Fellowship comes from the Greek word, KOINONIA, which means “to share in common.” For Christians, fellowship is more than attending church. It involves becoming an active part of the body and supporting others while being supported by them. It involves worshipping, caring and sharing together.
Hebrews 10:19-25 speaks directly to the benefits of fellowshipping with each other. It tells us that it involves us recognizing the central figure which supplies the bonds of fellowship – Jesus Christ. Through his redeeming act, we as Christian can draw near to Almighty God. We have a faith to which we can and should hold on tightly and we have a family of believers we are to encourage and consider as they do the same for us.
The language of Hebrews 10:25 makes it clear that fellowship is not an optional matter for believers. In fact, it casts a negative light on those who choose not to assemble themselves. Beginning with the word for, verse 26 connects the willful sinning to the preceding verses and pulls the forsaking of the assembly under the warning issued. Forsaking the assembling of ourselves is willful sinning which removes the sacrifice for sins and opens us up to “a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation”.
Fear of Judgment and fiery indignation was meant for the adversaries of Almighty God. Fellowship with God and our brethren will prevent us experiencing these realities through a continuous connection in Jesus Christ. 1 John tells us that real fellowship must involve heaven and the church if our joy is to be made complete. It goes on to instruct that it is only as we walk in the light of Jesus Christ that we have fellowship with Him and our brethren. As we stay in this fellowship with Jesus Christ and our brethren there is less fear of judgment because His blood continuously cleanses us from all sin.
Fellowshipping together, especially when our aim is to carry out the will of God, pulls Christ in our midst. We are assured that where ever we gather for his purposes He is in the mix. As Christians our business is to carry out the will of God and we should strive to do so in our activities. Acts chapter 2 demonstrates early Christians meeting daily in the temple to worship and regularly in their homes to fellowship. As they met, they praised God together and enjoyed each other’s company and as a result, persons were being added to their number daily. Our fellowshipping together can help us to win souls for Christ.
As we come together for our different events whether those specifically for worship or social events, let us consider that we can, by our conduct and activities, win souls for Christ. As we come together to take advantage of our weekly worship opportunities or participate in planned social activities or even in unscheduled gatherings, we are being provided with opportunities to strengthen each other and win souls.
Since this is the case, should we be missing from fellowship events? Should we not want to be a part of the number that has Christ in its midst strengthening them and winning souls for His kingdom? We should want to remove far from us that “fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation”? We should want to stay in the light with Jesus and Have Him continuously cleanse us? We should want to fellowship with the saints. Do you?