The 4 C’s of Fellowship with God are as follows:

1. Conditions for Fellowship

2. Conduct for Fellowship

3. Characteristics of Fellowship

4. Consequences of Fellowship

In our last lesson began to look at the Consequences of Fellowship:

1. Victory over the world.

2. Assurance of Salvation.

The first consequence is the knowledge that we now have victory over the world.  Remember that no matter how much we get beat up in this world, or how dire our circumstances may look on the surface.  We know that we have the victory, because we have put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he has already obtained the victory for us.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. – John 16:33 

The Second consequence of having fellowship with God is that we receive assurance of our Salvation.  We know that we did not earn our salvation; therefore, we do not keep our salvation by living right.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9

The above passage is just one of many scriptures that make that clear. However; If we fall out of fellowship with God, we can forget that we have forgiveness

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.  – 2 Peter 1:5-9

Eternal Security for the believer is a result of maintaining fellowship with God.

Let me explain what I mean.  If you have obeyed the Gospel, then you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Therefore, you have the assurance of your salvation otherwise known as Eternal Security.

However; if you do not maintain fellowship with God; by allowing your sins to go unconfessed (1 John 1:6-9) then you will begin to doubt your salvation.  Doubt is Satans goal for the believer’s life. He has been introducing doubt into the believer’s life since the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:1-7)

Doubt, The Weapon Of Satan

In the Garden temptation, Satan was able to get Adam and Eve to:

1. Disobey The revealed Word of God (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-3)

2. Believe the lie of Satan (Genesis 3:4-5)

3. Place their will above Gods will (Genesis 3:6)

If Satan can get us to doubt our salvation, then he can keep us from working for God.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.  – Titus 2:11-14

In other words, he wants you to be so busy worrying about your salvation, and how you don’t deserve it, that you won’t bother sharing the Gospel with anyone else; as we are called to do.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:4 – 1 Peter 3:15

The Two Natures of the Believer

Confusion about the “New” nature that we receive upon accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior is the primary source of this doubt.  The Bible gives us two commands in 2 Timothy 2:15:

• Study the Word of God

• Rightly divide the Word of God

Failure to follow these two commands has allowed Satan to interject doubt into the believer’s life, where salvation is concerned.  The truth of the matter is that there are numerous passages in the Bible that teach that someone could lose their salvation.

However;  none of these passages are aimed at the Body of Christ.  As we read in Hebrews 1:1, God has dealt with different people at different times in different ways, but now is dealing with us through his Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

To “rightly divide” the Word of God, you need to look to see what the Lord is saying (in context), who he is talking to, and when.  Since Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles

For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: – Romans 11:13

We will look at what Paul had to say about these matters since we receive our doctrine from him.

The Old Nature

Much of the confusion comes from the idea that once a person has responded to the Gospel of salvation, that they no longer have a sin nature.  This teaching is contrary to what  Pauline doctrine teaches us.

Paul said in Galatians 5:16-26 that we have to decide to walk in the spirit daily. If we could no longer sin as a born-again believer than it would just be “automatic” to walk in the Spirit and, therefore, unnecessary for Paul to remind us to do so.

See also Romans 7:15-25. In this passage, Paul is explaining the daily battle that the Born Again Believer has to face.  Romans was written around A.D. 60 some 20 plus years after Paul’s conversion.

He writes that he still battles with the flesh.  He still finds himself doing the things that he doesn’t want to do any longer and has difficulty in doing the things that he would rather do

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. – Romans 7:15

The New Nature

Once we are Born again, we become a new creature:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new – 2 Corinthians 5:17

This new nature is described as the inner man, and also as the new man in Christ.  According to Ephesians 3:16, the inner man is strengthened by the Spirit of the Lord.  Our outward man (old man/old nature) will perish, but our inward man (new man/new nature) is renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:7-18).

In Colossians 3:1-17 Paul exhorts us to put off the old man and to put on the new man.  If we no longer had to battle with the sin nature than we would not need to be told over and over again to “put off” the old man and to “put on” the new man.  It is a choice that the Believer has to make on a daily basis.

Satan would have you to believe that if you sin you are no longer saved, and, therefore, would make you ineffective for the cause of Christ.  John shows us in 1 John 1:8-10 that if we deny that we still battle with sin, then we are liars, but if we will simply confess that sin, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin, which allows us to maintain close fellowship with him.

It is critical for the believer to get ahold of the fact that once you are Born Again, you have Eternal Life

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.  – 1 John 5:13

Having that assurance will prevent the seed of doubt from keeping you from the service of the Lord.

In our next Post, we will begin to look at 14 salient verses that support the doctrine of eternal security.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this article provided some encouragement and helped your Christian walk.