As was noted in the first installment of this series on fellowship, fellowship considers commonality. Those who have something in common with each other have fellowship. Those who participate in a common practice with each other are having fellowship with each other. John’s first epistle shows two relationships when considering the topic of fellowship – “fellowship with us” (1 John 1:3), i.e. the apostles (other men), and “fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The former is a horizontal relationship which depends upon the latter, a vertical relationship. The vertical relationship between God and man is an absolute. There is no in-between, or gray area. There is either fellowship, or no fellowship. This relationship is ultimately personal. It is between each individual man and his God. However, the existence of fellowship, or lack thereof with God affects our fellowship with man – whether we are in fellowship with another, and subsequently whether we can lawfully engage in any action of fellowship with another. It is important, therefore, to understand the vertical relationship before giving attention to the horizontal relationship.

The beginning record states, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). God is Spirit (cf. John 4:24), thus man is a spiritual being, as he is created in God’s image. It is also true that God is a moral being. He is morally upright as a matter of His nature – “in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). It is in this state that God created man – “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). As God is without darkness, being light, He created man without darkness. In the beginning, God was in fellowship with man whom He created, as they were both in the light.

It remains, however, that man was created by God as a free moral agent. God gave man the ability to choose for himself. Thus, to honor such a created characteristic in man, God established the first law. It was simple: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). By adhering to this simple law, man would bring God glory by fulfilling his created purpose (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:13). By failing to keep the law, man would fall short of said glory, and receive the consequences of his actions – death.

The serpent came, preyed on the woman’s weakness, she gave to her husband to eat, and both came to know the guilt of failing God (cf. Genesis 3:8). This act of lawlessness is defined by John as sin (cf. 1 John 3:4). Isaiah describes what this act of lawlessness does with the vertical relationship between God and man – “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2). When man sins he is separated from his God. Our decision to walk in the darkness of sin severs us from the light. For, “what communion has light with darkness” (2 Corinthians 6:14)? James notes that separation is death, just as “the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Spiritual death, which man experiences when he sins, is a separation from God. This is the death to which God referred when He gave His command to man in the beginning. When we determine to even dabble in darkness, we separate ourselves from God. All men have done this, and have experienced spiritual death (cf. Romans 3:23; 6:23).

While it was not God’s desire that man whom He created would rebel against Him, His omniscience kept this instance from being a surprise. He knew sin would come, and had devised a plan “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4); His “eternal purpose” (Ephesians 3:11). He told the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). This was that Seed which was promised to Abram (cf. Genesis 12:3), and that Seed is Christ (cf. Galatians 3:16). “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

All men at the accountable age are severed from fellowship with God due to their sin. However, “the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God” (Romans 11:33), along with His infinite love, made restoration of fellowship with Him possible. All men can be “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:24-25a). Through Christ’s vicarious sacrifice, God is able to be “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

“[Jesus] Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). But His sacrifice only benefits those who have faith in Him. Such saving faith is built by the hearing of the word of God (cf. Romans 10:17). Through this gospel God calls men “into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). This gospel, once a mystery, “has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 3:5). Without obedience to and continued adherence to the gospel revealed by the Spirit, men cannot have fellowship with God. Thus, John wrote, “that which we have seen and heard (concerning the Word of life) we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). Fellowship with the Father and the Son is destroyed by sin, and restored by obedient faith to the inspired word. Those who come to the knowledge of the truth are “enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit” (Hebrews 6:4). By “drink[ing] into [the] one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13) men enjoy “the communion of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Peter explained it all in this way: “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:3-4). When men follow God’s word they share in the divine nature, or have fellowship with God.

However, it cannot be overemphasized that fellowship with God can be severed again just as soon as it is gained (cf. Acts 8:14-24). The Hebrew writer gave much attention to said possibility. He noted that the “holy brethren” had become “partakers of the heavenly calling” (Hebrews 3:1), but warned them about possessing “an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (v. 12). He continued, “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” (v. 14). The believer must continue in faithful obedience until the end. When one does not continue obediently, but turns from the truth, from the light, he once again severs himself from God. John wrote, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6). It is possible that a Christian fails in weakness, succumbing to the lure of darkness. To this end John continued to write, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (v. 9). When fellowship with God is severed when one takes a step in darkness, that one must turn his way back to the light, confess his sins and ask for forgiveness.

Ultimately, the contents of the Holy script focus on the restoration of fellowship between God and man, and how to maintain said fellowship until it is consummated in the eternal glory of heaven. We must not deceive ourselves about the principles established by the Spirit concerning this topic. We must constantly “examine [ourselves] as to whether [we] are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). If we are not in the faith, we must take every step necessary to once again be found in God’s good favor.

These principles of fellowship between God and man are intimately related to the principles of fellowship between men. As John stated in 1 John 1:1-4, the fellowship we have with each other is dependent on the fellowship we have with God. More will be discussed on this topic in our next article.