Commentaries:
Our calling would go nowhere beyond a meaningless invitation if God was not faithful to forgive our sins. Without forgiveness and cleansing, there is no access to Him, and thus no relationship with Him blossoms and grows.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness
This particular verse is written in such a way as to be translated either "with" or "in": Our fellowship is with Christ, or our fellowship is in Christ. It can go either way. The case is both subjective and objective in I Corinthians 1:9.
Fellowship
means "sharing," "communion with," "companionship with," or "association with." We have been called into an association—a companionship, a fellowship, a communion—with Christ. All these words are synonyms. The only difference might be the degree of the intimacy that is expressed. In addition, fellowship indicates people having things in common—they do things together because they share common interests. What we have in common is our love for Christ.
We are drawn to the brethren because of the common tie—the common love for the same Person. Even when we meet people in the church for the very first time, we do not feel as though they are perfect strangers to us because of that commonality. We recognize the spirit or attitude that emanates from them. It is almost something that we can feel or see because our senses seem to be attuned to it. This is why world travelers with the church say that they can go into another congregation and know that it is of the same Spirit as the one that they traveled from.
There is a bond or union between us because we love the same Person. To the Christian, then, Christ's friend is our friend. We are members of the same body. We are children in the same Family. We are soldiers in the same army. We are pilgrims on the same road. These same analogies are used many places in the Bible.
John W. Ritenbaugh
How to Know We Love Christ
God has enriched us in everything that we need. All the riches of His nature, power, and knowledge have been given to us. We do not come short in any gift. Individually, we have been given whatever gift(s) we need. Then, Paul assures us that God confirms us in the end, very similar to what He tells the Philippians, "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). He will be with us to the end, for all that time. Finally, he gives us the assurance that God is faithful. He will give what He promises.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
1 Corinthians 1:9
Ephesians 4:1-6
Library resources that contain this verse:
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