Full Text for Fellowship with God (Text)

(ttnurnrbia m4tnlngital &tntIJly Continuing LEHRE UND WEHRE MAGAZIN FUER E v .-LUTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. XV August, 1944 No. 8 CONTENTS Pap Fetlowship with God. c. A.upst llardt ___ ______. __ 505 Walther and the Free Lutheran Conferences of 1856-1859 ___ 529E. L. Luker ____ S63Outlines OB the Standard Gospels Theological Observer 572 Eln PrediIer muas Dicht alleIn tOft­ Es 1st kein DIng. das die Leute den, also daas lIE die Schafe unter­ mehr bel deJ" Klrche behaelt dem weise. wle lie recbte ~ 801len die gute :Predl8t. - Apologfe, Art. 24 seID. 8OIl~ auch ~ den Woe1­ feD. to.hnm, -daas Bfe die Sehafe atcht aoare1feb. und mit falllcher Lehre ver­ If the trumpet give an uncertafn fuehren un4 IrrtuDl elnfuebren_ sound. who &ball prepare himself to Luthet' the battle? - 1 C07'.14:8 Published for the Ev. Lath. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, aDd Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, st.Louis 18, Mo. ftIRDII m v ... ,.. Concordia Theological Monthly Vol. xv AUGUST, 1944 No.8 Fellowship with God (The following paper was read before the Pastoral Conference of the South Wisconsin District and offered to the CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY upon request. It represents the first part of the subject "The Scriptural Content of K oinonia, Its Manifestations and the Restrictions upon Such Manifestations.") By way of introduction lei me say a few words about the reasons for submitting a paper on Koinonia. It is well known that the word "fellowship" has been very much in the foreground in recent years, especially in connection with the efforts of Lutheran bodies to establish church fellowship. We, too, have had com- mittees at work discussing doctrinal differences with a view to bringing about Scriptural unity as a basis of church and altar fellowship. Some in our midst have looked upon these negotia- tions with doubts and apprehensions; others, however, feel that we have not even gone far enough in extending the hand of fellowship. In view of such divergent opinions, it was thought necessary to restudy the term koinonia and inquire: What is the Scriptural content of that word? In what way should koinonia manifest itself? Are there any restrictions upon such manifes- tations? There are other reasons for this paper on Koinonia. If we study the spiritual life in our Church, we find a deplorable lack of willingness to manifest fellowship by serving the brethren, both among pastors and laymen. We sing with religious fervor, "Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love," but we some- times act as though that tie were most unblessed. Too frequently pastors and members isolate themselves and seem satisfied to work in their own sphere, without sufficient regard for the common good; there is too much particularism, selfishness, and aloofness. We notice absenteeism also on the home front of our Church. Many stay away from congregational meetings, conferences, synod- 506 Fellowship with God ical conventions, without a valid excuse; when they do attend, they appear rather uninterested and do not meet their brethren with warmth and cordiality. For some the Church seems to be little more than a labor union in which they pay their dues, not a communion in which they share life's greatest blessings. On the other hand, we practice fellowship where it should be denied. It has been said that church discipline is not exercised as conscientiously as it should be according to God's Word, that policies and decisions are often based on expediency rather than principle. We are not in a position to say with finality to what extent this is true; but so much is certain: all is not as it should be. If we love our Lutheran Church, and we do,!) we want to do all in our power to correct what is defective. "The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God." 2) Our ascended Lord has made us "pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come, in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the statUI • :llm: • _. ~ist, that we henceforth • children, tossed to and and carried about with every 'Wind of doctrine:; by the sleight of n1.en and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, -may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itseLf in love." 3) This paper is a small con- tribution toward that end. The word koinonia takes us into the very heart of the Christian religion and can well serve as a basis of our consideration when we have to decide certain doctrinal and practical questions. It is used in Scripture chiefly to denote the fellowship of the Christian with Christ, and the fellowship of the Christian with fellow Christians. Originally only the second part was to be treated. Since, however, Christian fellowship is rooted in and dependent on Christ-fellovvship, it seetned rnost logical and profitable to stuc both aspects of koinonia. For the present we shall present a pap, on our fellowship with God. 1) "For my brethren and companions' sakes I will now say, Pea be wiL~ .. ~:.ee. Because or the house of the Lord, our Gc . _ - ... thy good." Ps.122: 8, 9. "If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hal forget her cunning. If J do not remember thee, let my tonem" c'-I",," to the ..... -.+ .. -I' ~y :cnoutn., if I prefer not Jerusalem above 1 Ps. 137: :>, Il. 2) Luke 3: 5,6. 3) Eph. 4: 11-16. Fellowship with God 507 To ascertain the Scriptural content of koinonia, we must, of course, study in their context those passages in which this word, so pregnant with meaning, is used. Before doing that, however, it may not be amiss to set forth the etymology of the term and its usus loquendi. I Etymology and Meanings of Koinonia KOLVOOVLU, occurs nineteen times in the New Testament. It is an abstract noun, derived, with its cognates XOLVOOVO, and %OLVOOV800, from %Owo;, the stem of which, XOLV-, is related to C)"1Jv. The adjective XOLVO; means common, that is, belonging to several, communis; it is the opposite of LilLO;, which means one's own, private. It is so used in the well-known passage Acts 2: 44: "And all that believed were together, and had all things common (XOLVU)," and Jude 3: "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation (XOLvfj; crw't'Y]QLa;) , it was needful for me to write unto you," 4) In the papyri 'to XOLVOV is used as a name for a guild of artisans, corresponding to our modern union.G) KOLVOOVO; a s adjective expresses fellowship, communion, associa- tion, etc, As a noun it designates a sharer, a partner, a comrade. In this sense we meet it in 1 Cor. 10: 18: "Behold Israel after the flesh; are not they which eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar (XOWOOVOL 'tou {}ucrLacr't~QLoU)?" The translation "partakers of the altar" is a literal translation of the Greek; but to bring out the meaning Paul intends to convey in this connection, we should prefer to translate: "have communion, or fellowship, with the altar." It is so translated in verse 20: "I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils." Matt. 23: 30 Jesus quotes the scribes as saying: "If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them (a:u'toov XOLVOOVOL) in the blood of the prophets." The meaning, of course, is : We would not have had a share in the murder of the prophets. In Luke 5: 10 XOLVOOVO; means partner. "They beckoned unto their partners." KOWOOVEOO, the verb, denotes a communion, or association, be- tween two or more, based on a %OLVOV, a thing that two or more have in common. It means: to have a share in something together with someone else. Anteil nehmen; less frequently : to give a share of something to someone, communicate, Anteil geben. For the former meaning we may cite R eb. 2: 14: "Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers (XEXOLVWV'Y]XEV) of flesh and blood, Re also Himself likewise took part of the same." For the latter we 4) Cpo also Acts 4: 32. 5) Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non- Literary Sources, p. 350. 508 Fellowship with God have no example in the New Testament. But the meaning is well established through classical usage; e. g., f.1YJ JtuQo~ , f.1YJ AUjGVOU, f.1YJ ~Qo'toii f.1l1I\Evo~ ••• 'tOU'tWV XOLVWVELV.6 ) The abstract noun XOLVWVLa. denotes joint participation, the fel- lowship of persons with persons in one and the same object, always common to all, and sometimes whole to each. "It is worthy of note that XOLVWVLa., like the verb, XOLVWV€W, is used specially of tbe closest of all human relationships, e. g., the marriage contract." 7) Kittel supports this view and says aptly: "In XOLVWVO~ liegt besonders das Moment der Gemeinschaft; das Wort ist deshalb faehig, vor aHem auch innige Verbundenheit auszudruecken." 8) This is apparent from passages like Acts 2: 42: "They continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship (XOLVWVL~)," where the word is obviously employed to describe that common life of close brother- hood in which all that they did they did in common, so that there seemed to be but "one heart and one soul among them all." 9) We may compare also Galatians 2:9: "And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me the right hand of fellowship ( I\E1;L(J.~ •• • )(.m:vrovLa.~) . ~' Finally, XOLVWVLa., like XOLVWVEW, may also connote a fellowship which manifests itself by giving a share to another with whom we are associated. It is clearly so used in Hebrews 13: 16: "To do good and to communicate (XOLVWVLa.~) forget not." This meaning is con- tested by Cremel-Koegel, but defended, rightly I believe, in the monumental work of Kittel; 10) the context and use bear that out, and the Authorized Version translators were right in rendering ,Romans 15: 26 as they did: "It hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution (XOLVWVLa.V 'tL'VU JtOL'I]cra.cr-fra.L) for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem." 11) To sum up, then, XOLVWVLa., with its cognates, means: First : The share which one has or receives in something, joint participation, das Anteilnehmen; Secondly: The share which one gives, benefaction, communi- cation, das Anteilgeben. 6) Demosthenes 25, 61, cited in Kittel, Theologisches Woerterbuch zum Neuen Testament, III, p.798. 7) Moulton and Milligan, op. cit., p. 351. 8) "Dem Wortstamm XOL'VOr; nach ist das Teilhaben bei ~oL'Vwv6<; anders orientiert als z. B. bei