PODCAST
Christian Fellowship
December 14th, 2012
1 John 1:5—2:2
Yesterday we examined the profound relationship that believers have with God. That relationship should mean that we have fellowship, not fights, with other Christians.
Fractiousness among Christians started early. Paul’s letters repeatedly stressed unity. John, in 1 John, chapter 1, writes to a first-century church trying to recover from a split. Some “elite” members had flounced out claiming superior spirituality.
Pastor John, among other things, told the faithful that if they walked in the light as Jesus is in the light, they would “have fellowship with one another” (1:7). Right relationship with God, he said, meant right relationships with fellow Christians. That does not mean that all will agree on every little thing. But differences of opinion must not keep us from loving each other.
Christianity is a community affair. John Wesley said, “The Lord has given us to each other to strengthen each other’s hands.” Shakespeare wrote, “Those friends thou hast . . . Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel” (Hamlet). The Bible says, “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thess. 5:11).
What believer might the Lord want you to encourage or build up today?
Author: Wesley Tracy
