to the knowledge of Jesus as their Lord and Savior and break bread with each other and have fellowship with one another.

• Acts 1:12-14

...As it was from the beginning with the disciples of Jesus.

• Acts 2:1-4

...As on the Day of Pentecost when they were given the Holy Spirit.

As Christians, we are commanded to have fellowship with one another, and commanded not to have fellowship with non-believers:

2 Cor 6: 14-18

Notice the words Paul used here:

fellowship

communion

accord

part

agreement

All these words have special meaning in the Greek text:

• "communion" here is the same word for "fellowship" used above: koinonia

• "accord" here means: unanimously and is the Greek word: homothumadon

• "part" here means a part as distinct from the whole; an assigned part, a portion, share and is from the Greek word: meris

• "agreement" here means in company with, to consent, to accord, to vote for and is from the Greek word: sugkatatithemai

So we clearly see that Paul was covering all the bases here with these verses: personal relationships, business relationships, as well as political relationships. We are not to have fellowship or do any business or even vote for those in darkness (non-believers) because in doing so we yoke ourselves (or bind ourselves) with darkness...and as Paul said, "what part has a believer with an unbeliever?"

1 Cor 5:9-11- We are not to even eat with a believer who is in sexual sin!

All this is for our protection....protection from the evils of this world (Eph 5:11)and protection from God's wrath and judgment.

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"..and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."

As believers, we are one with God because of His Son Jesus.

Please read:

1 Cor 1:9

2 Cor 8:4

Gal 2:9

Eph 3:9

Phil 1:3-5

Phil 2:1-4

Phil 3:10

You see, having fellowship with each other and with Christ also means having fellowship (or partnership) in Christ's sufferings as well.

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Life Application

It is indeed a great privilege to have fellowship with the One True God through His Son Christ Jesus. That was the clear message John was trying to convey: we can have fellowship together with God because of what Jesus did!

We will learn in the next few lessons just what that fellowship means and how we may know we have it...and how we may know those claiming to be Christians do not have it because of one thing: sin.

In our opening verse, we see that Paul is letting us know some important things about the God whom we serve: He is faithful and He called us into that fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ.

Please read:

• Is 49:7-

"..to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors..."

Yet we read that the Lord is faithful! We can apply this knowledge to our lives by remembering that God is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him.

Meditate on this verse. Imagine being surrounded by people who despise you wholeheartedly...could you honestly serve them faithfully knowing they despise you? It is far easier to serve those who love you, isn't it?

Yet Jesus healed both: those who believed and those who were ungrateful....

Luke 17:11-19

• Ten men cried out for healing.....only one came back to give thanks: the Samaritan.
• The Samaritan glorified God ( saw Jesus as God) fell down on his face at Christ's feet giving Him thanks.

Only one came back....

How do you think Jesus felt?

How many times do we forget to thank Him let alone fall down on our faces and glorify Him as God for the things He has done for us?

Remember what fellowship truly means.....

• association, communion, in company with, in accord with, joint participation, intimacy.
• If we say we have fellowship with God, then we must remember to show it back to Him. That is what a covenant means. It is an oath, a two-way promise made between people.

God has sworn His covenant oath to you....remember you also entered into that oath as well.

Be faithful to Him as He is faithful to you.

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Until next time......

"The means of grace, which comes through the church and reinforces our desire to obey, includes the preaching of the Word by which we are comforted and exhorted. It also includes sacred worship, by which our souls are elevated in adoration and praise for God and through which we are reminded of the majesty of the One we are called to obey. The sacraments feed and nurture us in our Christian walk. Prayer brings us into regular communion with the One we seek to please, and through fellowship we enjoy the benefits of the mutual encouragement of the Christian community."

-R.C. Sproul ( The Soul's Quest for God, 1992, p. 151)

Blessings,

Ruth