THE POWER OF FELLOWSHIP

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.”
1 John 4:4-6 NLT

Fellowship is another of John’s recurring themes in this letter. Why does John consider fellowship to be so important? 

So far, we have learned that fellowship with the Father, the Son, and one another is based on knowing and living by the truth.

“We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
1 John 1:3 NLT

John reassures his readers that they have the Holy Spirit who resides in them and teaches them the truth. All who have the Holy Spirit have fellowship with one another, and this fellowship enables them to experience the truth that binds them together. This fellowship creates a strong bond that protects believers from falling into error.

So, John writes, if people from outside the church refuse to listen to us, the reason is that they are not part of the fellowship of believers. If they were part of us, they would participate with us in our belief in and defence of the truth.

Fellowship, then, is another of the ways in which we can discern whether people we associate with are part of the fellowship or are of the world.

Since the Holy Spirit in us bears witness to our own hearts and to one another that we belong to God, He binds us together in fellowship. Our hearts quickly recognise a brother or sister in Christ even before we know them. We are bound together by the knowledge of the truth that underpins our faith. Therefore, we can trust that unseen bond that witnesses to our fellowship in the gospel.

On the other hand, since the world’s philosophies and way of life are the hallmark of those who subscribe to them, they will not accept the truth we speak. They do not belong to God, concludes John. They belong to this world which is in the devil’s control.

Fellowship is one way that creates a clear distinction between God’s children and the children of Satan.