“5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:5-10; NKJV).
Who we are. The Vestavia church of Christ is a fellowship of forgiven people. The blood of Jesus cleansed us from our sins when we were baptized into Christ: “…who washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5; NKJV). We continue to receive forgiveness as we confess our sins to Him: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9; NKJV). We are not the fellowship of the perfect or the perfected: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected” (Philippians 3:12; NKJV). It is imperative that we know who we are in Christ Jesus. We are “accepted in the Beloved” because “through His blood” we received “the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:6-7; NKJV).
Fellowship. Koinonia has to do with joint participation. When we think of fellowship we should think relationship. The Father has called us “into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:9; NKJV). Because of our relationship with God, we have a relationship with one another. Together we are the fellowship of the forgiven.
Forgiven. To forgive is “to send away” (Thayer’s). We have a relationship with God because He has sent our sins away. We have a relationship with one another because He has sent our sins away: “He has made us alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Colossians 2:13; NKJV). Together we are the fellowship of the forgiven.
Hear the conclusion! Folks need forgiveness. We have found it in Christ Jesus. Let us be about the business of telling others what we have found in Him: “…for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found…” (Luke 15:24; NKJV).
Jason
