Grace, the Forbidden Gospel - Online Christian Library

Law Grace
Misunderstood Bible Terminology
In this chapter we’ll take a close look at some Bible terminology that can easily be misunderstood if not read
through the perspective of the New Covenant. Many of these verses, especially from the epistles of the
apostle John, have been used as a whip to beat the church back into obeying the Old Covenant Law. A good
understanding of grace and righteousness would go a long way into clearing up the fog surrounding these
topics of discussion, such as the terms “fellowship”, “practicing truth”, “committing sin” or “lawlessness”, etc.
Undivided attention and prolonged concentration is strongly recommended for this one.
Fellowship
It is commonly believed that whenever a believer messes up in regard to their moral behavior, that they fall
out of fellowship with God and that they need to confess their sins in order to restore such “fellowship”.
However when viewed from this perspective the term “fellowship” (better known as “fellowshipping with God”
in Pentecostal circles) would then refer to a feeling of intimacy that comes and goes depending on our ability
to perform at our best. This is not what scripture has to say, in fact not even once in the entire New
Testament is the word “fellowship” described in this manner, especially when it pertains to our relationship
with God. The term “fellowshipping with God” is not even used once in the entire Bible. It is a phrase that has
been conjured up by people to refer to their own quiet time with God and through the last few decades it has
been twisted by legalists to make believers feel guilty and stand accused of being “out of fellowship” with God
if they didn’t allocate a certain amount of time per week to prayer and Bible study. On the contrary, here are a
few examples of how the word “fellowship” has been used in Biblical terms:
...For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with
darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? (2
Cor 6:14b-15 NKJV)
Take note how these opposing entities are contrasted with each other: righteousness vs. lawlessness, light
vs. darkness, Christ (anointed) vs. Belial (worthless) and believer vs. unbeliever. It says that such opposites
cannot have fellowship with one another, meaning they are not compatible. Just as Christ cannot have
fellowship with Belial, in the same way a believer is not to be considered by the same measure as an
unbeliever. If a person is therefore out of fellowship with Christ it means that they have not been born again
and they fall under the same category as darkness, Belial and lawlessness in the above verse.
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor
1:9 NKJV)
We were called into the fellowship and therefore when we put our faith in Christ we are now in the fellowship.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
(1 John 1:6 NKJV)
This verse makes it abundantly clear that the apostle John is talking about our position in Christ, not our
behavior. We cannot say that we have fellowship with God (in other words that we have been born again) if
we walk in darkness (which means we have not actually been born again), because then we would be lying.
In simple English: You cannot say you are a Christian if you have not been born again!!
Practicing Truth or Righteousness / Walking in Darkness
Now of course the pessimist or legalist would say, “Yes but what about the parts in the previous verse that
says “walk in darkness” and “practice the truth?” The answer is simple: once again this is not referring to our
own works of righteousness; in fact it has nothing to do with our behavior. The terminology used by the
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