Author : Wayne Greeson
used with permission from With All Boldness, May 1992.
His garment and heart were torn, with great anguish in his soul and tears welling up in his eyes, Ezra fell upon his knees in prayer before the rebuilt and restored temple of Jehovah. There, Ezra poured out his heart to the Lord, “O my God: I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens…” As his prayer continued in earnest, a large number of his people, men, women and children, began to gather and listen to his plea. The tearful confession of Ezra quickly touched those who gathered until the entire number were overcome with weeping. What could have possibly brought the courageous leader Ezra and this entire multitude to shame and tears before Jehovah?
Although he had grown up among the captives in Babylon, Ezra had prepared his heart as a skilled scribe to diligently seek the Law of the Lord, to faithfully do it and teach that Law to his Jewish brethren. At great risk he had led a small group of priests, Levites and temple servants from Babylon back to Jerusalem to help restore the proper worship and support and encourage the people. But when Ezra arrived ready to go to work on the worship of the temple, he was confronted with the shocking news of the great transgression of the people. It was the news of this tragic sin that had brought Ezra to his knees in prayer and tears and moved a great crowd to weep. Was it harlotry? Immorality? Idolatry? The great iniquity of the people was unscriptural fellowship! “The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands…” (Ezra 9:1).
What a sad contrast between the attitude of Ezra and many today on the subject of fellowship. Ezra considered proper fellowship a most serious and important matter and unscriptural fellowship a great shame and evil before God. Today, fellowship between God’s people has been demeaned and trivialized by far too many. Fellowship has been demeaned by the bounds of Christian fellowship being stretched to include all manner of false teachers and their disciples along with their unscriptural doctrines and practices. Fellowship has been trivialized by turning the serious and noble fellowship of Christians in doctrine, worship and work into an ignoble sharing of food, fun and games.
Scriptural fellowship among God’s people is vitally important, extremely practical, and deadly serious. Scriptural fellowship is intimately tied and ultimately effects the matters of sin and salvation. Fellowship refers to “sharing.” “Scriptural fellowship” is the sharing among God’s people in accordance with the scriptures. “Scriptural fellowship” instructs God’s people what things they are to “share” in and whom they are to “share” with.
Scriptural fellowship begins when one obediently receives the preaching of the gospel delivered by the apostles of Jesus Christ by believing Jesus Christ is the Son of God, repenting of his sins, confessing Christ, and being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:37-38; Acts 8:35-39). The commencement and continuation of fellowship with the apostles and the Lord they preached was noted by Luke, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:41-42).
John explained the importance of maintaining our fellowship with the apostles and God by obedience to the “message” declared to us and keeping oneself clean from sin by walking in the light and by confessing those sins committed.
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1 John 1:5-10).
The importance of fellowship with God is evident. John clearly ties together salvation and our fellowship with God. God is light and he has no fellowship or sharing with darkness, sin or wickedness. As long as a Christian walks in the light keeping himself from sin he is in fellowship with God. When a Christian sins, he places himself in darkness and outside the fellowship of the God of light. A Christian must confess his sins in order to be cleansed and for fellowship with God to be restored. When a Christian maintains fellowship with God, he maintains his salvation.
The Importance Of Fellowship
One With Another
The importance of maintaining scriptural with God is likely to be obvious to most Christians. The importance of maintaining scriptural fellowship with one another is less obvious to many and a difficult problem among God’s people. Who are faithful Christians to have fellowship with? The simple answer of the scriptures is: all those who have fellowship with God (1 John 1:3, 6-7). Those who have fellowship with God are those who are baptized believers who continue to “walk in the light” and are cleansed from sin. As John wrote, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another…” (1 John 1:7).
Scriptural fellowship one with another is not to be any greater or lesser than all those who abide in fellowship with God. God has purposely set bounds upon our fellowship one with another for our own benefit. The beneficent purposes God intended for scriptural fellowship reveal the importance of God’s people keeping within God’s prescribed bounds of fellowship.
The Divine Benefits
Of Scriptural Fellowship
To Preserve Purity Of God’s Faithful – To have any religious ties of “fellowship” with those in error is to show approval and acceptance of them and their error (See, Gal. 2:9). Paul wrote, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11). Those who continue in sin have no fellowship with God and faithful Christians are to have no fellowship with them. Paul wrote and told us to mark and avoid those who teach false doctrines and withdraw fellowship from those who continue in sin and are disorderly (Rom. 16:17-18; 1 Cor. 5; 2 Thess. 3:6).
Some are appalled by “division” and shrink from “withdrawing fellowship.” Jesus demands the division that withdraws from the sinful and preserves the purity of the righteous. Concerning this kind of division Jesus said:
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Mt. 10:34-37).
Paul laid down the bounds of scriptural fellowship in no uncertain terms. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). Christians cannot and must not have any religious fellowship with those in false religion or those who persist in sin without repentance!
The scriptures teach that division must come in order to reveal those who are the faithful. Paul wrote, “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Cor. 11:19). Likewise, John explained the benefit of proper division:
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us (1 Jn. 2:19).
Division will and must come in order for the truth and God’s faithful to be preserved (See also, 1 Cor. 5:7-9; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 1 Cor. 15:33; 1 Tim. 5:20).
To Display A Love Of Souls – A true love for the souls of men and women is manifested in the practice of scriptural fellowship. There are those who speak long and loud of broadening fellowship as an expressing of brotherly love, who know neither true scriptural fellowship nor true brotherly love.
Faithful Christians should properly have a concern over those who continue in sin. But they should not allow their concern to lead to a false solution to these issues and a compromise of truth. A true love of God and brethren demands obedience to God (Jn. 15:14). This love compels us to reprove and rebuke those who are disobedient to God and not to tolerate and accept their error (Prov. 27:6; Lk. 17:3; Eph. 5:9-11; 1 Tim. 5:20; Tit. 1:13; Rev. 3:19).
It was this true love that moved Jesus to drive the animals and money changers out Of the temple and to silence the Pharisees and the Sadducees (Jn. 2:14-17; Mt. 22-23). The proper spirit of love caused Peter to sharply rebuke the new disciple Simon (Acts 8:18-24). Love caused Paul to withstand Peter to his face and rebuke him for his hypocrisy (Gal.2:11-14).
Jesus did not tolerate the false doctrines and sinful practices of his day. He did not tolerate the “social gospel” to be practiced in the temple nor among his own followers (Jn. 2:13-17; 6:25-27). The apostle Paul did not tolerate “false brethren” who taught the false doctrine of subjection to the law of circumcision. Paul did not give way to these “false brethren … no, not for an hour” (Gal. 2:4-5).
Should we be any less tolerant than Jesus and Paul with “false brethren” and false doctrine? All faithful Christians should manifest this kind of love. We should not just disagree with those in sin, we should plainly point out their sin and do all within our power to bring them to repentance (See also, 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 In. 3:4-8; 1 Tim. 3:6-7; 2 Tim. 4:1-5).
The Effect On Those Of The World – Some make the faulty objection that the fellowship of God’s people should not be so strict less people who might be converted be driven away. This objection falsely presumes that godly people do not want the unadulterated truth and a pure fellowship.
In every age there are men and women “vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked” (2 Pet. 2:7) “which do hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Mt. 5:6). They will view the false religions and doctrines of men with sorrow and disgust and yearn earnestly for the preaching and practice of the purity and simplicity of God’s Word. These good and honest hearts are looking for refuge from the maelstrom of lies in the pure and uncompromising fellowship of God’s people. Will those who profess to be God’s people continue to provide such a refuge?
One of the most difficult and troubling incidents in the early church was the lie of two Christians, Ananias and Sapphria, and their subsequent severe punishment of death at the hand of God (Acts 5:1-14). How would people respond when they heard of this group of worshipers with their exacting standards of obedience, purity, and fellowship? Would people be driven away and the number of conversions drop and the growth of the church suffer harm? Luke reports the consequences, “and believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women” (Acts 5:14).
Conclusion
Many today shed the tears of Ezra over those who have disregarded the importance of scriptural fellowship. By esteeming lightly the God given bounds of fellowship one with another, too many have not only lost the fellowship of God’s faithful, but the fellowship of God as well. Listen to the pleas of faithful men and women of God as well as the pleas of God Himself, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate … and I will receive you” (2 Cor. 6:17).
