unity Archives - Plain Bible Teaching

Andy Sochor May 20, 2026

The Limits of Fellowship

The New Testament describes fellowship as something to be valued, built, and maintained among Christians. In his first epistle, John declared that the apostles taught the message of the gospel “so that you too may have fellowship with us” (1 John 1:3). When the apostles in Jerusalem wanted to demonstrate their acceptance and approval of Paul and Barnabas, they “gave to [them] the right hand of fellowship” (Galatians 2:9).

The word translated fellowship is the Greek word koinonia. It contains the idea of association, community, communion, and joint participation (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). Because of this definition, this same word is used elsewhere in the New Testament to describe a contribution made for needy saints (Romans 15:26; 2 Corinthians 9:13) and participation in their support (2 Corinthians 8:4), a sharing in the body and blood of Christ as we partake of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 10:16), and a participation with Paul in the work of preaching the gospel (Philippians 1:5).

While we sometimes think of fellowship in a generic sense and talk about the “fellowship” we have with Christians around the world (even those we have never met or even know of), the way the term is used in the New Testament has a much more limited scope. It is true that all Christians – whether they know one another or not – have a common bond in Christ. We are all brethren (1 Peter 1:22; 2:17) and part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). But fellowship – the sense of community, the close association, the shared communion, and the way in which we jointly participate in the Lord’s work – demands a more personal and localized view of fellowship rather than one that is vague and impossible to see how far it extends.

The reason this is important is because of the limits that we see in the New Testament on fellowship. There are certain people to whom we must not extend fellowship (not associate with them, not welcome them into the local church community, not commune with them, and not work with them in the cause of Christ). It would be impossible to respect the limits placed on fellowship if we were automatically “in fellowship” with others, whether we knew about them or not.

What are these limits? Notice some of the people or groups we are not to have fellowship with:Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: fellowship, unity

Andy Sochor November 15, 2023

What Will Destroy a Congregation

If we were to think of potential threats to our local churches, a number of things could be added to the list. Paul made a list like this near the end of his second letter to the church in Corinth. Notice what the apostle wrote:

“For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances; I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced” (2 Corinthians 12:20-21).

When Paul wrote his first letter to these brethren, there were many problems he needed to address. When we read through the second letter, it is clear that they had made significant improvements. Even so, there were still issues that threatened the health of that congregation.

In the passage above, Paul described some things that would destroy a congregation. It would be helpful for all of us to consider these, even if we are not currently experiencing these problems in our church. If these problems ever do arise, we want to identify them and address them as quickly as possible.

As Paul described the things that would destroy a congregation, we can break them down into three main categories – destroying unity, destroying purity, and refusing help. Let us consider each of these.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: church, division, fellowship, sin, unity

Andy Sochor November 9, 2023

The Problem with Ecumenism (11.09.23)

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Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

This week we’re talking about ecumenism. This is the movement to promote unity among various religious groups despite differences they have with one another in their doctrines and practices. In a recent episode, Kristofer Gardana joined me to talk about the temptation for churches to welcome anyone and everyone who comes to them. This is related to that topic, but has more to do with churches joining together with other churches and cooperating in various activities, ministries, and events. Is this something our local churches should be doing? We’re going to consider this today.Continue Reading

Tagged With: ecumenism, fellowship, unity

Andy Sochor May 3, 2023

Conduct Yourselves in a Manner Worthy of the Gospel

When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, there were very few problems that he needed to correct. These brethren were faithfully following the Lord and were an encouragement to the apostle. So he encouraged them to continue serving the Lord in a way that would please Him. Consider the following verses:

“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me” (Philippians 1:27-30).

In the passage above, Paul told them to “conduct [themselves] in a manner worthy of the gospel.” This indicates that the gospel calls us to a higher standard, and Christians must strive to live up to it. But what exactly does that mean? How can we do this today? Let us consider what Paul wrote in this passage about how we can “conduct [ourselves] in a manner worthy of the gospel.”Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: gospel, persecution, unity, work

Andy Sochor February 15, 2023

The Problem with Ecumenism

Ecumenism refers to the movement to promote unity among various religious groups despite differences in doctrines and practices. Often the focus of this is among “Christian” denominations, yet some want to extend this more broadly to include other religious groups as well. This can be seen in the growing number of outreach activities, ministries, and events shared by different “faiths” who, in previous generations, would not have fellowship with one another. One manifestation of this can be a deemphasis on evangelism since that would imply that someone needs to be taught and converted to the truth rather than accepted in their current condition.

Many people see these kinds of efforts as being unquestionably good. After all, with everything that the Bible teaches about unity, how could ecumenism possibly be a bad thing? Unfortunately, the “unity” promoted by ecumenism is not the same type of unity that is described in the Scriptures.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: ecumenism, fellowship, unity, unity in diversity

Andy Sochor February 1, 2023

Members One of Another

“For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:3-5).

Paul told the saints in Rome they were “members one of another.” They were part of the same body; therefore, they were to act in a certain way toward one another.

The same is true for us today. As we are members of the Lord’s church – particularly members of a local congregation – certain responsibilities come with that. In order to help us learn how to treat our brethren and fellow members of the body of Christ, we are going to consider what Paul told the Christians in Rome about their treatment of “one another.”Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: church, encouragement, fellowship, judging, love, unity

Andy Sochor August 27, 2020

When Is It Time to Leave a Congregation? (Episode 14)

Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

The question we’ll be considering in this episode was submitted via email:

When is it time to leave a congregation?

When difficult situations, challenges, problems, etc. affect our local churches, we often wonder if we should stay or leave to become part of another congregation. Besides this, even if we aren’t experiencing challenges or problems in our local church, we may sometimes wonder if it would be better for us to leave and become part of another congregation – for various reasons. In this episode, we’re going to consider some principles that will hopefully help us answer our question.