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Christian Fellowship

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 22, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 28.

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Christian Fellowship.

By Methodist Recorder

THERE can be no Christian fellowship among those who are influenced by selfish aims and ends of life; for selfishness is opposed to all fellowship. To bring any of the children of men into the enjoyment of Christian fellowship, the corrupt heart—the seat of selfishness—must be changed, and the soul renewed by the converting grace of God, and conformed to his image. In other words, the soul must first be in fellowship with Christ before we can be in fellowship with those who are Christ’s. Being in fellowship with Christ, we are one in him, and consequently in harmony and fellowship with those whom he has redeemed by his blood; therefore Christian fellowship embraces with its arms of common sympathy, love, and confidence, all the true followers of Christ.
They walk together in the same path. The apostle teaches us that "if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another." Christians walk in the light of God. The light of God is as necessary to our spiritual enjoyment and development as the light of the natural sun is to the warmth and happiness of man on earth. We seek it and abide in it, just as we seek the light of the natural day rather than the darkness of a dungeon. We walk in the light of God’s countenance.
Our path is a pathway of light. In it there is no darkness. As we walk in this pathway, we enjoy communion with the same Saviour, and have fellowship in the same light. And the apostle tells us that by walking in the light of God, "we have fellowship one with another." This fellowship springs from "walking in the light." It is therefore a fellowship of light. But light means, in Scripture language, truth and holiness, and the light of God, the holiness and truth of God. To walk in the light, as he is in the light, is, therefore, to be holy as he is holy; and thus it is that "our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ." This fellowship makes all Christians like to each other, for they are "partakers alike of the divine nature." They all have the mind of Christ, and the spirit of Christ dwells in them. They cannot but be in fellowship with one another.—Methodist Recorder.