What Does “Partnership in the Gospel” Mean?
Many Christians use the word fellowship, but what does it actually mean in the Bible? Is Christian partnership just spending time together, or does it involve something deeper? Is it like a Limited Liability Partnership where each person is liable for his own responsibilities and misconduct?
D. A. Carson clarifies this idea in his book Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians and shows how gospel partnership shaped the life of the early church.
In Philippians 1:3–6, Paul thanks God for the Philippians because of their fellowship / partnership in the gospel. Partnership carries the idea of a shared, active participation in proclaiming Christ as King and what it means to follow him as a disciple. Biblical fellowship is more than casual friendship or social events; it is when believers join together to advance the gospel.
Carson shows that in the first century, the word partnership (koinonia) had a business connotation to it, when he writes,
If John and Harry buy a boat and start a fishing business, they have entered into a fellowship, a partnership. Intriguingly, even in the New Testament the word is often tied to financial matters. Thus, when the Macedonian Christians send money to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem, they are entering into fellowship with them (Rom. 15: 26). The heart of true fellowship is self-sacrificing conformity to a shared vision.
What is of most importance? The central vision we have to Christ which calls forth and demands our commitment.
Gospel Partnership Is More Than Friendship
Carson continues when he writes,
So when Paul gives thanks, with joy, because of the Philippians’ “partnership in the gospel” or “fellowship in the gospel,” he is thanking God that these brothers and sisters in Christ— from the moment of their conversion (“ from the first day until now,” Paul writes)— rolled up their sleeves and got involved in the advance of the gospel. They continued their witness in Philippi, they persevered in their prayers for Paul, they sent money to support him in his ministry— all testifying to their shared vision of the importance and priority of the gospel. That is more than enough reason for thanking God.
Christian fellowship, then, is not passive. It is believers laboring together for the glory of Christ.
Philippians 1:6 and the Evidence of Genuine Faith
And this leads into what Paul says in verse 6, “…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul could see the difference in their lives. He saw real fruit from an actual, genuine faith that didn’t sit back with “fire insurance” in hand, but got up and did something. Because God preserves them, they will persevere.
Paul wasn’t sitting back basking in memories of the good tv shows they watched together or the barbecue’s their families shared together—fine things in and of themselves. His focus was on how God was working in their lives and changing them to be more like servants in the shape of His Son.
What Does Christian Fellowship Look Like Today?
What do our conversations look like? How do we speak to one another or about others when they aren’t within earshot? Are we really living out what we claim we believe? Do we care about each other’s growth in our relationship with Christ? Not every conversation needs to be about theology. But we should want to advance the gospel’s work in our own lives (and in the lives of others) as well. We should seek to see how we can rid ourselves of sin and move toward lives of abundance centered on God’s kindness and good character.
See my other posts about Philippians
- George Guthrie’s commentary on Philippians
- Read his section on the Unity of the letter to the Philippians
- Matthew Harmon’s commentary on Philippians
- Jeannine Brown’s commentary on Philippians
- Grant Osborne’s commentary on Philippians
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