"The Fellowship of the Mystery" - Eph. 3:7-11

"The Fellowship of the Mystery" - Eph. 3:7-11

One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes I our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. - C.S. Lewis - Screwtape Letters

The Church is the embodiment of God's wisdom to the heavenly hosts. We are a reflection, and the physical embodiment of God's secret wisdom, to be shown off by God, to the spiritual hosts in the heavenly places, and demonstrate God's wisdom in uniting diverse peoples into one glorious body of fellowship.
Sadly, we do not consider that our fellowship in the body of Christ is of such divine importance that we ought to alter our day planner. No, we are much too content with our daily lives. We busying ourselves with trifles of self imposed importance, so that we do not take two moments time to consider whether or not the things which consume our lives are cut from the same cloth of God's eternal purpose.

The Fellowship of the Saints is a non negotiable of the faith, for it is one of the outward means whereby Christ communicates to His elect the benefits of salvation (WSC, Q88). The Spirit of God has been poured out to create the Spirit of Unity in the Bond of Peace among believers. The Spirit of God desires for the Church to be united in love and forgiveness and peace and friendship. For the fellowship of the Saints is a beautiful reflection of the love of God in the Holy Trinity. A Diversity of Persons who are bound by the Unity of the Spirit in Love for the purpose of glorifying the other by laying down their own lives for the sake of the other. That is the Trinity and that is the Heart of Our Faith. And that cannot be accomplished apart from Christian fellowship.

Saint John says in 1 John 1:7 - "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." You see beloved, there is a component of our forgiveness of sins which is contingent upon fellowship with one another. For to walk in the light, according to Saint John, means that we have fellowship with one another. And if we have fellowship with one another, we are walking in the light. And if we are walking in the light, we have forgiveness of sins. But if we say we have fellowship with Christ, while we walk in the darkness, than we lie, and we do not practice the truth. For how can we walk in the light as He is in the light and not have fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ?