THREE LEVELS OF FELLOWSHIP

The three levels of fellowship are linked with three progressive stages of learning. Old Testament saints learned metaphorically of Christ's redemption, which is the foundation for fellowship. New Testament saints learn realistically that they have been crucified with Christ. Glorified saints will eternally learn themselves as they are known by the Godhead.

FIRST-Metaphorically, Old Testament saints were subject to types and shadows for their learning in order to have fellowship with God. A metaphor is the application of a word or phrase to an object or concept it does not literally denote in order to suggest a comparison with another object or concept. For example, a person may say, "A mighty fortress is our God." In this manner the Israelites could say, "The burnt sacrifice is our acceptance before the righteous and just God" (Lev. 1).

The metaphorical learning stage for the Old Testament saints is demonstrated by saying the shadows were before them, and the sun was behind them: "For the Law, since it has only a shadow [skia, a shade or shadow-metaphorically, it was designed to give a faint shadow or conceal partially] of the good things to come and not the very form [eikon, likeness or exact image] of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near…. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins" (Heb. 10:1, 11 NASB). Jesus Christ was behind Old Testament saints; therefore, their sins were covered but not put away.

The dispensation of the Old Testament was one of types and shadows. Theologically, the word "dispensation" is the Divine ordering of the affairs of the world of mankind. It was a Divinely appointed order or age in preparation for the coming of the One who would fulfill all the types and shadows of the Old Testament concerning redemption, which is the foundation for fellowship.

God chose the nation of Israel to be a special people unto Himself (Deut. 7). In doing so, He did not eliminate the Gentiles. His choice of Ruth the Moabitess in the dark days recorded in Judges illustrates God's inclusion of the Gentiles. She represents the Gentiles who were shut out by the law, but admitted by grace. Out of the darkness of the days of Jesus Christ shines the record of Christ turning to the Gentiles. In Christ's parable of the landowner, He confirmed His inclusion of the Gentiles: "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you [Israelites], and be given to a nation [Gentiles] producing the fruit of it" (Matt. 21:43 NASB).

The Book of Ruth begins with a portrayal of Israel in her unfaithfulness and exiled, widowed condition. Israel's unfaithfulness was foreshadowed by the widow, Naomi. After ten tragic years Naomi, the pathetic remnant, returned. However, instead of being Naomi (name means pleasantness or favor), she was by her own testimony Mara (name means bitterness) (Ruth 1:13, 20). Naomi went out from Israel from fear of want, not from want itself: "I went out full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?" (Ruth 1:21 NASB). Where there is no sense of departure, there will be no desire for recovery.

Naomi without a seed to inherit is a picture of Israel in that moral condition: "So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest" (Ruth 1:22 NASB). Their return together typified (foreshadowed) Jews and Gentiles walking together (Eph. 2:14-18). Ruth is typical of Gentiles who were elected by God unto salvation. She was lifted up by grace from the dunghill of Moab to sit as a princess with Boaz (name means in him is strength). Gentiles, unlike the Jews, are not under the law; however, they are not without law (Rom. 2:14, 15).

Jesus Christ must partake of flesh and blood in order to redeem the elect: (1) He must be the seed of the woman in order to be Kinsman Redeemer of the elect (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4). (2) He must be the seed of Abraham to inherit the promises (Gal. 3:16). (3) He must be the seed of David to claim the throne of Israel (II Sam. 7:8-17; I Chron. 22:1, 10).

The little Book of Ruth has been called "The Romance Of Redemption." In redeeming the property from Naomi's closest relative, Boaz also purchased the widow of Mahlon (Ruth) to be his wife (Ruth 4:10). Jesus Christ became identified with man in order to have the right to redeem. Therefore, He is the God-Man. However, if He had been involved in man's fall and identified with man's sin, He could not be the Redeemer. No sinner can redeem himself, much less his brother: "No man can by any means redeem his brother, Or give to God a ransom for him" (Ps. 49:7 NASB). Christ is the God-Man-the Christian's Boaz (name means ability). By that kinship and ability, Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of all the chosen ones (Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25-27; I Pet. 1:18-21).

Naomi's closest relative could not purchase the land; therefore, he surrendered his right of purchase to Boaz, the relative next in line: "And the closest relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it" (Ruth 4:6 NASB). Jews and Gentiles must learn that no one in himself has the ability to do right: "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3 NASB).

Naomi's nearest relative's removal of his sandal foreshadowed giving place to another (Ruth. 4:7). In taking possession of his possessions, Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, had witnesses that he had "acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance…" (Ruth. 4:10 NASB). The law cannot redeem because it must give place to grace. The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:14-17). Christians have become dead to the law by the body of Christ so they might be married to Another, to Him who was raised from the dead (Rom. 7:1-6).

SECOND-Realistically, New Testament saints learn that they have been crucified with Christ: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20 NASB). Subsequent to Christ's death, the shadows are behind the saints of God, and the Son of God is before them. Until Christ's death on behalf of the elect of the Old Testament, their sins were covered, but not put away. At Calvary all the sins of all the elect, including the covered sins of the Old Testament saints, were "put away."

Christ's death was retroactive: "Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:24-26 NASB).

Although the English word "retroactive" is not in the Greek text, it does express in English the words "in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed" of Romans 3:25. That statement refers to all the sins of all the Old Testament saints because the death of Christ was retroactive, which means it is operative in regard to past sins. It is God's retroactive law, and His law will not fail. This should not be difficult to understand, since Americans are hearing a lot about a tax reduction, which will be retroactive to January 1, 2001. However, there is no guarantee that anyone will get a retroactive tax cut, or even a tax cut. In contrast, there is an absolute guarantee that Christ's once-offered sacrifice will perfect every person He has in time permanently positionally sanctified for the Father (Heb. 10:10-14).

Atonement and redemption (reconciliation) differ. The English word "atonement" is found in the King James Version, but the word is not used in most translations of Romans 5:11-"And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation [katallagen, accusative feminine singular noun of katallage, which means an exchange, reconciliation, or restoration to favor]" (NASB). The noun form is used in other verses (Rom. 11:15; II Cor. 5:18, 19). This noun is derived from the verb katallasso, which means to change, exchange, or reconcile. "To be reconciled" is in the passive voice in Romans 5:10, I Corinthians 7:11, and II Corinthians 5:20. It is in the active voice in II Corinthians 5:18, 19.

Atonement is the Old Testament word for "passing over" the sins of God's people under the old economy, which foreshadowed what was to come. The "passing over" is described in Exodus 12:27-"…It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes. And the people bowed low and worshiped." (NASB) There are two distinct years in the Book of Exodus. The first begins with the Passover, and the second begins with setting up the tabernacle. Their worship and fellowship were the fruits of Passover (Ex. 12, 40).

The saints of the Old Testament must not be looked upon lightly. Consider the types and shadows under which they lived in contrast to the completed message by Christ and the apostles of the New Testament under which Christians live. The record of the saints' faith in Hebrews 11 should make most Christians ashamed. Is the faith of Christians informed under a completed objective standard as strong as the faith of Old Testament saints who possessed an incomplete objective standard? Saving faith is not without knowledge. Saving faith, which is God's gift, is based on knowledge, and it leads to more knowledge. Wherever the word "faith" occurs in Hebrews 11 it should be read by Christians with the definition, "What we believe in regard to Jesus Christ." Much of that which is called "faith" is nothing more than a helpful suggestion without any respect to the reality or unreality of its object. Subjective faith alone does not save anyone. If it did, all heretics who say "we believe" would be saved.

With a completed record of what the sheep of Christ need, there is no excuse for failure by any child of God to know and know that he knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Master: "And by this we know [present active indicative of ginosko] that we have come to know [perfect active indicative of ginosko, completed action with a resulting state of knowing] Him, if we keep His commandments" (I John 2:3 NASB). This is experiential knowledge. However, John was not afraid to be contrapositive in the next verse: "The one who says, I have come to know [perfect active indicative of ginosko] Him, and does not keep [present active participle] His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him" (I John 2:4 NASB).

True Christianity is always corroborated by a true Christian life. Keeping Christ's commandments is not legalistic. It is the recognition of righteousness as God's law of life. Electrical energy is possible in a motor because of the attraction and repulsion of positive and negative currents. Leave out one and you have nothing. Both are necessary to have motion.

THIRD-Eternally, saints will know themselves as they are known by the Godhead: "For now we see [present active indicative of blepo] in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know [present active indicative of ginosko] in part, but then I shall know fully [future middle indicative of epiginosko, a compound verb meaning to know exactly, completely, or through and through] just as I also have been fully known [aorist passive indicative of epiginosko]" (I Cor. 13:12 NASB). Note the difference between the perfect middle and the aorist passive of epiginosko.

The present and future are contrasted in I Peter 1:1-9- 1. "Now" Christ is known imperfectly by faith. "Then" He will be intimately known. 2. "Now" trials are necessary for the formation of character. "Then" trials will cease because they will have served their purpose. 3. "Now" a state of complete deliverance from trials can never be experienced. "Then" complete deliverance from trials will be the conclusion of the Christian's faith. 4. "Now" is the season of trials in which Christians mourn for Christ. "Then" will bring joy inexpressible and full of glory.

In the coming ages, God will show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness to His children in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:7). The Christian's present spiritual elevation is for the purpose of displaying God's immeasurable grace not only "now" but also "then"-throughout the unbroken ages of eternity (Eph. 2:1-6).