Fellowship - 1 John
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Last time we were thinking about fellowship in the deepest sense and how it relates to our possessing the Holy Spirit or being indwelt by Him as Christians. This time I want to give some thought to the matter of our demonstrating our fellowship with God and with our fellow believers. In other words, I want us to think about how we show that we are one with God and his people.
Do you remember John’s stated purpose in the writing of this letter that we call “First John”? In the first chapter and verse three he makes clear his desire for his readers in this way: “ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” There was a longing on the part of the apostle for those Christians to share in spiritual unity with himself. This unity was bound up in being in fellowship with God the Father and his son through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Nothing else could make this possible. But the question arises: ‘how do you show this unity?’ How do you demonstrate this fellowship in practical, everyday Christian living? We are going to look at some verses in this letter which will help us.
We look first at 1 John chapter 1 verse 7 where we read, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every sin.” John here points out for us that true fellowship only exists between us as believers if we first of all have fellowship with God. He describes this as “walking in the light as He is in the light.” This thought of the light has already been introduced to us in verse 5 where we learn that “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.”
God is holy and pure, therefore nothing of darkness, or sinfulness, can remain in his presence. Light reveals, light exposes and it leaves no dark corners untouched. Our Lord Himself brought this light into the world since He is God revealed in human form as we read in the first chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus called Himself “The light of the world”, promising that whoever followed Him would not walk in darkness but have the light of life. That’s John chapter 8 verse 12.
What this means is that if you are a true believer in Christ and are following Him faithfully, you are no longer in the darkness of sin and unbelief. You are now walking in the light of God’s presence and because other Christians are in that same light you are able to have fellowship with each other, sharing in the experience of God’s light flooding the heart and knowing the daily comfort of the blood of the Son of God cleansing you from all sin.
This walking in the light of God’s presence will mean a fellowship with others that is honest, open and humble because your own sin has been faced up to, confessed and forgiven. You will not be in a hurry to point out the sins of others, nor will you be inclined to cover up your own failings or have an endless supply of excuses for them. Neither will you be ready to shift the blame from yourself and pin it onto others.
The reason for all this is found in verses 8 to 10 of this first chapter: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make God out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” Honest fellowship is found among people who do not attempt to deceive themselves by saying they have no sin. Sadly there are some who appear to give the impression to others that they no longer sin, claiming a sinless perfection. But God is not deceived for He knows the hearts of each one of us. If we claim this, John says, the truth is not in us. Certainly, Christians should “sin less” and seek to live pure and holy lives before God and man in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
For those who readily own up to their sins before God there is the assurance of forgiveness and cleansing. No pretence or play-acting before Him will do. Remember, God is light and He sees and knows everything. And so people who know the truth of this and walk humbly in fellowship with God are those who can share in fellowship with those who likewise have sought and found forgiveness. Among people like this there is no hypocrisy, only sincerity and genuiness. This is how their fellowship together in demonstrated in simple, day to day, relationships.
Now sometimes a problem arises in the fellowship of the local church. What if someone claims to be a believer yet is openly living in sinful ways, or in a wrong relationship, or whose life is taken up with the pleasures of this world? There can be no true fellowship in these circumstances because that person is not walking in the light of God’s presence. They have no true fellowship with God and therefore no true fellowship with his people. It may be that the person concerned has not been truly converted but has just learned to copy the words and worship of the church. They have not been born again by the Spirit of God. It may be that that person is a backslider who has drifted away from a close walk with the Lord. It is only when such things are dealt with that fellowship in the real sense can be enjoyed. It is the responsibility of the church elders to address such situations in love so that the whole fellowship of the local church is not spoiled.
Sometimes fellowship is not possible for another reason and this is what we will look at now. You will find this dealt with in 1 John chapter 2 verses 18 and 19 where we read: “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” John writes about some who used to belong to the fellowship of believers but who had walked out. They were people who felt unable to continue in the company of those who believed the same things that John believed concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Saviour - the Messiah. These people had been among the Christian believers, meeting with them, and yet deep in their hearts they did not believe the same things as those around them. No true fellowship was possible with them since it all depends on a deep heart conviction of the truths concerning Christ and the present reality of a personal, spiritual experience of Him. How could these people share meaningfully in the spiritual life of the fellowship when they could not own the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour from their sins? John says that the very act of their going out from us shows that they never belonged to us. They never believed that Jesus is the Christ and so they never received the Holy Spirit as you have received Him and know the truth. That is verses 19 and 20.
In such a situation you can imagine the tensions. It became clear that they were not all of one mind on the most fundamental things of Christian truth and there had to be a parting of the ways. There simply was no true fellowship between them and there had to be separation. It is exactly the same where the church is concerned today. There has to be agreement over basic teaching, especially where the person and work of Christ is concerned, otherwise there can be no true fellowship within a local church or between groups of professing Christians. Note that I referred to ‘basic teaching’, not the issues of church government or organisation or other secondary things which should never be a ground for breaking fellowship.
So let us demonstrate true fellowship by upholding the truth of the Gospel concerning the Lord Jesus and let us stand by the fundamental truths of the Christian faith as set out by John in this letter. Let us be bold and clear in this age of religious confusion and shine as lights in a sinful world.