It has been said more than once in this volume that "fellowship" is the English term most often used as a rendering for the Greek koinonia. It is not the equivalent of koinonia, for equivalent means "equal in value or power," and there is no single English word capable of capturing the full meaning of koinonia. The translators who gave us The New English Bible knew this and used the expression "sharing in the common life." My own investigation leads me to endorse this as the best rendering known to me.
Fellowship is composed of the two words "fellow" and "ship." Fellow is from the Anglo-Saxon felagi, comrade or partner. It has been surmised that it may have originally signified those who bound themselves together by a blood-covenant. If this is so, the word signified more than a casual partnership in land or business, but there is no real evidence to sustain this. "Ship" is a suffix indicating state or condition. Sonship is a state in which we share as sons, companionship is a state in which we share as companions. Fellowship is a state in which we share as fellows, that is, as associates or peers.
The word "fellow" shows it is a relation of persons to each other, and not of persons to ideas or things. No one ever asks, "Do you companionship automobiles"? Nor does one ever ask, "Do you partnership the common market theory"? But that is no more ridiculous than to ask, "Do you fellowship instrumental music in corporate worship?" or "Do you fellowship premillennialism"? It would be just as absurd to ask, "Do you partnership your associate in the service station"? Yet we constantly hear those who are ignorant of the significance of fellowship asking, "Do you fellowship this individual or that?" You may be in partnership with your associate, and in the fellowship with your brethren, but we need to keep our language straight unless we wish to demonstrate that our ideas are warped.
In the context of the new covenant, fellowship is the state or condition of sharing in the life of Jesus Christ into which we are called by God (1 Corinthians 1:9). God issued the call through the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14), a distinct proclamation of seven historical facts designed to establish the most sublime truth of all ages, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The response to this call is belief of the fact and submission to the lordship of Jesus in one act, immersion in water under His authority or name. Every person in the universe who believes with all of his heart that Jesus is the Messiah and God's Son, and who is immersed in validation of that faith is in the fellowship. He is in it by an act of God. He is received of the Lord to the glory of God (Romans 15:7).
We are called as individuals, we respond as individuals, and we are received as individuals. But we are not simply called out of the world, we are also called together in Christ. We share in the common life of the Father and Son, which is eternal life, but because we do we also share with all others who share that life (1 John 1:3). We are not joined to Jesus because we are joined to others, but we are joined to others because we are joined to Jesus. Our relationship on the horizontal plane does not create our relationship on the vertical plane, but our relationship on the vertical plane creates our relationship on the horizontal.
This means that what one does or thinks on the horizontal plane need not affect the vertical relationship of another at all unless he personally condones or endorses it. No one is held responsible for anything which he disavows. Jesus plainly taught that individuals could be in a congregation which was dead and whose works were not perfect before God, and still walk with him in white because they were worthy (Revelation 3:1-4). Indeed, He also taught that persons could be in a congregation where a woman taught and seduced his servants to commit fornication, but if they refused her doctrine and practice and kept His word to the end, they would be blessed.
Obviously there will be some things occur among brethren in which one cannot participate because of conscience. One must never violate his personal conviction by sharing in any view or act which appears to him to be contrary to the will of God. But such differences will not affect the fellowship which results from our relationship to Jesus unless one or the other denies the Son of God or renounces His rule. Our fellowship with God is not conditioned upon seeing everything alike or upon doing everything in the same fashion but upon receiving Jesus as the Messiah and His Son. So long as we do not deliberately repudiate this conviction by word or deed the fellowship remains intact.
Fortunately we have a good example of this in the letter Paul addressed to the Romans. There were those who could freely eat meat and others whose consciences would not allow them to do so. Certainly the latter could not jointly participate with the former in this action. But this did not affect the fellowship, for the simple reason that God had received them. "Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him" (Romans 14:3). One of our human problems has always been the false assumption that if we could not jointly participate in some things we could not work together in anything.
What has been overlooked is that God's children can differ in Christ although they cannot differ about who He is. They need not regard everything alike, but everything they regard must be to the Lord. "He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it." So long as two persons exalt their relationship to the Lord above their differences they can keep both their differences and one another. It is only when what they think means more than what God did for them that they fall apart. This is not so much an indication of fidelity to God's word as it is a sign of egotism. It is a form of idolatry in which men worship their opinions more than they respect God's power and purpose. It is always a sin to destroy a brother for meat or for anything else!
We do not create the fellowship for God has done that. He invites us to share in it by becoming His sons and daughters through faith. Our task is to demonstrate the beauty and strength of a fellowship based upon faith, to a cold and cynical world. We can best do this by manifesting an unbroken love for and attachment to those who differ with us about many things. The world expects those who see everything alike to work together, but to see those laboring in unity who do not concur with each other proves that they have discovered a dynamic more powerful than the carnal nature. It is for this reason that all division within the family of God is condemned. Such division is never once authorized as the solution to fraternal disagreement. Christ is not divided and those in Christ must not be.
It is the thesis of this book that opinions and doctrinal interpretations are occasions for differences, but never for division. It is no sin to differ but it is a sin to divide. Congregations should provide an umbrella of love under which saints with divergent views can find shelter and be loved and cherished. We must make a distinction between a man and his rationalizations. We are not called upon to agree with one's ideas but to accept his person in Christ. Jesus died for men, not for opinions. When I receive men upon their faith in Jesus, I acknowledge the efficacy of His work, but I need not acknowledge the validity of their reasoning.
My only creed must be Christ. Jesus is the gospel and the gospel is Jesus. The crowning truth of the gospel is that He is the Son of God and, therefore, Lord of all. If I demand that one adopt my view or explanation of a secondary matter, or surrender his own, in order to be received by me, that thing becomes my creed. Whatever one must believe or subscribe to in order to be accepted by any group is the creed of that group, and like all human creeds it is exalted to a position of prominence above the divinely-established fact that Jesus is the Messiah and God's Son. The only basis of koinonia is the relationship with the Son created by faith in Him. It is not orthodoxy of opinion, interpretation or explanation.
All history and experience prove that not all men will respect their vows, covenants, pledges or commitments. In the social realm some will begin well but will turn into criminals. In the political realm there will be traitors. In the economic realm there will be crooks. In the military realm there will be deserters. There is no societal relationship composed of human beings which will not be undermined and suffer tragedy because of the irresponsible. God ordained the home and marital relationship on a convenantal basis and yet the land is strewn with the wreckage of broken homes.
The community of believers, composed of strangers and pilgrims who are men and women in the flesh, must expect that from among themselves "men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them." Many of the congregations during the lifetime of the apostles were faced with serious problems created by those who had known Christ but who returned to their former state to walk after the flesh. Not a few of the letters addressed to congregations and individuals were written to deal with such situations.
This gives rise to a major question. Are there grounds upon which a community of saints can openly and publicly declare that one of their number will no longer be regarded as in their company? Laying aside the unscriptural expression "withdrawal of fellowship," what are the bases for the solemn terminal act of "delivering one unto Satan"? I believe there are three specifications upon which association can be declared no longer possible, and only three. To go beyond this is to go beyond the scriptures and to substitute human caprice for divine authority. Before I deal with the three reasons it seems appropriate to discuss why these are so serious that toleration, forbearance and longsuffering can no longer be accorded to the guilty.
Faith in Jesus is the door to fellowship with the Father and the Son. This involves an acceptance or reception of Jesus as God's Anointed and Lord of the whole life. "God hath made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). There is not one door into the relationship and another one leading out. God does not have one door marked "Entrance" and another marked "Exit." There is only one door. If one desires to leave he simply reverses his decision. He entered by believing in Jesus, he goes out by denying Him. He was ignorant of a lot of things when he came in, he will continue to be ignorant of a lot of things until he dies. The only children God has are ignorant children, although they are ignorant about different things. Their ignorance did not keep them out of Christ and their continued ignorance will not put them out, unless it is deliberate and leads them to rebellion against Jesus.
God's children can remain in, even with their errors and problems, so long as they are willing and eager to be under the lordship of Jesus. Their mistakes are of the head and not of the heart. The Father does not expect them all to be "straight-A" students. He never runs them off because they are imbecilic, which means weak or feeble-minded. None of them know all there is to know, most of them do not know all they could know. And that covers the entire spectrum from the preacher in the pulpit to the custodian in the broom-closet.
To renounce the lordship of Jesus and refuse longer to confess faith in Him destroys the very foundation of our relationship. God will not retain in His fellowship one who is guilty of such rebellion. No congregation of believers can be true to God and continue to receive one whom God refuses. There are two ways by which one openly shows his faith in Christ--by what he says and by what he does. He demonstrates his rejection of Jesus in the same two ways. The scriptures set forth only three grounds for the congregational dissociation from one previously accepted as one of the redeemed.
A much better way to state this is to say, "the advocacy of doctrines which separate from God." Such doctrines are humanly-contrived systems of philosophy which overtly or covertly deny the faith, belief of which brings one into the divine-human relationship, the sharing of the life of God, eternal life. Although many mistaken views may be held, and even expressed, these do not separate from God unless they proceed from or lead to a denial of the right of the Son to be head of the body and Lord of life.
The historical facts of the gospel are seven in number, all of them directly involved in the personality of Jesus, and the implications growing out of this magnificent concept. They are the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, coronation and glorification of Jesus. The first five were attested by human witnesses, the last two by the Holy Spirit upon Pentecost. These facts, for which credible testimony is available, are summed up in the grandest truth to which the human mind can assent, that "Jesus is the Anointed, the Son of God." One who believes this with all of his heart may be wrong about many things, and so long as he is in the flesh will be, but this will not destroy the relationship. It is not based upon being right about a number of things, but upon being in Christ through faith.
Paul delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander unto Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme. They had divorced themselves from faith and a good conscience and made shipwreck of their faith (1 Timothy 2:19,20). He warned against Hymenaeus and Philetus whose gangrenous words resulted from a grave error concerning the truth. By affirming that the resurrection was already past they destroyed the faith of others (2 Timothy 2:17,18). John spoke of those who denied the incarnation, and referred to them as antichrists seducers and false prophets.
The term "false teacher," which in the Greek is didaskalos occurs only once in the new covenant scriptures. It occurs then as a description of a certain kind of character. False teachers were those who denied the Lord that bought them, secretly brought in damnable heresies, and caused the truth to be blasphemed (2 Peter 2:1,2). Despite the sparing use of this derogatory expression, the term is frequently used today for everyone who utters anything contrary to a traditional pattern. There are those who seemingly cannot distinguish between a false teacher and mistaken brother. And they may be more dangerous than those whom they condemn. They seem never to have learned that pseudo, false, applies to that which is deliberately calculated and intended to deceive, mislead, and beguile, and has no reference to those who are honestly and innocently mistaken. To fill the air with "railing accusations" against such makes the railer a greater threat to the harmony of the saints than are the accused ones.
Espousal of an opinion which does not separate from God should not separate His children from each other. If God is willing to tolerate and forbear one who loves Jesus but is mistaken about some matter, we ought to be willing to do the same. Admittedly, all differences of opinion create tensions but they should not result in termination of relationship. They are not problems of fellowship, but problems in the fellowship. The fellowship is more important than a proper solution to the difficulty and must never be allowed to become secondary to it. But one who denies the facts about Jesus, essential to entrance into the fellowship with God, cannot be retained in a community founded upon affirmation of those facts.
All facts to which testimony is given and sustained by evidence involve certain implications for the life and conduct of one who believes the testimony. It is not sufficient to give mere mental assent or pay lipservice to the testimony. One must commit himself to the object of the testimony and order his conduct in such a way as to exemplify that commitment. Faith is trust in a person or principle which impels one to surrender himself to that person or principle regardless of cost or sacrifice.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To follow Jesus is not merely to embrace a way of life, but to share in the life of the Way. To return to a life-style utterly opposed to the moral and ethical values enunciated and exemplified by Jesus is to renounce the lordship of Jesus. It is the equivalent of saying, "I will not have this man reign over me." It is to become a rebel, a revolutionary, a mutineer.
We must be careful at this point for it is easy to equate every lapse or every sin, regardless of circumstances, with rebellion. All sin is sin, but the motivation is not always the same. Certainly the citizens of a country like the United States are not all rebels, but all of them at some time or other break a law or violate a statute. The apostle John cautions us against saying that we have not sinned or that we have no sin. Instead of acting like hardened and defiant rebels we are often reduced to shame and tears by our own carefree and thoughtless grieving of the Spirit.
But there are those in whom the spirit of self still reigns. Peter refers to such persons as "slaves of corruption." He declares it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them (2 Peter 2:21). He declares that they are spots and blemishes, that they have eyes full of adultery, and they cannot cease from sin.
The life in Christ is a new life. When those in Christ dethrone Him in their hearts and deliberately choose to walk according to the course of this world, enthroning the spirit which works in the children of disobedience, they forfeit the right of association with those who are filled with the fulness of God. In 1 Corinthians 5, the action to be taken by a congregation of saints troubled with such an anarchistic spirit is clearly detailed.
That community of believers had within its confines a man who openly boasted of sexual relations with his father's wife. It was so blatant that Paul said it was a matter of common knowledge. Such a type of carnality was not even sanctioned by the pagans. Paul used five terms to express what action the congregation should take. Such action was to be a public renunciation of the sinner and his sin. It was to be taken "when ye are gathered together."
The saints were to deliver the guilty person unto Satan (verse 5). They were to purge out the old leaven (verse 7). They were not to company with him (verse 9). They were not to eat with him (verse 11). They were to put away from among themselves that wicked person (verse 13). There is no question about the way a community of saints must act in a case of open rebellion where the individual deliberately adopts a lifestyle which makes him "a wicked person."
What must be realized is that not all in the body of Christ who sin are "wicked persons." They are sinners but they are not that kind of persons. Indeed, the congregation at Corinth must have had a number who sinned. The apostle was hesitant about returning, much as he loved the brethren. He was afraid he would find "debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, and tumults (2 Cor. 12:21). But he was also afraid he would need to mourn over "many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed" (verse 22). If many were guilty of such deviations from the path of moral rectitude the congregation was in a sad state of affairs. Yet Paul indicated that he would "weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen."
There is a danger that we will associate the term immoral only with sexual offences. Indeed, when the word is used we seem automatically to think of sexual acts. This is not justified by the facts. Actually the word immoral is applicable to anything that is discordant with ethical principles, and to the disciples of Christ this means those principles enunciated and exemplified by Jesus. Anything which is contrary to the nature attributable to the life of our Lord while in the flesh is immoral.
The apostle includes along with the fornicator, the covetous, the idolater, the railer, the drunkard and the extortioner (1 Cor. 5:11). Again it must be remembered that he is here assessing a lifestyle rather than an occasional or isolated instance of sin. It is a matter of interest that the list generally deals with those things which are inimical to a social relationship. The fornicator appropriates for gratification of his lust the body of another. The covetous feels an inordinate desire for what belongs to another. The idolater bestows a devotion upon something which belongs to another. A railer reviles in harsh, abusive language and thus destroys the peace and dignity of another. A drunkard makes himself obnoxious by his irrationality which destroys communion with others. An extortioner obtains by force, illegality or ingenuity the property of another.
The attitude enjoined by Jesus is summed up in the admonition to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In the community of the saints each must esteem others better than himself, in honor preferring one another. It is obvious that the body cannot exist if the members destroy one another for selfish ends. Such a course is not only inimical to the congregation but destructive of the divine purpose. Therefore, while patience is required with the weak, the unlearned and easily tempted, one who deliberately chooses to live in defiance of the divine nature no longer has any claim upon the intimate companionship and communion of those whose citizenship is in heaven.
The third thing which renders one unfit for continuation in the company of the believers is the unbridled and stubborn sectarian spirit. The purpose, will and pleasure of God is to unite in one all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:9,10). The Holy Spirit is dedicated to the achievement of this goal. The unity we are to maintain is the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). The fellowship of which we are to partake is the fellowship of the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).
The sectarian spirit is opposed to the Holy Spirit. It is divisive, schismatic and separative. It is a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:20). Jude declares that those who separate themselves are sensual, having not the Spirit (verse 19). Paul instructs that an individual who exhibits the schismatic spirit should be rejected after having been given at least two admonitory warnings. He declares that one who will not heed and insists upon fragmenting the saints has turned aside from the real purpose of our calling, and persists in sinning, even while his very attitude is self-condemnatory (Titus 3:10,11)
One is not factional merely because he does not agree with the status quo. It is not sinful to entertain and even cherish an opinion which runs counter to the orthodox position. It is not wrong to express one's opinion to others in the proper spirit. None of this is schismatical or heretical. It only becomes so when one solicits adherents to his view for the purpose of building up a party to propagate and defend it, thus causing a cleavage among the saints.
What is not often recognized is that one can be factional even though his views are correct. The sectarian spirit is not related to the validity of the ideas expressed. One is not necessarily a sectarian because he is wrong, but he is wrong because he is a sectarian. His brain may be clear and his heart clouded. The sectarian spirit is a disease of the heart rather than of the mind. To try and "line up" fellow-partisans, and weld them into a cohesive unity devoted to the task of defending some truth to the neglect of the whole body of truth, is a sin against God's eternal purpose.
One can be sectarian and not be in a sect. All sects grow out of the sectarian spirit and the spirit precedes the sect. The sectarian spirit is always exclusivistic and it creates exclusive sects. When one regards the party with which he is affiliated as containing all of God's children to the exclusion of all others, he is sectarian. One can be in a sect and not be sectarian at all. If he recognizes that the body of Christ is greater than any sect, including the one in which he finds himself, and that it contains all of the saved upon earth, he is not a sectarian.
Obviously it is easier to give lipservice to such an ideal than it is to implement it. One may enunciate a belief that the body is made up of all the saved, but if he confines his love, affection and recognition only to those of his own sect, he is still sectarian because he allows the sectarian spirit to govern his actions.
No honest opinion held by one who is in Christ Jesus is factional or heretical. No one who holds such an opinion is a subject of admonition from others. It is not their business. They can no more tell a man what he must think than they can tell him what kind of car to drive. To tell a man that he must give up his opinion, or that he must confess it is a sin to hold it, makes those who do so the sectarians, rather than the one who entertains the opinion or deduction. Opinions are private possessions and are not subject to trespass by others, not even preachers or elders.
Only when a man sets out to gather a clan or clique composed of those who would separate themselves in order to preserve and perpetuate an opinion or deduction should he be given warning. If he persists in his divisive action he should be rejected as inimical to the unity of the Spirit. Even then, he must never be rejected because he holds a certain deduction arrived at by human judgment, but only because of his deliberate attempt to form a party around it. It is just as essential to protect the freedom of an individual to think for himself as it is to protect a congregation of saints from one who tries to think for everyone else.
"Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life . . ." (Philippians 2:14-16).