Spiritual Growth / Fellowship

  • United to Christ and His Body

    1 Corinthians 6:17

    In the comments Calvin made on today’s passage, the great Reformer noted the importance of maintaining our union with Christ with “the utmost chastity and fidelity.” We must not cheat on our husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, by following ...Read More

  • Meeting Paul’s Need

    Philippians 4:10–12

    God gives us friends in the church to help build us up and so that we might support one another in all our needs. Of course, only Christ fulfills all our needs in an ultimate sense, but He does work ...Read More

  • The Return of Epaphroditus

    Philippians 2:25–26

    The depth of Epaphroditus’ love for his brothers and sisters in Christ is seen in that his chief worry was not about his own health but that his fellow believers would not have to suffer too much emotional pain in ...Read More

  • Paul’s Commendation of Timothy

    Philippians 2:19–20

    Paul’s sending of Timothy illustrates his great love for his congregation and is an example that Christian leaders will especially want to follow. It is good to appoint and send others on one’s behalf to help those under ...Read More

  • Paul’s Love for His Audience

    Philippians 2:17–18

    Our love for those who minister to us should be part of what motivates our obedience to the Lord. As we grow in holiness, we help to show our pastors, Sunday school teachers, and other church leaders that their labor ...Read More

  • A Life Worthy of the Gospel

    Philippians 1:27

    We can by no means overestimate our need of the Christian community for our own faithfulness to our Savior in this world. All of the greatest leaders in church history had the support of fellow believers, and they were thereby ...Read More

  • The Peace and Purity of the Church

    Ephesians 6:23–24

    Take time today to read back through Ephesians and thank God for what we have learned. Ask Him to make you more loving and more willing to stand for the essential truths of the Christian faith. Also, ask Him that ...Read More

  • One Body, One Spirit, One Call

    Ephesians 4:4

    Although we all have different roles in the body of Christ, our call is the same — to live together in loving unity with other believers as we worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness and proclaim the gospel ...Read More

  • One in Spirit

    Ephesians 4:2-3

    We cannot sacrifice truth for the sake of a superficial visible unity, which is an error evident in the liberal arm of the ecumenical movement. Still, we should not think that all efforts at visible church unity represent liberalism, for ...Read More

  • The Church Universal

    Hebrews 12:18-24

    Our great God has united us to Christ by His Spirit and has given us fellowship with every believer throughout the world. Praying regularly for the church in other places is a great way to evidence this fellowship and help ...Read More

  • The Church is One

    John 17

    Are you concerned for the unity of the church? Although we can never compromise on the essential truths of the gospel, striving toward reconciliation with other believers and the unity of the faith, both invisible and visible, is a commendable ...Read More

  • Strangers and Aliens No Longer

    Ephesians 2:19

    Though we may lose our homes in this world for any number of reasons, including persecution for the sake of Christ, we can be assured that in Jesus we have an eternal home in His kingdom. We are to look ...Read More

  • The One New Man

    Ephesians 2:15-16

    John Chrysostom, the ancient bishop of Constantinople, writes, “The Greek does not have to become a Jew. Rather both enter into a new condition. His aim is not to bring Greek believers into being as different kinds of Jews but ...Read More

  • Receiving Onesimus

    Philemon 17-18

    John Calvin takes Paul’s willingness to help Onesimus be reconciled to Philemon as an example for us. The apostle, he writes, “warns us how affectionately we ought to aid a sinner who has given us proof of his repentance ...Read More

  • Onesimus’ Return

    Philemon 11-13

    Do you have relationships with other believers that would enable you to say with Paul that you would be sending away your “heart” if you were to move or otherwise lose the chance for face-to-face fellowship? God did not make ...Read More