We can look at this from two sides:
1. The negative side: Fellowship eliminates gradually, step by step, all the things that need to be dealt with. Among these the main items are sins, the world, and the old man. If we have good fellowship with the Lord, there will not be a single time in which there is no dealing on the negative side.
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
2. The positive side: This fellowship adds the element of God into us bit by bit. This is like the process of metabolism in our body; there is a continual exchange in which the old elements are taken away and the new elements are added in. The more we live in the fellowship, the more this metabolism operates.
“God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9
The more we enter into fellowship with the Lord, the more we enjoy Him as our portion from God, and the more we are filled and occupied by Him.
From the above two sides of the effect of fellowship, we can see that the growth and the transformation of a Christian hinges completely on his fellowship with the Lord.
Now let us summarize the effect of fellowshipping with the Lord with the following words:
It is a cycle of the spiritual life.
The divine life that we received from God produces a fellowship of the divine life. This fellowship of the divine life brings in the divine light. The divine light increases the need for the blood of Jesus, which causes us to receive more of the divine life.
Such a cycle will bring us onward in the growth of the divine life until we reach its maturity.