1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."
One of the most wonderful things about being a Christian are the friendships we develop with fellow believers. This afternoon my wife Ashley and I had the opportunity to enjoy a long lunch with one such friend, Evangelist Dr. Tim Fowler. We got to know Tim last year as he came and led us in revival at Oakland, and will be doing so again March 21-24. Tim is in town preaching at Clanton Plains Baptist right up the road.
Fellowship among believers is a cherished gift from God. But it is important to understand the biblical role and place of fellowship in our lives and churches. We live in a relational culture where the need for like minded friendships plays a prominent role. But their is something far more important than our fellowship with each other, it is our fellowship with our Father, without which we cannot have true biblical fellowship.
1 John 1:3 tells us, "that we who 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." True Christian fellowship cannot occur outside of a true fellowship with God. It is God's desire to have fellowship with us, but when mankind fell into sin in the garden at Eden, that fellowship was broken. In the garden God walked and talked with man, and man had a daily, close, personal fellowship with God. Sin however breaks that fellowship. But through the gift of His Son Jesus we now can once again enjoy a true fellowship with God as our sins if we believe in Jesus are washed away and forgiven through His blood.
While friendships and fellowships are important to us here in this world, we cannot have true Christian fellowship unless we first have fellowship with God through Jesus. Anything less is a friendship in this world, which is gratifying, but not Christian fellowship. We must be in agreement about Jesus to have true Christian fellowship.
We must agree upon and believe He was born of a virgin, born the Son of God, in fact, born fully God, and fully man. That He, Jesus, lived a sinless, perfect life here on earth, and died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven. We must agree upon and believe that Jesus was indeed buried in a tomb and on the third day he was raised from the dead by the Father, walked this earth in a glorified body for 40 days, and then ascended to heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father. We must agree upon and believe "He is the way, the truth and the life," and that no one shall know the Father except "through Him." We must agree upon and believe that one day He will return to establish His kingdom here on earth. We must first and foremost agree upon and believe these things if we are to enjoy true Christian fellowship with one another. If we believe other things about Jesus, we do not worship the Jesus of the bible.
Today, so many times, when someone asks about our churches they are interested in what programs we have for children or our youth; what type of worship style do we have; are our facilities to their liking. Their is nothing inherently wrong with having these questions answered, but should our first question not be: What do you believe about Jesus? Should we not ask do you believe the bible is the inerrant, inspired, immutable word of God?
If we are to enjoy true Christian fellowship these are the most important questions, as we cannot enjoy true Christian fellowship apart from the truth about Jesus. The fellowship of believers can only be centered in one place, around the throne of God and our coming king Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the Christian fellowship I enjoy with the body of Christ, and people like brother Tim. Wherever you worship, I ask you to be sure, you are enjoying true Christian fellowship blessed by God. To be blessed by God it must be centered around God, and not just a like minded fellowship with friends. True Christian fellowship means we walk in the light of God in accordance to His word, the bible. No matter how impressive a churches programs, music, facilities, energy, ministries, or the friendships you may enjoy; if our fellowship is not centered on Jesus Christ, it's not Christian fellowship.
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