In 1John 1:3, the apostle assures those to whom he wrote that the fellowship of believers �is with the
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.� The expression he uses speaks with such force that we have
rendered it, �Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.�
The outward appearance and condition of the saints in those days was paltry and contemptible. Their
leaders were considered the scum of the earth, the offscouring of all things. Inviting others to fellowship
with them, and to participate in the precious things that they enjoyed, evoked a number of awkward
encounters and objections: �What benefit is there in communion with them? All it brings is sharing their
troubles, reproaches, scorns, and all kinds of evils.� To prevent or remove these and similar objections,
the apostle lets the believers know in earnest, that despite all the disadvantages of their fellowship, at least
to a carnal view, in truth what they had was very honorable, glorious, and desirable. For �truly,� he says,
�our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.�
This is so earnestly and directly asserted by the apostle, that we may boldly follow him with our
affirmation, �That the saints of God have communion with him.� And a holy and spiritual communion it
is, as I will demonstrate. Why this reference to the Father and the Son is distinct between them, must be
fully examined later.
Since sin entered the world, no man has had communion with God because of his sinful nature. He is
light; we are darkness; and what communion has light with darkness? (2Cor.6:14). He is life; we are dead.
He is love; we are enmity. What agreement can there be between us? Men in such a condition have
neither Christ, nor hope, nor God in the world, Eph. 2:12. �Being alienated from the life of God through
their ignorance,� chap. 4:18. Now, two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, Amos 3:3. So, while
this distance between God and man exists, they cannot walk together in fellowship or communion. Our
first interest in God was so lost by sin, that no recovery remained in ourselves. We deprived ourselves of
all power to return to him. And God had not revealed that there was any way to regain access to him. Nor
did he reveal that sinners could approach him in peace for any reason. Nothing that God made, and no
attribute that he revealed, provided the least hint of such a possibility.
The manifestation of God�s grace and pardoning mercy is the only door we have to such communion. It is
committed only to the one who atoned. He is the one in whom it is evidenced. He is the one by whom
grace and mercy was purchased. He is the one through whom it is dispensed, and from whom it is
revealed from the heart of the Father. Hence, this communion and fellowship with God is not expressly
mentioned in the Old Testament. It is found there, but its clear light, and the boldness of faith contained in
it, is discovered only in the gospel of the New Testament. There the Spirit administers it. By the Spirit we
have this liberty of communion, 2 Cor. 3:17, 18. Abraham was the friend, of God, Isa. 41:8. David was a
man after his own heart. Enoch walked with him, Gen. 5:22. All of them enjoyed the substance of this
communion and fellowship. But the way into the holiest of holies was not evident while the first
tabernacle was still standing, Heb. 9:8. Although they had communion with God, they did not have
parresian [NT:3954], Eph.3:12, which is a boldness and confidence in that communion. It came only
after our High Priest entered into the most holy place, Heb. 4:16, 10:19. And so, the veil remained on
� May 2003 by William H. Gross www.onthewing.org 1
� May 2003 by William H. Gross www.onthewing.org 2
those in the Old Testament. They did not have eleuterian [NT:1657], or freedom and liberty in their
access to God, 2Cor. 3:15, 16, etc.
But in Christ we now have boldness and confident access to God, Eph. 3:12. The saints of old were not
familiar with this. This distance from God is removed by Jesus Christ alone. He has consecrated a new
and living way for us �through the veil, that is, his flesh,� Heb. 10:20. The old way is sealed. �Through
him we have access by one Spirit to the Father,� Eph. 2:18. �You who sometimes were far off, are made
close by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace...,� verses 13, 14. More of this foundation of our
communion with God will follow afterward. On this new foundation, by this new and living way, sinners
are admitted into communion with God. They have fellowship with him. It is a truly astonishing provision
for sinners to have fellowship with God, the infinitely holy God.
Communion relates to things and persons. It means jointly participating in something, whether good or
evil, duty or enjoyment, nature or actions. Sharing a common nature means all men have fellowship or
communion in that nature. It is said of the elect, in Heb. 2:14, �Those children partook of� (shared or had
fellowship with) �flesh and blood� (their common nature with mankind); �and, therefore, Christ likewise
shared in the same fellowship.�
There is also communion as to our state or condition, whether good or evil, or things internal and
spiritual. Such is the communion of saints among themselves, or with regard to their experience of
outward things. Christ shared a condition with the two thieves. They were all sentenced to the cross, Luke
23:40. They shared the evil condition they were judged to suffer under. And one of them requested, and
obtained, a share in that blessed condition our Savior would enter shortly.
There is also a communion or fellowship in actions, whether those actions are good or evil. Among good
actions is the communion and fellowship that the saints enjoy in the gospel, or in performing and
celebrating the worship of God that is instituted in the gospel, Phil. 1:5. David rejoices in the same
general kind of actions, Ps. 42:4. Among evil actions, there was communion in that cruel act of revenge
and murder shared between the brothers Simon and Levi in Gen. 49:5.
Our communion with God is no single one of these; indeed it excludes some of them. It cannot be natural
communion. It must be voluntary and by consent. It cannot be communion in a shared state or condition,
but in actions. It cannot be communion in shared actions on a third party. It must be shared actions
between God and us. The infinite disparity between God and man made the great philosopher conclude
that there could be no friendship between them.1
He could allow some undetermined closeness between
friends; but in his understanding, there was no place for closeness between God and man. Another says
that while there is a certain fellowship between God and man, it is only the general interaction of
providence. Some expressed higher regard for this communion, but they understood nothing of which
they spoke. This knowledge is hidden in Christ, as will be made apparent later. It is too wonderful for our
sinful and corrupted nature to comprehend. Guessing only leads to terror and fear of death if we were to
come into the presence of God. But as was said, we have a new foundation, and a new revelation of this
privilege.
Communion is the mutual communication of the good things that those who commune delight in, based
on the union that exists between them. This is how it was with Jonathan and David. Their souls clung to
one another in love (1 Sam. 20:17). There was a union between them based on love. And they mutually
communicated all the outpourings of that love. In spiritual things this exchange is more eminent. The
outpourings or issues of that union are the most precious and eminent possible.
1
Aristotle, Ethics, viii. 2; Friendship requires equality. Our communion with God consists in him communicating himself to us, and us returning to him the
things he requires and accepts. These things flow from the union that we have with him in Jesus Christ.
This communion is twofold:
1. A perfect and complete communion. This is the full fruition of all his glory and our total
surrender to him, resting in him as our ultimate end. We will enjoy this kind of communion when
we see him as he is in eternity.
2. An initial and incomplete communion. This consists in the first fruits and the dawning of
perfection that we have here and now, in grace. This kind is all that I will handle in this discourse.
I will address the mutual communication that exists between God and the saints while they walk together
in a covenant of peace, ratified in the blood of Jesus. By the riches of his grace, the God and Father of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has restored us from a state of enmity to a condition of communion and
fellowship with himself. I pray that anyone who reads these words of his mercy may taste his sweetness
and excellence in doing this, so that he will be stirred to a greater longing for the fullness of his salvation,
