Although the fellowship of the church is manifested in every locality among Christians, it should not be of a local nature; rather, it should be universal. It should not be only a “local” fellowship; it must also be the fellowship of the Body. It is not sufficient for us to be in one accord without sects or divisions in a locality. Simply because we have fellowship among ourselves in this locality does not mean that we do not need to care for the brothers in other localities. If this were the case, then we are only a “local sect.” Therefore, we must extend our local fellowship to the whole Body of Christ, which is the universal church.
First Corinthians 10:16-17 says, “The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body.” This shows that the bread we break at the Lord’s table denotes the fellowship of the church, the Body. This bread includes everyone who belongs to Christ and who has the life of Christ throughout the ages and in every place; it does not merely include those who are saved in a particular locality. If it only included the saved ones in a locality, then the bread would denote only a local fellowship. This kind of fellowship is not according to the Bible. Our fellowship must include all those who belong to Christ and who have the life of Christ throughout the ages and in every place. Only then does the bread denote the fellowship of the church, the Body of Christ. This is the fellowship ordained in the Scriptures. According to the Bible, every local church in its respective locality is a representative of the entire Body of Christ. Therefore, the fellowship in every local church should be not only local but also of the Body. Only the fellowship that is both local and also of the Body is the fellowship of the church.
In the beginning we said that the fellowship of the church is the flow of the Lord’s life in all the Christians. Therefore, the fellowship of the church comes out of the Lord’s life (1 John 1:2-3). Because the Lord gave all of us His life, the fellowship of the church is within all of us. When we live in the Lord’s life, we are living in the fellowship of the church. The more we live in the Lord’s life, the more the fellowship of the church becomes manifested through us. This is altogether a matter of life and not a matter of any method or regulation. Therefore, as the fellowship of the church comes out of the Lord’s life, it should take the Lord’s life as its basis, instead of any practice or regulation as its guideline.
This fellowship of the church not only comes out of the life of the Lord, it is also of the Holy Spirit of God (2 Cor. 13:14). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is this fellowship. Wherever the Holy Spirit is, there is fellowship. Wherever the Holy Spirit can freely operate, this fellowship is manifested (Phil. 2:1). When the saints walk according to the Holy Spirit and live in the Holy Spirit, spontaneously there is fellowship. Therefore, the obstacle to fellowship is man’s flesh and self. If we are willing to deal with our flesh and our self, then we will spontaneously live in the fellowship of the church.
Concerning the fellowship of the church, a few points need to be made concerning the conditions by which a saint should be removed from the fellowship of the church. The Bible tells us that some saints should not remain in the fellowship of the church and must be removed from this fellowship. There are two categories related to such ones. One category includes saints who have committed obvious sins. They sin to such an extent that they are filthy and put the Lord’s name to shame, like the case spoken of in 1 Corinthians 5. Thus, the church has no recourse but to cast them out, that is, to remove them from the fellowship of the church. Therefore, the sin spoken of in 1 Corinthian 5 is the first condition for a saint to be removed from the fellowship of the church.
Another category of people who should be removed from the fellowship of the church includes those who go beyond the teaching of Christ. These people are like those in today’s unbelieving sects, the so-called modernists. They are Christians in name, who have mixed themselves among Christians, but who do not believe that Christ is God, that Christ is the Word who became flesh, that Christ died shedding His blood to redeem us from sin, or that Christ resurrected from the dead. They do not believe in the deity of Christ or the redemptive work of Christ. This kind of unbelief goes beyond the teaching of Christ; it is heresy to the uttermost. The Bible tells us not to have any dealings with them, not even to greet them, because they are antichrists (2 John 7-11). Hence, the church cannot have fellowship with such persons. Going beyond the teaching of Christ is a condition for being removed from the fellowship of the church.
The two conditions above are the only ones for which a person should be removed from the fellowship of the church. One is for committing a sin which is dreadfully filthy and that shames the name of the Lord; the other is for going beyond the teaching of Christ. Only these two categories can cause a person to lose the fellowship of the church and be removed by the church. Other than these two categories, all other failures, weaknesses, mistakes, or wrong doctrinal views cannot constitute a condition for being removed from the fellowship of the church.
In 1 Corinthians, although the apostle definitely told the church in Corinth to remove the person who committed the sin described in chapter 5, he did not tell them to remove those who were sectarian (1:11-12; 3:1-4), the one who went to law against another brother (6:1-8), or those who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (15:12). These persons committed very serious mistakes, but the apostle did not say that they should be removed from the church. The apostle only admonished, taught, and corrected these persons. Therefore, we can see that other than sin which openly shames the name of the Lord and beliefs that offend the person and work of the Lord, we must have forbearance for all other failures, weaknesses, mistakes, and wrong doctrinal views. If some brothers or sisters have weaknesses in their behavior or hold wrong doctrinal views, we cannot remove them for such a reason; rather, we must forebear, admonish, and correct them in love. The fellowship of the church is a tremendous thing. We must endeavor to forebear to the uttermost, not removing someone quickly for a little mistake or for being a little different. That is not right.