Is "The Placing of Fellowship" Scriptural? Part 4

In part 4 we will begin in the next book in sequence which is of course II Corinthians.

Beginning in the first verse of the first chapter, Paul again clarifies that when he writes to one he writes to many. "...unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia..."

First we note there is an established assembly at Corinth and that there is a larger pool of saints in Achaia.

And they all fall under the same umbrella in the eyes of Paul. They are clearly all united as saints.

We have already in the previous three portions well-established that Paul and a variety of companions associate freely with a wide variety of congregations and are in fellowship with each of them so I will for the most part by-pass mentions of further travels such as we see in verses 14-16.

W3e will, however, take a look at I Corinthians 1:21-22.
It is God who establishes us together in Christ. It is God who defines our fellowship.
Paul is speaking here of Timotheus*, Silvanus, Paul, and those to whom he is writing; all the saints which are in all Achaia.
Regardless of the fact they were not meeting together, all these people are established together in Christ by God. This is a pretty clear indication that people who are in Christ are in fellowship with one another even when separated by a distance...or at least, people in the same geographic area in this instance. (Note that this map is a modern map but shows the area of Achaia.)

This is a theme of II Corinthians, as we see the thought reiterated in chapter 5, verses 17-20. We who are converted are in Christ. That is our "home church", the root of our fellowship. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we are in Christ. When Christians go grocery shopping, they do so in Christ, reconciled to God through Christ.

When Christians go to work, the do so in Christ, reconciled to God through Christ.

When Christians go to enjoy some recreation, perhaps golfing or having a picnic or watching a sporting event or having family and friends over for dinner, they do so in Christ, reconciled to God through Christ.

When is this not true? It is a rhetorical question asked to clearly demonstrate that Christians, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, for the remainder of their faithful life, are doing everything they do in Christ, reconciled to Christ through God.

They are not "in a specific church" but rather in Christ's church, His body. That is the source and totality of their reconciliation to God according to Scripture.

The thought continues. Read chapter 6, verse 1. Paul and those working with him are working with Him...the second Him of course being Christ.

In I Corinthians we already saw that the nation of Israel was one body. In II Corinthians 6:16-18 we see the church is God's people and the church as a whole is the temple of God and the Christians are the sons and daughters of God. The passage emphasizes the unity of Christians.

There is no separation by location or by who their leader is. The Christians are unified as a temple of God and as the children of God.

In chapter 8:1-9:5 the point is a principle rather than a specific example. The various churches in Macedonia were sharing their means with the Corinthians who were in need. The King James refers to it as "the fellowship of ministering to the saints" (v. 4) and when we reach verses 13-14 we see that an abundance in one geographic location is to be used to make up a lack in another geographic location. This closely follows his telling us we are all the temple of God and shows clearly that the church is a unified whole even if the children of God are in many geographic locations.

The use of Titus to transfer the things needed from one location to another unifies this thought; spiritual abundance went one direction to fulfill those needs while monetary abundance went the other direction to fill those needs and the entire transaction was a sharing of burdens.

Geography did not separate the state of brotherhood but reinforced it. A need in one place is to be filled by the Christians who have the capability to do so and the mobility of saints and their assets is key to this function.

Titus apparently made the decision to carry things from one to the other on his own (v. 17). Paul sent with him "the brother" (v. 18) who was also sent by the churches (v. 19). Thus we see there are a variety of motivations for traveling between congregations; personal desire, helping the one we are assisting, or being sent by church leadership. All three are Scriptural according to this passage. We have examples of all three in these verses.

This is a clear indication there was a great deal of communication between the various assemblies as individuals and overall church leadership (we know the churches all had elders from where it said in Acts 14:23) were aware of needs and the need to help others was seen and acted upon.

It is not a new thought then in II Corinthians 9:7-15 when he says the giving of money in one direction and prayer in the other direction is subjection to the gospel of Christ (v. 13). The gospel of Christ then includes fellowship and sharing with the saints of God. We have already seen repeatedly and in this case specifically that the saints of God are spread throughout a wide geographic area which then means that all saints are in fellowship.

The unity of saints all belonging to Christ is again stated in II Corinthians 10:7. Yes, all who are saints belong to Christ.

II Corinthians 10:8-11:10 Read this passage, then ask yourself the question; to which church did Paul belong? He traveled extensively, stayed sometimes for short periods and sometimes for long periods in a variety of places. He reported his deeds to several places and had a special affinity for Jerusalem and Antioch. He emphasizes repeatedly that believers are part of the body of Christ, has used the symbolism of Christians being the bride of Christ.

Yet we see that even when not in Corinth he had authority in Corinth (10:8). This is his authority as an apostle and helps explain the wonderful practice wherein traveling evangelists are frequently requested to speak when they visit other congregations. Their authority as ministers of the gospel does not end at the door of the place they normally preach but extends throughout all of the church. How could this be if the church was not unified?

Is there any reason the same would not be true of elders, deacons, teachers, and Christians in general?

Just to remind us of the picture he used in the prior letter, Paul again says the church is espoused to one husband (11:2) and if the various churches were various brides, Christ would be a polygamist which would be a clear contradiction of New Testament teaching.

So clearly, the fellowship of believers extends beyond wherever you are. If you are an evangelist in Newark, New Jersey then you are an evangelist when you go to Athens, Greece and vice versa. The same holds true for whatever position you hold within the church, whether it is something that is a Scriptural office or if "merely" a believer. And being a believer is not a "merely" in the eyes of God but truly a gift He has given us.

He restates this in 11:28, telling us it is his duty to care for 'all the churches".

In his conclusion, II Corinthians 13:5 tells us yet again how we know whether we are part of the body of Christ, whether we are a son or daughter of God, whether we are part of the body of Christ; "...examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith..."

Again, it is not specified to a location but simply whether a person is in the faith.

In the studies so far we have seen numerous examples of unity in God of churches in a variety of geographical locations. We have seen that authority held in one location transfers to another. We have seen we exist in one of two states; disciple or not disciple. We have seen examples of conversions. We have seen examples of sharing. We have garnered principles of unity.

But we have yet to see a single command, example, or principle that shows a person belongs to an individual congregation and not to the entirety of them. We shall keep looking for that.

* When putting together this study I primarily worked from the King James and so use the spellings found therein for Timothy and so forth.