When I look at this verse, I see something more than just a closing benediction or blessing on a congregation. I see Paul showing and telling us all, each and every one of us, just how important it is for each and every born-again Christian to receive and acknowledge the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as the only governing power over our lives. We have the grace of Jesus our Lord and Saviour, we have the agapē (unconditional) love of God and we have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. This verse is not a closing statement, it is the beginning of true Christian fellowship!
It is only in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit that we, the Church, will be covered in and filled with the grace of our Lord Jesus and the unconditional love of God so that we can be conformed to the image of Christ and do the works that He has predestined us to do! We are overcomers of the world in Christ Jesus.
Jesus tells us that He has much more to say to us and He does this through the Holy Spirit.
John 16:12-15 (NIV)
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Here again we see the Holy Trinity working in complete and total unity for the benefit of the Church, you and me! All that the Father has belongs to Jesus to and Jesus will tell us all what we need to know in the Father’s will for our lives through the Holy Spirit!
This is why every born-again Christian should actively pursue fellowship with the Holy Spirit, because when we are in fellowship with the Holy Spirit we are also, at the same time, in fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Why is it important for us to actively seek and pursue fellowship with the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit through Jesus knows the deep things of God and He will lead us in all truth. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour it is our spirit; the spirit that God places in each one of us; that is born-again and thus, we are able to receive what is from the Spirit of God.
1 Cor 2:10a-16
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”[Is 40:13]
But we have the mind of Christ.
Galatians 4:6
Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."
We will be unable to receive anything from God if we are not in fellowship with the Holy Spirit!
If we have a look at the Greek word for ‘fellowship’ in the New Testament which is ‘koinonia’ we get a far better picture of what it means.
Strong’s 2842: We see that ‘koinonia’ is a spiritual partnership with the Holy Spirit and one that requires our active participation, and in this way, we are able to share the spiritual things that the Father would have us know in our walk with Christ day by day. A walk that will build His Church in the unity of the saints in the power of the Holy Spirit!
Our fellowship with the Holy Spirit leads us into an ever increasing, intimate relationship with Jesus and enables us to be more and more conformed to His image!
Fellowship in this sense is not just the saints gathering together to socialise, Biblical fellowship is about the Church gathering in unity to seek intimacy with Jesus through the Holy Spirit, sharing the Word and praying together and actively participating in the things of the Spirit, the fruit, the gifts, each of us living life in the Spirit as God intended! Becoming a true family that cares about each other, putting the needs of others before our own.
How do we fellowship with the Holy Spirit?
What does the Bible say about fellowship with the Holy Spirit?
In the above two scriptures the writer, Paul in both cases, gives us a very clear picture of what fellowship with the Holy Spirit is. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit is:
In Philippians 2 Paul goes on to say this:
When each of us are in true fellowship with the Holy Spirit, according to the above scriptures, the following transformation will take place in the Church:
Being humble before the Lord, having a contrite and teachable spirit, being doers of the Word and not just readers.
Love and fellowship of the Holy Spirit
These two actions go hand in hand. When we love others as Christ loves us, we are in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to follow the way of love (agape) and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit. When we do this and when we step out in faith and start moving in the gifts of the Spirit, we are in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
When we are moving and operating in the gifts of the Spirit and when we are in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit then we are living life in the Spirit!
The spiritual dynamic in this combination can thus be expressed as this formula:
Love (agape) + gifts of the Spirit + fellowship of the Spirit = living life in the Spirit
This is the kind of life the Jesus expects for his Church, his Bride! The best life, the only life!
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are in constant fellowship with one another and when we are in Jesus and in the Spirit, we too are in fellowship with them!
Practical fellowship with the Holy Spirit
1. Break bread together (share a meal) – communion
Focus on Jesus and give thanks with a grateful heart.
2. Soak in the presence of God.
God releases power in us through the Holy Spirit when we are in close and intimate fellowship with him.
3. Pray in the Spirit – Worshipping in Spirit and in truth
Let your heart and your spirit become one as you pray and worship in the Spirit.
4. Meditate on the Bible and be doers of the Word
Soak up the Word as often as you can, but don’t be readers of the Word only, be doers of the Word as well.
5. Keep in fellowship with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ
Make a point of attending Sunday worship celebrations and mid-week Home Group meetings. Let it become a joy and not a drudge! Gather together as often as you can. Attend gatherings with a true heart of wanting to give and you will receive. This is one on God's spiritual dynamics for His chidlren!
6. Let your faith and belief in Jesus rise up from within - be bold.
Don’t just believe in God but BELIEVE GOD! Be prepared to step out of your comfort zone and – conquer fear and unbelief and move in the gifts of the Spirit. Be willing to serve others.
7. Submit to those in authority over you and one to another out of reverence for Christ
Be a true servant to the body of Christ just as Jesus is.
8. Don’t give up!
Be sure of your calling and don’t give up!
God has given us everything we need to live life in the Spirit!
When we are born-again and living life in the Spirit, we will be able to do the same things Jesus did:
Prayer:
Dear Father in Heaven
I thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. Lord I pray that you would teach me your ways and continually fill me with your Holy Spirit and conform me to Christ’s image day by day. Help me, Lord, to daily seek fellowship with your Holy Spirit that I may be a blessing to others. I ask this in the name of Jesus, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.
Our fellowship with the Holy Spirit leads us into an ever increasing, intimate relationship with Jesus and enables us to be more and more conformed to His image!
Fellowship in this sense is not just the saints gathering together to socialise, Biblical fellowship is about the Church gathering in unity to seek intimacy with Jesus through the Holy Spirit, sharing the Word and praying together and actively participating in the things of the Spirit, the fruit, the gifts, each of us living life in the Spirit as God intended! Becoming a true family that cares about each other, putting the needs of others before our own.
Acts 2:42 (NIV)
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
How do we fellowship with the Holy Spirit?
What does the Bible say about fellowship with the Holy Spirit?
2 Corinthians 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Philippians 2:1 (NLT)
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?
In the above two scriptures the writer, Paul in both cases, gives us a very clear picture of what fellowship with the Holy Spirit is. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit is:
- Having the grace of Jesus in us.
- Having the love of God in us.
- Belonging to Jesus.
- Being comforted from His love’
- Being tenderhearted towards others.
- Being compassionate towards others.
In Philippians 2 Paul goes on to say this:
Philippians 2:2-5 (NLT)
2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
When each of us are in true fellowship with the Holy Spirit, according to the above scriptures, the following transformation will take place in the Church:
- The Church will be complete and wholehearted agreement – verse 2
- We will love one another as Christ loves us – verse 2
- We will be working together in unity – verse 2
- There will be no selfishness – verse 3
- There will be no need to impress each other – verse 3
- We will be truly humble as Jesus is – verse 3
- We will not consider ourselves better than others – verse 3
- We will be thinking of others before ourselves – verse 4
- We will develop the same attitude as Christ – verse 5
Philippians 2:6-11 (NLT)
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Being humble before the Lord, having a contrite and teachable spirit, being doers of the Word and not just readers.
Love and fellowship of the Holy Spirit
These two actions go hand in hand. When we love others as Christ loves us, we are in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to follow the way of love (agape) and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit. When we do this and when we step out in faith and start moving in the gifts of the Spirit, we are in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
When we are moving and operating in the gifts of the Spirit and when we are in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit then we are living life in the Spirit!
The spiritual dynamic in this combination can thus be expressed as this formula:
Love (agape) + gifts of the Spirit + fellowship of the Spirit = living life in the Spirit
This is the kind of life the Jesus expects for his Church, his Bride! The best life, the only life!
1 John 4:8, 13-16 (NIV)
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are in constant fellowship with one another and when we are in Jesus and in the Spirit, we too are in fellowship with them!
John 3:34 (NIV)
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
Practical fellowship with the Holy Spirit
1. Break bread together (share a meal) – communion
Focus on Jesus and give thanks with a grateful heart.
1 Corinthians 11:24-25 (NIV)
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
2. Soak in the presence of God.
Psalm 16:11 (NLT)
You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.
3. Pray in the Spirit – Worshipping in Spirit and in truth
Let your heart and your spirit become one as you pray and worship in the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
John 4:24 (NIV)
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
4. Meditate on the Bible and be doers of the Word
Soak up the Word as often as you can, but don’t be readers of the Word only, be doers of the Word as well.
Psalm 119:15-16 NIV)
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
James 1:22 (NLT)
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
5. Keep in fellowship with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ
Make a point of attending Sunday worship celebrations and mid-week Home Group meetings. Let it become a joy and not a drudge! Gather together as often as you can. Attend gatherings with a true heart of wanting to give and you will receive. This is one on God's spiritual dynamics for His chidlren!
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT)
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Romans 15:13 (NIV)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Don’t just believe in God but BELIEVE GOD! Be prepared to step out of your comfort zone and – conquer fear and unbelief and move in the gifts of the Spirit. Be willing to serve others.
Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Mark 10:45 (NIV)
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
7. Submit to those in authority over you and one to another out of reverence for Christ
Be a true servant to the body of Christ just as Jesus is.
Hebrews 13:17 (NLT)
Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
Ephesians 5:21 (NIV)
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
8. Don’t give up!
Be sure of your calling and don’t give up!
Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
2 Peter 1:3-11 (NIV)
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When we are born-again and living life in the Spirit, we will be able to do the same things Jesus did:
Mark 16:17-18 (NIV)
17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.
Matthew 10:8 (NIV)
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
John 14:12-14 (NIV)
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Dear Father in Heaven
I thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. Lord I pray that you would teach me your ways and continually fill me with your Holy Spirit and conform me to Christ’s image day by day. Help me, Lord, to daily seek fellowship with your Holy Spirit that I may be a blessing to others. I ask this in the name of Jesus, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.
To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!
Jesus, the Name above all names!
Remember: Reading this article is no substitute for reading and studying the Bible for yourself! I am flawed the Bible is not!
Last updated: 26 December 2022
Love what you do Harriet GJ
ReplyDeleteThis was an absolute blessing to me. Thank you and may God continue to bless you and all the work you do in His Name.
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