“Paul closes his letter with prayer, taking great care to unite them all with God. Those who claim that the Holy Spirit is not God because he is not inserted with the Father and the Son at the beginning of Paul’s letters are sufficiently refuted by this verse. All that belongs to the Trinity is undivided. Where the fellowship is of the Spirit, it is also of the Son, and where the grace is of the Son, it is also of the Father and the Spirit. I say these things without confusing the distinctiveness of the Persons but recognizing both their individuality and the unity of their common substance.”[1] – St. John Chrysostom
In the final clause of Paul’s three-part benediction over the church in Corinth, he invokes the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. There are several aspects to the Spirit’s fellowship and I’d like to briefly look at two of them in the following paragraphs and then focus in on the grammar of this clause, for it has profound theological implications for us.
First, there is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit with our spirit (Romans 8:16). God’s Spirit communes with us, speaks to us, leads us, and ultimately brings us into greater conformity to Christ.
Second, we have fellowship with the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. He is the One who baptizes us into Christ, opens our hearts to receive the Gospel, illumines our understanding of Scripture, and by whom we are sealed until the day of redemption.
“Love is the movement, love is the revolution…” – Switchfoot, Love is the Movement
The word “fellowship” in Greek is koinonia, which essentially means “participation.” And in Greek, the clause “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” is a genitive construction, which can be understood either in the objective or subjective (the genitive form allows for both). I will briefly outline what each one means and show why it’s important.
Understood as an objective, this clause refers to the fact that participation in the Holy Spirit is something in which all Christians take part. Those of us who are born again in Jesus have active participation in and fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Understood as a subjective, this refers to the fellowship amongst Christians which the Holy Spirit creates and in which we participate. And we can only have participation in the Holy Spirit if the Spirit Himself makes it possible.
Therefore, Paul is praying that these believers in Corinth, who were an ethical train-wreck and who had treated him with contempt, would both be participants in the Holy Spirit and enjoy true Christian fellowship. Paul demonstrates in a powerful way the others-centered, forgiving love of the Triune God in invoking this blessing of participation and fellowship over these people who had declared him their enemy.
“Veni Sancte Spiritus, veni Sancte Spiritus, come reveal what’s in Your heart, show us who we really are…” – Matt Maher, The Invocation
For Part 3 of this series, click here
For Part 2 of this series, click here
For Part 1 of this series, click here
[1] Gerald Lewis Bray, ed., 1–2 Corinthians, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 316.