Fellowship

Fellowship (Greek = koinonia) is typically a noun. Only once is it used as a verb and then only in a phrase.

The church often uses the word as a verb. “I will fellowship with him” or “Let’s get together and fellowship”.

Once, because he thought that it was the way to start meaningful speeches, a Vice President said to a room full of astronauts “My fellow astronauts…”. Dan Quayle was never an astronaut. On that quality, being an astronaut, he had no fellowship with his audience.

Fellowship specifically denotes one’s shared origin or character with another.

So, it was a big deal when Paul revealed that “..truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” Paul was not simply saying that we communicate with or have correspondence with God and Christ BUT that our origin and character are of the same nature as the Father and the Son: we share a nature with the living God!

When Paul rhetorically inquired about what fellowship a believer had with unbelievers and evil men, he was not asking about how we ministered to them or had a sandwich with them or how we worked with them. He was illuminating the fact that we do not share their character or origin. Their wisdom is not our wisdom. His admonishment was to remain unconnected to their ways and their traditions.

The Living God has no fellowship with evil and, truly, our fellowship is with Him.

Amen!

That is incorrect. Fellowship denotes union and communion firstly with God and secondly with believers, plus participation in giving. That is what koinonia means.

Strong's Concordance
koinónia: fellowship
Original Word: κοινωνία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: koinónia
Phonetic Spelling: (koy-nohn-ee'-ah)
Definition: fellowship
Usage: (lit: partnership) (a) contributory help, participation, (b) sharing in, communion, (c) spiritual fellowship, a fellowship in the spirit.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2842: κοινωνία
κοινωνία, κοινωνίας, ἡ (κοινωνός), fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, contact; in the N. T. as in classical Greek
1. the share which one has in anything, participation;...
2. contact, fellowship, intimacy
3. a benefaction jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution,

Nehemiah, you're immune to any corrective word.

You should study what "union" and "communion" and "intimacy" mean at their roots. These are not social connections. These are connections at the innermost level: the spirit.

The spirit that is in us is the exact same spirit that is God. We first see this endowment from God to Adam. Christ then breathed on the disciples and said "Receive the Holy Spirit" showing that He was given the same authority. We then become the Body of Christ, His flesh and His bones.

We are, the Body of Christ, being fashioned into the substance that makes up Christ in the earth.

"Correction" by Aaron, when he is the one who needs correcting? What a joke.

Did I say anything about "social connections"? Go and read my post again. I quoted the lexicons and they speak about spiritual fellowship.

But your definition was totally incorrect. The Bible does not support this at all: "Fellowship specifically denotes one’s shared origin or character with another."

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3) Do we share the ETERNAL origin of the Father and the Son? And do we really share the character of Christ?

We all may strive to walk in the Spirit, but no Christian can make that audacious claim. Christ was (and is the God-Man). Therefore the definition of fellowship is quite different. Do you now stand corrected?

Quoted for posterity.

I guess you are speaking for yourself.

I get it. You do not understand. Instead of saying so, you try to make it conform to what is familiar to you.

Paul understood this too:

"But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing..."

I recently heard an advertisement sponsored by "The Fellowship of Christians and Jews". Assuming that "Jews" meant "a faith" and not "a nationality", I wondered "What fellowship do Jews and Christians share?"

It cannot be that we "worship the same Living God". It was revealed to John, a Jew commissioned to preach to the Jews, that "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either..." No doubt, this would have offended many Jews thinking that they were received by God even if they rejected the gospel of Christ. In this way, revealed by the Holy Spirit to John (a Jew), Jews have fellowship neither with God or Christ.

I concluded that it was an appeal based upon politics alone.

I wondered how many would catch that.

2 Corinthians 4:4

I can follow this up that which I've highlighted in the red. As I'm seeing it, the rhetorical question is not as much as an admonishment to remain unconnected as it is to emphasize the reason for the reality of the disconnection which will persist. For example, loneliness is often noted among believers and though it is obvious that the world will reject them what isn't as obvious is their 'fellows' rejection, and so all of it leaves one with the sense of loneliness that doesn't seem to be 'understandable' and thus more than a bit disheartening. However, those whose 'fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ,' truly know the fellowship in His being, that is, that "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Isaiah 53:3)." The world wants to show us a 'good time' and doesn't understand why we aren't interested, and likewise the 'brethren' want to show us the 'good way' and don't understand why we don't follow, but both do so in what they see as our 'best interest' within a pretense of 'knowing better things for us.' But we already know, because we are 'despised, men of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and they hide as it were their faces from us..." and this knowing is exactly why they can't understand us, that is, not until...

It's lonely because abiding in Christ is remaining, forever, unconnected to the world. And this is why "We write these things so that our joy may be complete (1John 1:4)."

There really isn't anything you people won't argue about.

I disagree.

Dude.

This was a good read brother

When Paul rhetorically inquired about what fellowship a believer had with unbelievers and evil men, he was not asking about how we ministered to them or had a sandwich with them or how we worked with them. He was illuminating the fact that we do not share their character “

Not if we are born of God. And exactly Paul’s talking about not having fellowship with what they do thier evil deeds

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:8-16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

The world is full of non believers we interact in life with at work or stores family or business or public gatherings ect and we have to interact with them respectfully and decently. So for instance we don’t want to be on the wrong side of this understanding

“Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭15:1-2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭5:30-32‬ ‭

if as Christian’s we don’t fellowship with sinners , there’s no one to preach to for salvation. If you go to a bunch of righteous religious folk and tell them about how God will forgive thier sins they aren’t going to receive it. It if you go to broken sinners and show compassion and talk to them about how God still loves them even at thier low points and failures

And how Jesus suffered and died so they could have those things forgiven , it’s going to impact thier hesrt if they believe and be valuable . Sinners need to hear about Jesus so they can come to repentance and belief we do t want to go drinking and acting foolish and have fellowship with thier works and deeds and influences


“or origin.”

“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:24-27‬ ‭

From where do you derive this?

What was wrong with the definitions that @Nehemiah6 posted?

The word is rooted in a word that means "common." There is a verbal form of which the basic meaning is "to share."


John wrote what you posted here. Your last sentence is interesting,


Getting ready to end the evening with a smile is good thing...

The only thing that would make this better is the scripture references included in this post....otherwise it's just fine.