your sermon outline on fellowship<\/a>\u00a0– it is very good. I have a question: you said that fellowship is a “state of being” and I do not understand what you mean. So can you explain\u00a0it to me, please? People talk about “having fellowship” when they eat together, is\u00a0it right to say that? Do I have fellowship with my family? Maybe you can help me understand.<\/p>\n\tAnswer:<\/h2>\n
The word “fellowship” ought to be used in the same way that you use the word “friendship.” I assume you hang out with your friends. Does that mean the hanging out is the friendship? Or is it better said that because you are already friends, you hang out with each other? I hope you see that the latter is an accurate statement because it is possible to hang out with people who are not your friends.<\/p>\n
In the same way, people who are in fellowship with each other tend to do things together, such as worshiping together or eating a meal together. But the things they do together doesn’t create the fellowship. The meal isn’t the fellowship. My relationship with another person is the fellowship.<\/p>\n
So when we read, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers<\/em>” (Acts 2:42), we should not understand that “fellowship” meant they ate meals together. They did do so (Acts 2:46), but that is not the point being given by saying these Christians continued steadfastly in fellowship. It was because of their love for each other that these people found a bond of commonality between them. “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment<\/em>” (I Corinthians 1:10). That bond is seen expressed in their sharing of the Lord’s Supper together, and it is why it is all known as “communion.” “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, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread<\/em>” (I Corinthians 10:16-17). That bond is what led the disciples to share what they had with each other. “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common<\/em>” (Acts 4:32).<\/p>\n“Fellowship” is a description of who they were. They were a people of one heart and one soul. Thus “fellowship” is a description of their state or attitude toward each other.<\/p>\n
When people turn it backward they lose so much meaning. Sitting down at a meal does make the people at the table have one heart and one soul. But people with one heart and one soul do enjoy sitting down for meals together. People who use “fellowship” to mean a meal then to think you can do fellowship (as if “fellowship” is a verb). It is a noun that tells us how a group of people view each other.<\/p>\n\t
Question:<\/h2>\n
I hope you have a lot of patience because I am still struggling to understand things.<\/p>\n
I\u00a0do<\/strong>\u00a0understand what you are saying when you say to think of fellowship as a noun, like friendship. Now you say fellowship is\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0a verb but Vine says…<\/p>\n<B-1,Verb<\/strong>,2841,koinoneo>
\n“to have fellowship,” is so translated in Phi_4:15, RV, for AV, “did communicate.” See COMMUNICATE.<\/blockquote>\nSo aren’t we\u00a0having fellowship\u00a0<\/em>when we do things like distributing to the necessity of the saints and partaking of the Lord’s Supper together?<\/p>\n\tAnswer:<\/h2>\n
“Fellowship” translates the Greek word koinonia<\/em>, which is a noun. It can be translated also as communion, association, partnership, sharing, or contribution.<\/p>\nKoinoeo<\/em>\u00a0is a Greek verb (notice the different ending). It is related to\u00a0koinonia<\/em> but it is translated differently. In English, it can mean to share, partake in, communicate, or participate.<\/p>\nActually there are a set of Greek words that all revolve around the root word koinos<\/em>, which means “common.”\u00a0Koinoeo<\/em>\u00a0is used for making business contracts, joining in marriage, forming a friendship, living in a community, or even getting an education. Where\u00a0koinonia<\/em>\u00a0expresses that two people are of one heart and one mind,\u00a0koinoeo<\/em>\u00a0expresses the actions of working together.<\/p>\n\n- Romans 12:13 – distributing aid to needy saints<\/li>\n
- Romans 15:27; Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:15 – sharing the gospel and material goods<\/li>\n
- I Timothy 5:22; II John 11 – joining another in sin<\/li>\n
- Hebrews 2:14 – sharing life in the world<\/li>\n
- I Peter 4:13 – sharing hardships<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Notice especially Hebrews 2:14, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.<\/em>” Jesus shared humanity with all people, but at the same time, we cannot claim that Jesus was in fellowship with all of mankind. That was the point I was making earlier. It is possible to do some common action with another without having a common heart. But going the other way around people with a common heart often do common actions together.<\/p>\nThere is a danger that when we engage in common action with others we are showing our support for them and it might eventually lead to having a common heart. That is why Paul and John warned about doing things with sinners (I Timothy 5:22 and II John 11).<\/p>\n
I listed all the usages of\u00a0koinoeo<\/em>\u00a0above. Notice that eating a meal or sharing the Lord’s Supper isn’t listed, though one might argue that it would be suitable usage. What Vines was trying to express in too few words is that\u00a0koinoeo<\/em>\u00a0can be an expression (in action) of a fellowship that already exists. The Philippians expressed their fellowship with Paul by sending him monetary aid while he was preaching the gospel (Philippians 4:15-19). They worked in common with Paul by supporting him because they had a common faith between them. The sending of funds did not create the fellowship. The fellowship led to the sending of the funds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: I read\u00a0your sermon outline on fellowship\u00a0– it is very good. I have a question: you said that fellowship is a “state of being” and I do not understand what you mean. So can you explain\u00a0it to me, please? People talk about “having fellowship” when they eat together, is\u00a0it right to say that? Do I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[253],"class_list":["post-18230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fellowship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19118,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-philippians-310\/","url_meta":{"origin":18230,"position":0},"title":"Can you explain Philippians 3:10?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am still studying all about fellowship. It is a very interesting study. Now I think I understand what you have been saying that fellowship (koinonia) is a noun and it helps to think of it like we do the word \"friendship.\" So if two people are friends, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18232,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":18230,"position":1},"title":"Fellowship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As hard as we try to keep terms pure and free from the influence of denominations, we still sometimes find things creeping into our language. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People wanting to call the minister, \u201cpastor\u201d even though it properly belongs to those who oversee the congregation - the elders. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Similarly, the desire to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61320,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-buildings-assembly-halls-and-fellowship-halls\/","url_meta":{"origin":18230,"position":2},"title":"Notes on Buildings, Assembly Halls, and Fellowship Halls","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Assemblies The church is commanded to come together for the purpose of worship and encouragement - I Corinthians 11:18, 20, 33; Hebrews 10:25 The purpose of coming together as a church is specifically separated from eating meals - I Corinthians 11:22, 34 Fellowship Fellowship is a state of being. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57513,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-fellowship-with-someone-who-left-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":18230,"position":3},"title":"Do you fellowship with someone who left the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If someone leaves the church and you try to encourage them to come back, are you to fellowship with them? Answer: Fellowship describes the state of a relationship between two people. It is like the word \"friendship.\" Friends do things together, but just because you do something with another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7357,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-watching-a-church-service-an-acceptable-way-to-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":18230,"position":4},"title":"Is watching a church service an acceptable way to worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeffrey, This has become popular with people. Is the video sermon a new way to worship God?\u00a0 I do not like it and don\u2019t understand how it\u2019s right. Do you find scripture to support it because I can\u2019t? Thank you again and always. Answer: \"They were continually devoting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19167,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-hebrews-1316-in-terms-of-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":18230,"position":5},"title":"Can you explain Hebrews 13:16 in terms of fellowship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: So now I am having trouble with Hebrews 13:16. He says, \"But to do good and to communicate forget not\". The words \"to communicate\" are the word Koinonia (fellowship). So he is saying \"But to do good and to fellowship forget not\". So what does he mean by telling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}