Fellowship: Standing on Common Ground

Many years ago, the Monarch of Israel wrote down these words:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore (Psa. 133:1-3).

In the New Testament, the word fellowship comes from the Greek word koinonia, and means "sharing" or "joint participation." King David said that it is pleasant for brethren to be united together. The reason for this is because of the common ground that we share as brethren. By way of this essay, let's look at some of those things we have in common.


The Bible is Our Standard
The difference between the Lord's church and the churches set up by men, with respect to authority in religious practice, is that the Lord's church uses the Bible as its only creed or guideline for belief and practice (2 Tm. 3:16-17; Col. 2:8; 1 Tm. 1:3; 1 Pt. 4:11).


We Have a Bible Plea
Alexander Campbell, of restoration history fame, coined the phrase,
Speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent. Do Bible things in Bible ways, and call Bible things by Bible names.
We often call this the "restoration plea." The idea is to get back to simple New Testament Christianity. Our plea is a Bible plea. We simply want to follow the Bible and we are diligently seeking others who desire to do the same.
Peter said, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God..." (1 Pt. 4:11). So many individuals profess to follow the Bible in religious practice, yet they add to or subtract from its glorious message. We should be seeking the "Old Paths" that never grow old or out of date (Jer. 6:16). Our common plea is to simply follow the Bible.


We Want All Men to be Saved
A Christian is a soldier in the army of the Lord. As a soldier in spiritual warfare, we are in battle for the souls of men. Our weapon is the Word of God (Heb. 5:12; Eph. 6:17). When we faithfully use this weapon then the Bible says that it will convict honest hearts of sin (Tit. 1:9).

We Have a Savior Who Died for Us All
Jesus died to save us from our sins (Rm. 5:8). Sin is what separates man from God. So, we want to know how to be freed from sin. Freedom from sin is only in Jesus. How do we get into Jesus? Paul says that baptism is what puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:27).

We Share A Special Love One for Another
If we are truly brethren, then we ought to have a common love for one another. Peter tells us to "Honour all men. Love the brotherhood..." (1 Pt. 2:17). John reminds us that we cannot love God without first loving the brethren. "You can not say that you love Me if you do not love one another" (1 Jn. 4:20-21).

We All Look Forward to Heaven
Thanks be to God that this world is not our home. With all of its corruption, pain and sadness, I am grateful that I do not have to call this place home. We sometimes sing, "Here we are but straying pilgrims," and "This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through." We are here for just a little while in order to glorify God and to serve our fellow man. But one of these days we will enter Glory.

I am thankful to God for the fellowship that I have with my brethren—for the things that we share in common. We share the Bible as our standard. We all desire to do what the Bible says—not adding to it, or taking away from it. It is our desire to take as many people to heaven with us as we can. We rejoice that Jesus died for all, and that through obedience we have the forgiveness of sin. We love the brethren. We wait with great anticipation, for heaven.