Koinonia: The Communication of Grace

The New Commandment of Koinonia, ‘Communication’

by gonzodave

The command to love one another as Christ loves us is more than a magnificent “ideal.” It is not one among other commands. It is the very heart of “the word,” the command, given by God the Logos, Jesus Christ, to each believer.

(word count w/o footnotes, about 1875)

REVEALED BY THE “EXPERIENTIAL” [JOY] ASPECT OF THE VALUE OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

As introduced in the above, the command to love one another as Christ loves us is more than a magnificent “ideal.” It is not one among other commands. It is the very heart of “the word,” the command, given by God the Logos, Jesus Christ, to each believer. This “law of Christ” will fulfill the obligation to conform to the very nature of God. It is accomplished through a new love, working out the relation between Christ and all believers, enabled by the daily imparted grace [power] of God to the child who seeks to “keep the commandment(s)” and learn by doing the will of God.

1 Tim 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness [Gk. eusebeia, belief that forms the basis for behavior by which man is restored to godliness]: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

How supremely insufficient is the attempt made by professing Christians who adhere to a shallow interpretation of God’s Word. Which is assumed to be implied in the synoptic Gospels, namely, The Sermon on the Mount. This presumption is driven and conditioned upon a man-made notion, a theory of atonement which defines the value of the death of Christ. This theory undervalues His shed blood and overlooks the power of His resurrection life shared by all believers. Taken together, the presumption and the theory support the stalwart assertion that “daily behavior” through self-effort determines the outcome of a future salvation. The self-centered and joyless “experiential” aspect of Arminian salvation is that believers can never be assured that they themselves, or their believing loved ones have become the children of the living God who will be together in heaven with Christ.

Christianity has two commands (1 John 3:23): (1) to the unsaved, to obey the gospel, to believe in the Bible’s witness and testimony to Jesus Christ which is Jesus as the preexistent Son of God who was conceived by God of a virgin and entered this world in the flesh of a newborn babe, who died for all the sins of the world, and, “this same man” rose again in glorified human flesh that all believers might share His resurrected life and “never see death,” and, (2) to those who are saved, to love fellow believers as Christ loves them.

The common ground of the secessionist in 1 John and today’s Arminian profession of faith is the inescapable harmony of a false Christology. In that: (1) the former assertion of a low moral ground whereby behavior does not matter (salvific sinlessness is a given by faith because of the pre-existence of Christ, Jesus came in water [incarnation at baptism] and His death [blood] is of no value for a forgiveness that is unnecessary) or, (2) the latter claim of the high moral ground, whereby behavior is everything (salvific sinlessness is maintained by self-effort and continued faith, Jesus came by water and blood, but the blood has only a “theoretical” value for an incomplete forgiveness).

Both professions of faith, despite the human consequences of moral position, are false. Both maintain a low view of the value in the death of Christ. Therefore, true saving belief in Jesus Christ is not possible. Proven by the many clear statements of Scripture that assert without disagreement that the blood of Christ removes all sin through faith. And, secondly, reliance on the living, resurrected Christ, just as He is now, as the source of daily behavior is missing from both assertions. The secessionists of 1 John and the Arminian have failed to first obey the command incumbent upon the unsaved and, thus, lack the ability to appreciate and obey the command incumbent upon the saved (1 John 3:23).

God’s graceful truth is that only through the completed and secure infinite redemption of salvation is righteous daily behavior possible “to a thousand generations to those who love me and keep my commandments” (Ex 2:6). More than anything, the primary commandment of Jesus “to love one another as I have loved you” is not the indication, rather it is the means by which Christian behavior is perfected through love and “fulfills the law.” This is the defining argument that convicts the secessionists in I John of a false Christological profession and apostate doctrine.

The Arminian, with his “Social Gospel,” is blind to the divine imperative spoken by Jesus, “you must [Gk. dei] be born again from above [Gk. anothen]” to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:7ff, 3ff) and, “Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth [the gospel] through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Pet 2:22-23). In the “word,” the command from the lips of Jesus, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:3-5, 9-14).

Only by the new birth is this love for one another manifested. It is a Christian reality. Without it, one cannot abide in Jesus as the true vine and have communion (koinonia) with God and other believers “that your joy might be full.”

Copyright 2007 by David Coulon. Use with credit.
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Vine’s Expository Dictionary
(vines.mike-obrien.net)

Communicate, Communication
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3koinonia (Noun)

Akin to A (which see), is translated in Heb. 13:16 “to communicate,” lit., “be not forgetful of good deed and of fellowship;” “fellowship” (AV, “communication”) in Phm. 1:6, RV. See COMMUNION.

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Communion
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1koinonia (Noun)

“a having in common (koinos), partnership, fellowship” (see COMMUNICATE), denotes (a) the share which one has in anything, a participation, fellowship recognized and enjoyed; thus it is used of the common experiences and interests of Christian men, Ac. 2:42; Ga. 2:9; of participation in the knowledge of the Son of God, 1Co. 1:9; of sharing the realization of the effects of the Blood (i.e., the Death) of Christ and the Body of Christ, as set forth by the emblems in the Lord’s Supper, 1Co. 10:16; of participation in what is derived from the Holy Spirit, 2Co. 13:14 (RV, “communion”); Php. 2:1; of participation in the sufferings of Christ, Php. 3:10; of sharing in the resurrection life possessed in Christ, and so of fellowship with the Father and the Son, 1Jo. 1:3,6,7; negatively, of the impossibility of “communion” between light and darkness, 2Co. 6:14; (b) fellowship manifested in acts, the practical effects of fellowship with God, wrought by the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers as the outcome of faith, Phm. 1:6, and finding expression in joint ministration to the needy, Ro. 15:26; 2Co. 8:4; 9:13; Heb. 13:16, and in the furtherance of the Gospel by gifts, Php. 1:5. See COMMUNICATION, CONTRIBUTION, DISTRIBUTION, FELLOWSHIP.

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Contribution
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1koinonia

Is twice rendered “contribution,” Ro. 15:26; 2Co. 9:13, RV, (AV, “distribution”). See COMMUNION.

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Fellowship
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1koinonia (Noun)

(a) “communion, fellowship, sharing in common” (from koinos, “common”), is translated “communion” in 1Co. 10:16; Phm. 1:6, RV, “fellowship,” for AV, “communication;” it is most frequently translated “fellowship;” (b) “that which is the outcome of fellowship, a contribution,” e.g., Ro. 15:26; 2Co. 8:4. See COMMUNION, CONTRIBUTION, etc. Note: In Eph. 3:9, some mss. have koinonia, instead of oikonomia, “dispensation,” RV.
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ISBE (bible.org)

Communion; (fellowship)

II. Fellowship as Experienced.

From the very beginning the early Christians experienced a peculiar sense of unity. Christ is at once the center of this unity and the origin of every expression of fellowship. Sometimes the fellowship is essentially an experience and as such it is scarcely susceptible of definition. It may rather be regarded as a mystical union in Christ. In other instances the fellowship approaches or includes the idea of intercourse. In some passages it is represented as a participation or partnership. The terms occur most frequently in the writings of Paul with whom the idea of Christian unity was a controlling principle.

In its various relations, fellowship is represented: (1) As a communion between the Son and the Father. The gospel record represents Jesus as enjoying a unique sense of communion and intimacy with the Father. Among many such expressions those of Mt 11:25-27 (compare Lk 10:21,22) and Jn 14 through 15 are especially important. (2) As our communion with God, either with the Father or the Son or with the Father through the Son or the Holy Spirit. “Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 1:3; compare also Jn 14:6,23,16). (3) As our communion one with another. “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another” (1 Jn 1:7). Sometimes the idea of communion occurs in relation with abstract ideas or experiences: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph 5:11); “the fellowship of his sufferings” (Phil 3:10); “the fellowship of thy faith” (Philem 1:6). In three passages the relation of the fellowship is not entirely clear: the “fellowship of the Spirit” (Phil 2:1); “the communion of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor 13:14); and “the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:9). The fellowship is probably to be understood as that prevailing among Christians by virtue of the grace of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

It is not to be inferred that the idea of fellowship is limited to the passages in which the specific words for communion are used. Some of the clearest and richest expressions of unity and fellowship are found in the Gospels, though, these words do not occur in them. In fact, perhaps, the most familiar and forcible expressions of the idea are those in which they are represented symbolically, as in the parable of the Vine and the Branches (Jn 15:1 ff) or in the figure of the Body and its Members (Mt 5:29 ff; Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 12).

Russell Benjamin Miller
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Variations of Koinonia in the Greek text w/ “Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance” numbering

κοινωνει 2841 {V-PAM-2S},{V-PAI-3S} communicate, distribute, be partaker
κοινωνειτε 2841 {V-PAI-2P} communicate, distribute, be partaker
κοινωνειτω 2841 {V-PAM-3S} communicate, distribute, be partaker
κοινωνια 2842 {N-NSF},{N-DSF} (to) communicate(-ation), communion, (contri-)distribution, fellowship
κοινωνιαν 2842 {N-ASF} (to) communicate(-ation), communion, (contri-)distribution, fellowship
κοινωνιας 2842 {N-GSF} (to) communicate(-ation), communion, (contri-)distribution, fellowship
κοινωνικους 2843 {A-APM} willing to communicate

See also the Wikipedia entry below:

“Koinonia is the anglicisation of a Greek word (κοινωνία) that means communion by intimate participation. The word is used frequently in the New Testament of the Bible to describe the relationship within the early Christian church as well as the act of breaking bread in the manner which Christ prescribed during the Passover meal [John 6:48-69, Matthew 26:26-28, 1 Corinthian 10:16, 1 Corinthians 11:24]. As a result the word is used within the Christian Church to participate, as Paul says, in the Communion of – in this manner it identifies the idealised state of fellowship and community that should exist, this we call – Communion.

Contents
1 New Testament usage of koinonia
2 The spiritual meaning of koinonia
2.1 Sharing
2.2 Relationships
2.3 Community
3 The sacramental meaning of koinonia
4 Further Reading
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links

New Testament usage of Koinonia

The essential meaning of the koinonia embraces concepts conveyed in the English terms community, communion, joint participation, sharing and intimacy. Koinonia can therefore refer in some contexts to a jointly contributed gift.[1] The word appears 19 times in most editions of the Greek New Testament. In the New American Standard Bible, it is translated “fellowship” twelve times, “sharing” three times, and “participation” and “contribution” twice each.[2]

In the New Testament, the basis of communion begins with a mystical joining of Jesus Christ with the community of the faithful. This union is also experienced in practical daily life. The same bonds that link the individual to Jesus also link him or her with other faithful. The New Testament letters describe those bonds as so vital and genuine that a deep level of intimacy can be experienced among the members of a local church.[3].

The first usage of koinonia in the Greek New Testament is found in Acts 2:42-47, where we read a striking description of the common life shared by the early Christian believers in Jerusalem: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the communion, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need…They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” Communion itself was the breaking of bread and the form of worship and prayer. It was in the breaking of the bread that the Apostles “recognized” Christ and it was in the breaking of bread, called Communion, that they celebrated Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection by the manner which Christ asked during the Last Supper when he said, “Do this in memory of me.”

A special New Testament application of the word koinonia is to describe the Communion that existed at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper or sacrament of the Eucharist. For example, 1 Corinthians 10:16 (KJV) use the English word “communion” to represent the Greek word of koinonia. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” Any common meal certainly could represent a “sharing.” The koinonia is viewed as much deeper, however, when the meal is associated with a spiritual purpose. Joining in the Lord’s Supper is uniting oneself with other believers in the objective reality of Christ’s death. [4]

The spiritual meaning of Koinonia

The word has such a multitude of meanings that no single English word is adequate to express its depth and richness. It is a derivative of “koinos,” the word for common. Koinonia, is a complex, rich, and thoroughly fascinating Greek approach to building community or teamwork.

Koinonia embraced a strong commitment to Kalos k’agathos meaning “good and good,” – an inner goodness toward virtue, and an outer goodness toward social relationships. In the context of outer goodness, translated into English, the meaning of koinonia holds the idea of joint participation in something with someone, such as in a community, or team or an alliance or joint venture. Those who have studied the word find there is always an implication of action included in its meaning. The definition of the word is quite rich in that there are many connotations because the word used in a variety of related contexts.

Sharing

Koinonos means ‘a sharer’ as in to share with one another in a possession held in common. It implies the spirit of generous sharing or the act of giving as contrasted with selfish getting. When koinonia is present, the spirit of sharing and giving becomes tangible. In most contexts, generosity is not an abstract ideal, but a demonstrable action resulting in a tangible and realistic expression of giving.

In classical Greek, koinonein means “to have a share in a thing,” as when two or more people hold all things in common. It can mean “going shares” with others, thereby having “business dealings,” such as joint ownership of a ship. It can also imply “sharing an opinion” with someone, and therefore agreeing with him, or disagreeing in a congenial way. Participation is vital because vital as the members are sharing in what others have. What is shared, received or given becomes the common ground through which Koinonia becomes real.

Relationships

“Koinonos” in classical Greek means a companion, a partner or a joint-owner. Therefore, koinonia can imply an association, common effort, or a partnership in common.” The common ground by which the two parties are joined together creates an aligned relationship, such as a “fellowship” or “partnership”. In a papyrus announcement a man speaks of his brother “with whom I have no koinonia”, meaning no business connection or common interest. In the New Testament, (Luke 5:10) James, John, and Simon are called “partners” (koinonia ). The joint participation was a shared fishing business.

Two people may enter into marriage in order to have “koinonia of life”, that is to say, to live together a life in which everything is shared. Koinonia was used to refer to the marriage bond, and it suggested a powerful common interest that could hold two or more persons together.

The term can also relate to a spiritual relationship. In this sense, the meaning something that is held and shared jointly with others for God, speaking to man’s “relationship with God”. Epictetus talks of religion as ‘aiming to have koinonia with Zeus”. The early Christian community saw this as a relationship with the Holy Spirit. In this context, koinonia highlights a higher purpose or mission that benefits the greater good of the members as a whole. The term “enthusiasm” is connected to this meaning of koinonia for it signifies “to be imbued with the Spirit of God in Us.”

To create a bond between comrades is the meaning of koinonia when people are recognized, share their joy and pains together, and are united because of their common experiences, interests and goals. Fellowship creates a mutual bond which overrides each individual’s pride, vanity, and individualism, fulfilling the human yearning with fraternity, belonging, and companionship. This meaning of koinonia accounts for the ease by which sharing and generosity flow. When combined with the spiritual implications of koinonia, fellowship provides a joint participation in God’s graces and denotes that common possession of spiritual values.

Thus early Greco-Roman Christians had a fellowship God, sharing the common experience of joys, fears, tears, and divine glory. In this manner, those who shared believed their true wealth lay not in what they had, but in what they gave to others. Fellowship is never passive in the meaning of koinonia, it is always linked to action, not just being together, but also doing together. With fellowship comes a close and intimate relationship embracing ideas, communication, and frankness, as in a true, blessed interdependent friendship among multiple group members.

Community

The idea of community denotes a “common unity” of purpose and interests. By engaging in this united relationship a new level of consciousness and conscience emerges that spurs the group to higher order thinking and action, thus empowering and encouraging its members to exist in a mutually beneficial relationship. Thus community and family become closely intertwined, because aiming at a common unity strives to overcome brokenness, divisiveness, and, ultimately gaining wholeness with each of the members, with their environment, and with their God. By giving mutual support, friendship and family merge. Both fellowship and community imply an inner and outer unity. No where in the framework of community is their implied a hierarchy of command and control. While there is leadership, the leader’s task is to focus energy, and align interests, not impose control.

Koinonia creates a brethren bond which builds trust and, especially when combined with the values of Wisdom, Virtue and Honor, overcomes two of humanity’s deepest fears and insecurities: being betrayed and being demeaned.

Whether working collectively or individually, the innovators of ancient Greece worked for the greater good of the whole – to propel their community forward, to share their understanding with others so that all ships would rise on a rising tide. Thus loftier goals and dreams are more easily manifested in the mind and achieved in reality. The team’s sense of Purpose became manifest.[5]

The sacramental meaning of Koinonia

The Eucharist is the sacrament of communion with one another in the one body of Christ. This was the full meaning of eucharistic koinonia in the early Church.[6] St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “the Eucharist is the sacrament of the unity of the Church, which results from the fact that many are one in Christ.”[7]

Further Reading

Verna Lewis-Elgidely Koinonia in the Three Great Abrahamic Faiths: Acclaiming the Mystery and Diversity of Faiths Cloverdale Books (2007) ISBN 978-1-929569-37-3 [1]

References

^ Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 352
^ NAS Exhaustive Concordance
^ Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words,p. 275-276
^ Cite error: Invalid tag; no text was provided for refs named Robinson
^ Lynch, “How the Greeks created the First Golden Age of Innovation”
^ Hertling, L. Communion, Church and Papacy in Early Christianity Chicago: Loyola University, 1972.
^ ST III, 82. 2 ad 3; cf. 82. 9 ad 2.

Bibliography

(1981, 1998) NAS Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries. The Lockman Foundation.

Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1979). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co..

Robert Porter Lynch; Ninon Prozonic (2006). How the Greeks created the First Golden Age of Innovation (Word document) (English) 14. Retrieved on 2007-04-08.

Richards, Lawrence O. (1985). Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Corporation.

Thayer, Joseph H. (1885). Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.

External links

Lexicon entry for koinonia, common domain
Healthy Devotion, free download from non-commercial site
Koinonia Foundation was at this site from 1945-1985
For the Christian jazz band of the same name, see Koinonia (band)
For the Christian conmmunity established by Clarence Jordan in Americus, Georgia (USA), see Koinonia Partners
For the organization “Koinonia Music Center” located in Jinja Uganda, see Koinonia Music Center
For the Christian conference grounds located in Santa Cruz, CA, (USA), see Koinonia
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koinonia”
Categories: Biblical phrases
Hidden categories: Articles lacking sources from January 2007 All articles lacking sources

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