A STRONG FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN CHRISTIANS BRINGS SALVATION We are called to spiritual growth-that is, the formation of the investment of faith Christ gives us that we give back to Him in dividends. Spiritual maturity is a process that begins when a person accepts Jesus Christ as Savior. The Apostle Paul said that spiritual growth is an ongoing process. Spiritual maturity is learning how to walk in obedience to God. Fellowship comes from the Greek word, KOINONIA, which means “to share in common.” Christian fellowship is more than attending Church — it is “assimilating” into the body of believers, becoming “one” in worshipping, loving, caring and sharing. Before we consider the reasons why spiritual growth is important to God, it will be helpful to have a definition of spiritual growth. Tony Evans provides the following definition. "Spiritual growth may be defined as that transformational process by which we allow the indwelling Christ to increasingly express Himself in and through us, resulting in a greater capacity on our part to bring God greater glory and experience His greater good for ourselves." A shorter definition of what spiritual growth is has been given by John the Baptist when he declares, "He (Jesus) must become greater, I must become less." Put
in another way, John is saying that we grow spiritually when more of Jesus is being expressed through less of our fallen humanity. The Bible clearly teaches that God made a distinction between His people and the world (Lev 13:46; Number 5:3; Deut. 7:3). Christ says that entering the Kingdom of God means being bound to the Church “on earth” (Matthew 16:16-19; 18:17-19). The New Testament refers to some people being inside the church and some people being outside the church (1 Cor. 5:12-13). The church in Corinth consisted of a definite number of believers, such that Paul could speak of a punishment inflicted by the majority (2 Cor. 2:6). Not only does the New Testament speak of the reality of church membership, but its dozens of “one another” passages are written to local churches. The “one another” passages in the New Testament fill out our understanding of what church members should look like practically. Biblical church membership is important, because the church presents God’s witness to Himself in the world, and displays His glory. In fact, non-Christians should see in the lives of God’s changed people that God is holy and gracious and that His gospel is powerful for saving and transforming sinners.
Remember, where even two or three gathers in Christ's name there he is present and we will be given salvation. Believe that the Church universal is the whole of the worshipping, witnessing Christian community throughout the centuries comprised of whatever groupings, large or small, accepted or persecuted, wealthy or poor, into which her members may have been gathered in the past or in the present Calvary Road Baptist Church 703-922-6700 6811 Beulah Street Alexandria, VA 22310 www.crbc.org