1) The relationship of life between the believers and God being eternally unbreakable—“They shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29). The relationship of life between the believers and God will never be broken, because they have received the eternal life from God, which causes them never to perish. Moreover, since God’s hand is mighty, nothing can snatch them out of His hand.
2) The fellowship of life between the believers and God being breakable—“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7). The word “if” in this verse indicates that the fellowship of life between us and God is breakable. If we walk in God’s light, we will live in the fellowship of God’s life. However, since we often fail to live in God’s light, often disobeying and sinning, we often lose the fellowship of God’s life, thus causing it to be broken.
1) By the confession of sins—“If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Thank God that although our fellowship of life with Him can be broken, it can also be restored. If we are willing to confess our sins to God according to His shining, He will forgive us and cleanse us from our sins. This is according to His faithfulness based on His word and according to His righteousness because of the Lord’s blood in order that our fellowship of life with Him may be restored.
1) The Lord’s life in us not only has its fellowship but also has its sense. This sense of life is for the fellowship of life. The fellowship of life is maintained in the sense of life. Whenever we neglect the sense of life, the fellowship of life is broken and lost, and the sense of life thus becomes dull.
2) If we will once again care for and obey this dull sense of life, the fellowship of life will be restored, even deepened, and the sense of life will also be keener. These two—the sense of life and the fellowship of life—reciprocally affect each other in a continuous cycle, causing the believers to grow in life.
1) Losing the supply and function of life and suffering loss—“Every branch in Me [the Lord] that does not bear fruit, He [God] takes it away” (John 15:2); “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is dried up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6). If a saved person, who is a branch of the Lord, the vine, does not bear fruit, he will be taken away. The reason for his fruitlessness is that he does not abide in the Lord, in the fellowship of His life. Hence, he is taken away, cast out, dried up, gathered, and cast into the fire to be burned. If we do not abide in the Lord and live in the fellowship of life, we will run a great risk of being cut off from the Lord and of losing our supply and function, thus suffering loss. However, this is not to perish but to suffer loss, to be punished (1 Cor. 3:15), because here the Lord is not speaking about the conditions of salvation but about the conditions of fruitbearing.
2) Being fearful and put to shame—“Abide in Him [the Lord], that if He is manifested, we may have boldness and not be put to shame from Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28).
If we abide in the Lord and have fellowship with Him, we spontaneously walk before the Lord and live in His will. This will cause us to have boldness and not be put to shame at the Lord’s coming. Otherwise, when we see Him, we will be in fear and will be put to shame, being separated from His presence. Such danger should warn us to live in the fellowship of the Lord’s life.