Once we believe into the Lord, we have a union with Him in life. This life then brings us the fellowship of life in which we should live, fellowshipping with God and sharing in all His riches. We ought to know this, pay attention to this, and practice this immediately after we are saved.
1) “We...report to you the eternal life...that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed the fellowship which is ours is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:2-3).
Once we believe in the Lord and receive the eternal life, which was reported to us, it brings its fellowship of life, its flow of life, to us, that there may be a fellowship, a flow, between us and God. This fellowship carries God Himself and all His riches into us for our sharing and partaking.
1) Having fellowship with the apostles and with the church, which they represent—“...we...report to you the eternal life...that you also may have fellowship with us [the apostles]” (1 John 1:2-3).
The fellowship which we have through the entering into us of God’s eternal life is of two aspects. On the one hand, we have fellowship with the apostles and with the church, which the apostles represent (1 Cor. 12:28); that is, we have fellowship with all those who possess the life of God. On the other hand, we have fellowship with God and the Lord. The aspect of our fellowship with all those who have God’s life is called the fellowship of the apostles (Acts 2:41-42). All those who have believed into the Lord to have the life of God participate in this fellowship. The Lord’s life is reported by the apostles to those who believe into the Lord that they may become the church, the Lord’s Body, and the apostles are the representatives of the church, which is brought into being through the Lord’s life. Hence, the fellowship of life in the church is called the fellowship of the apostles. When we have fellowship with the apostles, we have fellowship with the church.
2) Having fellowship with God and with the Lord Jesus—“That you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed the fellowship which is ours is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
The other aspect of our fellowship in the Lord’s life is our fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. The life to which this fellowship of life belongs is the life of God. This life is also the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Himself. Thus, this fellowship of life enables us to have fellowship not only with those who jointly possess God’s life but also with God and the Lord Jesus. In this fellowship of life, there is a mutual fellowship and flowing between us and God and the Lord Jesus, and between us and all the believers. All these parties jointly participate in the Triune God and in the church, which is His organism, thus mutually sharing in one another.
1) “The fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14).
Since the Lord’s life is in the Holy Spirit and has entered into us through the Holy Spirit to be in us, our fellowship in the Lord’s life is by means of the Holy Spirit. Hence, this fellowship is also called the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord’s life, both our fellowship with God and the Lord and our fellowship with the church or the saints are in and by means of the Holy Spirit.
1) “And even as it [the anointing] has taught you, abide in Him [the Lord]” (1 John 2:27); “Abide in Me [the Lord]...for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
As branches of the Lord, the vine, we must abide in the Lord and not be separated from Him. To thus abide in the Lord is to have fellowship with the Lord in order to practice the fellowship of the Lord’s life, absorbing all the riches of the Lord as the branches absorb the supply from the vine.