November 4th, 2025
This week, I’ve been thinking about fellowship in the Word of God. This is a word used primarily in church circles. However, the secular definition of fellowship is “a community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience” or “friendly association, especially with people who share one's interests.” I think that’s how many of us in the church would think about fellowship. It’s the idea of having a community of people outside of a church meeting. However, that’s only part of the Biblical idea of fellowship.
First and foremost, fellowship in the Bible is used to describe our relationship with God Himself, and it’s important for us to understand what it means! Look at a few verses regarding fellowship:
1 John 1:3 says,
“…that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
1 John 1:6-7 says,
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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 cleanses us from all sin.”
2 Corinthians 13:14 says,
"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
1 Corinthians 1:9 says,
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The word used for fellowship in all four of those verses means something distinctly different from the secular definition we looked at above. There’s more to this word than just “being together.” It means:
1. partnership
2. (literally) participation
3. (social) intercourse
4. (financial) benefaction
The word for fellowship in those verses is translated elsewhere as participation, contribution, or communion. It is used in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 which says,
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”
Biblical fellowship doesn’t just mean “a community of people with common beliefs and interests” as in the definition above. We lose the purpose of fellowship if we see only that one aspect of it. If that is the deepest our understanding of fellowship goes, we will have a club instead of a body—a group instead of a true Biblical community. Fellowship is intimacy, participation, and unity that comes only through intimacy with the head of the body—Jesus Christ. Look again at 1 John 1:3. Our fellowship, first and most importantly, is with Him.
A few verses later, John addressed fellowship with the body that comes naturally out of walking in fellowship with God. If we try to make fellowship the purpose of church, we will lose it completely, because our focus will be on ourselves instead of Him. If our focus is completely on Him, fellowship with each other and the community He intends will be birthed naturally. Fellowship is not just having shared interests. Fellowship is not just about being together. Fellowship is about being one.
Romans 12:4-5 says,
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
The only way that is accomplished, as it says in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, is communion in the one bread—Jesus Christ—as His body. Life will be birthed in our church communities as we unify with one single focus: Him.
Psalm 16:11 says,
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
In His presence (or in His face) is joy. It’s only in Him that we will find life and purpose. From His presence, we can love one another purely and selflessly. We will be able to participate with one another, commune, bear one another’s burdens, and live as the body God intends. It’s only in Him that we will find life!
John 1:4-5 says,
“In Him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
God’s purpose for mankind was always intimacy. In the Garden of Eden, God would walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. Sin corrupted that intimacy, but in Jesus we are reconciled to the One we were created to know.
Romans 5:18 says,
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
We aren’t meant to know about Him and be part of a community that talks about Him. We are meant to know Him and intimately commune with Him. Jesus died so that we could be one with Him and the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. From that fellowship, we will find unity, participation, and community with the body of Christ He connects us to. This week, we encourage you to find life and joy in the face of the One you were made for. You’ll never find fulfillment in people if you haven’t first found it in His presence.
Kenneth Hagin said this of fellowship:
“Fellowship is the very mother of faith. It is the parent of joy. It is the source of victory.”
First and foremost, fellowship in the Bible is used to describe our relationship with God Himself, and it’s important for us to understand what it means! Look at a few verses regarding fellowship:
1 John 1:3 says,
“…that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
1 John 1:6-7 says,
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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 cleanses us from all sin.”
2 Corinthians 13:14 says,
"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
1 Corinthians 1:9 says,
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The word used for fellowship in all four of those verses means something distinctly different from the secular definition we looked at above. There’s more to this word than just “being together.” It means:
1. partnership
2. (literally) participation
3. (social) intercourse
4. (financial) benefaction
The word for fellowship in those verses is translated elsewhere as participation, contribution, or communion. It is used in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 which says,
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”
Biblical fellowship doesn’t just mean “a community of people with common beliefs and interests” as in the definition above. We lose the purpose of fellowship if we see only that one aspect of it. If that is the deepest our understanding of fellowship goes, we will have a club instead of a body—a group instead of a true Biblical community. Fellowship is intimacy, participation, and unity that comes only through intimacy with the head of the body—Jesus Christ. Look again at 1 John 1:3. Our fellowship, first and most importantly, is with Him.
A few verses later, John addressed fellowship with the body that comes naturally out of walking in fellowship with God. If we try to make fellowship the purpose of church, we will lose it completely, because our focus will be on ourselves instead of Him. If our focus is completely on Him, fellowship with each other and the community He intends will be birthed naturally. Fellowship is not just having shared interests. Fellowship is not just about being together. Fellowship is about being one.
Romans 12:4-5 says,
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
The only way that is accomplished, as it says in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, is communion in the one bread—Jesus Christ—as His body. Life will be birthed in our church communities as we unify with one single focus: Him.
Psalm 16:11 says,
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
In His presence (or in His face) is joy. It’s only in Him that we will find life and purpose. From His presence, we can love one another purely and selflessly. We will be able to participate with one another, commune, bear one another’s burdens, and live as the body God intends. It’s only in Him that we will find life!
John 1:4-5 says,
“In Him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
God’s purpose for mankind was always intimacy. In the Garden of Eden, God would walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. Sin corrupted that intimacy, but in Jesus we are reconciled to the One we were created to know.
Romans 5:18 says,
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
We aren’t meant to know about Him and be part of a community that talks about Him. We are meant to know Him and intimately commune with Him. Jesus died so that we could be one with Him and the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. From that fellowship, we will find unity, participation, and community with the body of Christ He connects us to. This week, we encourage you to find life and joy in the face of the One you were made for. You’ll never find fulfillment in people if you haven’t first found it in His presence.
Kenneth Hagin said this of fellowship:
“Fellowship is the very mother of faith. It is the parent of joy. It is the source of victory.”
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