FELLOWSHIP
1 John 1:1 – 2:2
“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 all sin.”
“Fellowship” is the word used to translate “koinonia”. Joseph Henry Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament defines it as “fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation.” Its origin is in the Greek word koinonos, which means partner, sharer, and companion.
John describes being a Christian as “fellowship with God” and those who become Christians then have fellowship with fellow Christians and with God. This is a very intimate and beautiful description of what it means to be a Christian.
Perhaps another expression of this fellowship is in John 17 when, in his prayer, Jesus said:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
God is light and so it is not possible for those in darkness to have fellowship with him. But for those who accept Jesus’ invitation to have fellowship with him, who accept the invitation to walk with the light and in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness, allowing us to have fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. When we become Christians, bonds develop, with other Christians, and with God. Such bonds cannot exist for those who are not Christians, those who do not walk in the light, those not purified by the blood of Jesus.
This picture of fellowship, bonds between fellow Christians and God gives us a view under the hood of what it means to be a Christian. It explains why John speaks of joy when another is attached to this network of Christians with God at the centre and it alludes to the completeness of joy when that body is finally complete and Christ comes again.
The fact that we are Christians does not mean that we are now sinless. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” We do sin, but we receive his promised forgiveness when we confess and repent and continue to be purified from all unrighteousness.
God is light and we who walk in the light should not take sin lightly even though Christ has now provided the means to deal with it. “I write this to you so that you will not sin” John says and tells us that when we do sin Christ is the one who advocates for us; he is the one who pays for our sin.
“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”