Basic Word

THE EFFECT OF FELLOWSHIP

We can look at this from two sides:

1. The negative side: Fellowship eliminates gradually, step by step, all the things that need to be dealt with. Among these the main items are sins, the world, and the old man. If we have good fellowship with the Lord, there will not be a single time in which there is no dealing on the negative side.

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

2. The positive side: This fellowship adds the element of God into us bit by bit. This is like the process of metabolism in our body; there is a continual exchange in which the old elements are taken away and the new elements are added in. The more we live in the fellowship, the more this metabolism operates.

“God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9

The more we enter into fellowship with the Lord, the more we enjoy Him as our portion from God, and the more we are filled and occupied by Him.

From the above two sides of the effect of fellowship, we can see that the growth and the transformation of a Christian hinges completely on his fellowship with the Lord.

Now let us summarize the effect of fellowshipping with the Lord with the following words:

It is a cycle of the spiritual life.

The divine life that we received from God produces a fellowship of the divine life. This fellowship of the divine life brings in the divine light. The divine light increases the need for the blood of Jesus, which causes us to receive more of the divine life.

Such a cycle will bring us onward in the growth of the divine life until we reach its maturity.

LIVING IN THE SPIRIT

After a saved person has consecrated himself, he should learn to live in the spirit and walk according to the spirit.

I. THE THREE PARTS OF MAN— SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY

“May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23

The above passage points out strongly that man has three distinct parts: spirit, soul, and body.

There are three different realms in the universe: physical, psychological, and spiritual. Because man has three distinct parts, he can contact the things in these three realms.

1. The body: This is our outer part, which has five senses. It is in this part that we have “world-consciousness.”

2. The soul: This is our self, which is the ego, the personality. It is between the body and the spirit, and includes our mind, emotion, and will. It is here that we have “self-consciousness.”

3. The spirit: This is the deepest part of our being, where we have “God-consciousness.” Here we can contact God.

II. THE HUMAN SPIRIT— THE KEY TO CONTACTING GOD

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and reality; for the Father seeks such to worship Him.” John 4:23

“In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” Ephesians 2:22

Today our spirit is the dwelling place of God. We must worship Him in this unique place, our spirit.

According to the teaching of the Bible, and based on the believers’ experience, there are three functions of the human spirit:

1. Conscience: This is the discerning faculty. It discerns right and wrong, and consequently condemns or justifies (Rom. 9:1).

2. Intuition: This is the faculty by which we have the direct sense of God and receive knowledge from God (1 Cor. 2:11).

3. Fellowship: This is the faculty by which we worship, contact, and communicate with God (1 Cor. 2:13).

These three parts work constantly together, and their functions are deeply related.