It is precisely that experience of a deeper communion, of a supernatural intercommunication, which perhaps every believer occasionally has felt in the presence of other believers. Its basis is the oneness that Christians share in Christ. A shared faith, a shared salvation, and a shared divine nature are the roots of koinonia.
It is the fellowship of Christ with his disciples. Christ spent three years living and working in intimate fellowship with twelve men.
These men not only learned from Christ; they shared a level of community that was the prototype of the koinonia of the early Church. Together they were experiencing the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. It is the fellowship of the early Church , as recorded in the Book of Acts.
The first Christians knew an unusual unity, oneness of purpose, common love, and mutual concern—in other words, koinonia. This was more than either the immediate joy of conversion or the knowledge of shared beliefs. It was an atmosphere, a spiritual environment, that grew among the first believers as they prayed, learned, and worshiped together in their own homes Acts —46; It is the earthly counterpart and foretaste of the eternal fellowship of heaven.
The joy of heaven is the freedom of eternal communion with God and fellow believers, without earthly limitations. As the earthly model of this heavenly reality, koinonia in the Church shares the same spiritual nature as life in heaven.
But it suffers the necessary limitations of the flesh and of space and time. Thus koinonia in the Church is neither continuous nor universal. Rather, it is interrupted, partial, local—and necessarily so.
It is limited and affected by physical factors, but its essential reality is not of this world. It is analogous to the unity, fellowship, and communion between Christ and the Father. A parallel exists between the communion of the Trinity and the koinonia of believers among themselves and with God. Koinonia is the fulfillment of this prayer in the Church, and thus a manifestation in space and time of the communion of the Holy Trinity.
It is a supernatural sharing between the Persons of the Godhead and the Church on earth, inseparably involving both the vertical and horizontal dimensions. Christ wanted his followers to be one in their koinonia —one not only with God but also with one another.
Such koinonia is the gift of the Holy Spirit. But is the Church then powerless to create or nurture this fellowship? Or may church structures provide the conditions for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit? Daniel J. And this applies to the Church as well as to individual believers. The Bible is largely silent as to the structure of the Church.
The New Testament contains no Mt. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit gave the infant Church, among other things, the gift of koinonia. The creation of genuine fellowship is an integral part of the work of the Holy Spirit. And secondly, it misses an element of basic significance for the structure and ministry of the Church: The Church provides the context for spiritual growth by sharing together a fellowship that is at once the gift of the Spirit and the environment in which he may operate.
The nature of this koinonia in fact contains several possible implications for church structure. First of all, as has already been noted, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is a function of the Church gathered, not of the Church dispersed.
The obvious implication for church structure: The Church must make sufficient provision to be gathered together if it is to experience koinonia. Koinonia requires being together in one place at one time under the direction of the Holy Spirit. We can talk about the fellowship of the Holy Spirit as being solely a spiritual reality, ignoring the space-time limitations, but this is meaningless.
Ministry becomes a daily adventure with Him at the helm. Our empathy for the needy are deepened and enlightened. Our compassion for the lost soul is strengthened and we pray with passion that they will be saved. Ordinary Christians become empowered when clothed with the Spirit of God. It should affect everything we do in our Christian life and ministry. True spiritual unity comes from within; it is a matter of the heart, and is based on this relationship.
That is why Paul in Philippians appeals to believers on the strength of this unique relationship with the Spirit. This may refer, however, to fellowship that comes from the Holy Spirit, just as encouragement comes from Christ and comfort comes from love. Let us not neglect the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit in life and ministry. Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's written consent.
Scripture quoted by permission. All rights reserved. Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
It might start with something like it did with Jesus where the Holy Spirit led Jesus to fast in the wilderness. It may be that you need to repent or apologize. Perhaps you need to start giving or living for others. If you take the risk of obedience you will experience the reward in that relationship. This does not mean though we have to listen to everything that comes to our head. The Holy Spirit uses our spirit to communicate to us, but His voice will never contradict His word.
The world says to follow your gut; the Bible says to follow your God. God does not always speak what we love to hear. In that God is testing you if you want to go deeper with Him or stay on the same level. By obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit we allow Him to develop within us His fruit.
His fruit is His attitudes toward us. Come back to Him when you make a mistake. When we start living in the Holy Spirit we will make mistakes, fall into our old patterns. The key is to always bounce back. Even if we commit sin to repent and get back up in walking with God. God came to the meeting where He would meet with Adam, knowing Adam fell into sin.
God did not cancel the meeting. He was expecting Adam so that they can talk and Adam and can repent and move forward but Adam hid from God. When you sin, run to God. The Holy Spirit knew your tendencies, weaknesses, struggles before He committed Himself to your sanctification. He is not shocked or surprised when you make a mess. Read: What to pray for? And how to pray? Feed yourself with messages about the Holy Spirit.
Physical hunger comes from not eating, but spiritual hunger comes from not reading. You are what you eat. You are what you feed yourself with. Your spiritual diet can transform your spiritual destiny. One of the habits you can make that will bring awareness of the Holy Spirit in your life is regularly reading about the person and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Some of my favorite books that have fueled my love and passion for the Holy Spirit are:. There is much more but this is just a few things that will wet your appetite and give you broader knowledge of this amazing person.
Invest your life into the salvation of souls. The purpose of the power of the Holy Spirit is for making us into witnesses Acts Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will come upon us and we will receive power, tongues were not mentioned in Acts It seems to me that most people have limited the Holy Spirit baptism to speaking in tongues instead of walking in power. We need both. In Ezekiel 47, water came out of the temple and went to the dead sea, lowest point on earth.
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