The word koinonia occurs about twenty times in the New Testament. It can refer to (a) sharing one’s goods or wealth with those in need, and may then be translated “contribution”, or “distribution”, or “to communicate”; (b) participation in a common life of faith, which would include the Breaking of Bread; (c) association with the Lord Jesus Christ (which would also include the Breaking of Bread) and with his Father1.
Following is a summary of the passages where koinonia occurs:
A. Sharing one’s goods:
“To make a certain contribution for poor saints” (Rom. 15:26).
“Fellowship (‘joint participation’: Diag.) of the ministering to saints” (2 Cor. 8:4).
“They glorify God…. for your liberal distribution unto them” (2 Cor. 9:13).
“But to do good and to communicate forget not” (Heb. 13:16).
B. Participation in a common life of faith:
“They continued in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). (This shows that, though “fellowship” may include joint participation in the emblems of Christ’s death, it is not confined to that one activity.)
“The right hand of fellowship” (Gal. 2:9). (A partnership of preaching the gospel.)
“For your fellowship in the gospel…(I thank God)…” (Phil. 1:5).
“Fellowship of the Spirit” (Phil. 2:1).
“For your fellowship is with the Father and his Son…. if we walk in the light….we have fellowship one with another” (1 John 1:3,7).
C. Association with Christ and his Father:
“By whom (God) ye were called unto fellowship of his Son” (1 Cor. 1:9).
“The cup….. communion of the blood of Christ; the bread….communion of the body of Christ” (1 Cor. 10:16).
“What communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14).
“The communion of the Holy Spirit be with you” (2 Cor. 13:14).
“The fellowship of the mystery” (Eph. 3:9). (The shared effort in preaching to the Gentiles.)
“Fellowship of his sufferings” (Phil. 3:10).
“Our fellowship is with the Father and his Son…. If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie….” (1 John 1:3,6).
There is a related verb, koinoneo, that is used in similar ways: (a) of giving to those in need, (b) of the relationship between fellow-believers, and (c) of association with our Lord; though we have also here a negative use: (d) of having association with forbidden deeds or doctrines, against which the saints are warned.
Again, the relevant passages are as follows:
A. Giving to those in need:
“Distributing to the necessity of the saints” (Rom. 12:13).
“If the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things…. (they should) minister in carnal things” (Rom. 15:27).
“Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth” (Gal. 6:6).
“No church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only” (Phil. 4:15).
B. The relationship between believers:
Romans 15:27 again.
C. Association with our Lord:
“The children are partakers of flesh and blood…(and) he (Jesus) also…” (Heb. 2:14).
“Rejoice…. inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Pet. 4:13).
D. Association with forbidden deeds and doctrines:
“Neither be partakers of other men’s sins” (1 Tim. 5:22).
“For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John 11).
“What communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). (This word is koinonia again, as above, but the implication is as the last two quotations.)
As a summary of the use of these two words in the New Testament, we may remark:
They are used in the positive sense, to be shared, 25 times; and in the negative sense, to be withheld, only 3 times — which should certainly give us a hint as to which is most important!
Fellowship is with the Father and Son 10 times; and with one another only 6 times. (Even here, however, we may have fellowship with one another only because we have been called together out of the world by God.) Fellowship is His to bestow, not ours. We share “fellowship” with our brethren, certainly — but we share what we have each received as a gift, and not what we have each earned!
Scriptural fellowship — as we have seen — is joy: for us, the joy of mortal men and women in sharing common knowledge and purpose with the Eternal Father and with His Son, to whom He has committed all power and authority:
“Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:3,4).
“As Paul writes to the Corinthians, we have been called unto the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord. In him we have a friend who never fails, a companion who never tires, who fills our moments of prayer and meditation with strength and comfort and hope, who answers our spiritual seeking with fresh insight, new vision, and deepening peace. For as we, with the same insatiable thirst as the psalmist, reach out for God, in sky and sea and earth, and long for the deep inner peace, which is His gift, He meets our uplifted eyes and upraised spirits. For, ‘In thy light shall we see light’, and share it in the living fellowship of His family” 2.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One