Important of Christian fellowship

The Christian life has two relationships : the vertical (God-ward) and the horizontal (man-ward).

If a Christian walks in the light and is in fellowship with God, he will also be in fellowship with others in God's family. It is easy to talk about Christian love, but much more difficult to practice it.

This is one reason why God established the local church, the fellowship of believers. "You can't be a Christian alone" - a person cannot live a complete and developing Christian life unless he is in fellowship with God's people.

Fellowship comes from the Greek word, KOINONIA, which means “to share in common.”  Christian fellowship is more than attending Church — it is “assimilating” into the body of believers, becoming “one” in worshipping, loving, caring and sharing.

Not only does the Bible say that “fellowship” is the evidence of walking in the light (1 John 1:7), but it also says that “loving the brethren” is evidence of that walk.  “He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him” (1 John 2:10).  This shows that there is a strong, inseparable relationship between “fellowship” and “loving the brethren.”  Consequently, it appears that fellowship is intended to be the practice of loving the brethren, which helps keep us in a right relationship with Christ so that His shed blood can continue its full cleansing effect!

Fellowship with the brethren is an exercise of love bringing us toward spiritual maturity.  Your relationship with the brethren is the thermometer that measures your spiritual temperature.  Your degree of love toward the brethren is the gauge that shows our love for God. “...If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” (1 John 4:12).