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Fellowship is an absolute essential ingredient for every single member of the body of Christ. We are not called out of darkness into nothing. We are called into Light, into the fellowship of the saints. We are called into union with Christ and into union with fellow saints. None of us as individuals, are islands unto ourselves. We are called INTO the body of Christ.
A verse often taken out of context to apply to believers who stop going " to church " is, Hebrews 10 v 25, " not forsaking our meeting together as some do ...... ". However, it is instructional and exhortational for us, to gather together all the more, seeing that the day of Christ's return approaches even closer than before. We, the body of Christ are being built TOGETHER by the Lord in the Spirit as a holy habitation for the fullness of the Godhead to dwell permanently. Ephesians 2 vs 21 - 22.
What follows is the meaning of the Greek word koinonia. It has a far greater meaning than we realise today. It is what the early ekklesia experienced in their lives, daily together. See Acts 2 vs 42 - 47.
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; with the genitive of the thing in which he shares: πνεύματος, Philippians 2:1; τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, 2 Corinthians 13:13 (14); τῶν παθημάτων τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Philippians 3:10; τῆς πίστεως, Philemon 1:6 (cf. Lightfoot); τοῦ ἱματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, i. e. in the benefits of Christ's death, 1 Corinthians 10:16 (cf. Meyer at the passage); τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ in the (mystical) body of Christ or the church, ibid.; τῆς διακονίας, 2 Corinthians 8:4; τοῦ μυστηρίου, Ephesians 3:9 Rec. εἰς κοινωνίαν τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, to obtain fellowship in the dignity and blessings of the Son of God, 1 Corinthians 1:9, where cf. Meyer.
2. contact, fellowship, intimacy: δεξιά κοινωνίας, the right hand as the sign and pledge of fellowship (in fulfilling the apostolic office), Galatians 2:9 (where see Lightfoot); τίς κοινωνία φωτί πρός σκότος; what in common has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 (τίς οὖν κοινωνία πρός Ἀπολλωνα τῷ μηδέν οἰκεῖον ἐπιτετηδευκοτι, Philo, leg. ad Gaium § 14 at the end; εἰ δέ τίς ἐστι κοινωνία πρός Θεούς ἡμῖν, Stobaeus, serm. 28 (i. p. 87, Gaisf. edition)); used of the intimate bond of fellowship which unites Christians: absolutely, Acts 2:42; with εἰς τό εὐαγγέλιον added, Philippians 1:5; κοινωνίαν ἔχειν μεθ' ἡμῶν, μετ' ἀλλήλων, 1 John 1:3, 7; of the fellowship of Christians with God and Christ, μετά τοῦ πατρός καί μετά τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, 1 John 1:3, 6, (which fellowship, according to John's teaching, consists in the fact that Christians are partakers in common of the same mind as God and Christ, and of the blessings arising therefrom). By a use unknown to secular authors κοινωνία in the N. T. denotes:
3. a benefaction jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship (cf. Grimm, Exeget. Hdbch. on Wisd. 8:18, p. 176): 2 Corinthians 8:4; εἰς τινα, for the benefit of one, 2 Corinthians 9:13; ποιεῖσθαι κοινωνία (to make a contribution) εἰς τινα, Romans 15:26; joined with εὐποιΐα, Hebrews 13:16. (Cf. Buttmann, § 132, 8.)
We are in fellowship together, as individual members of the collective body of Christ, with the Lord Jesus, being the sole Head, Chief Shepherd, Lord and King over the whole. There is no other who holds that place of honour and privilege. We are all joint participators in fellowship together as brothers and sisters.
Each one of us are gifted with grace from the Lord, to function in fellowship together, for the building up of the entire body, into Christ, Who is our Life. So, all glory, honour and praise to Him, who has called each of us out of darkness, and into fellowship with Him and one another....
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