The Communion of Saints (2 Corinthians 3:14)

The phrase about the communion of saints was a later addition to the Apostles Creed. The idea contained in the term ‘communion’ is fellowship or sharing. So we need to ask here with whom to saints have fellowship and with whom do they share spiritual realities. The answer to those questions is twofold – they have communion with one another and they have communion with God. We will consider the latter in this sermon and the former in the next.

What is a saint?

There is a clear sense of limitation in this statement of the Creed because it limits these forms of communion to those it calls saints. At the same time, the statement affirms a great breadth because it says that all the saints participate in this communion. No doubt, they chose the word carefully because other descriptions could have been used such as the communion of believers or the communion of the children of God.

The word ‘saints’ is a biblical one, although I am not aware of any occasion when it occurs in the singular in the New Testament. We are used to individuals being known as St Paul or St Peter, but I wonder if that is even remotely a biblical practice since the title always has a corporate meaning in the New Testament. It is a term that highlights the togetherness of the people of God as opposed to the distinguishing traits of a particular individual.

The basic idea of a saint is someone who is set apart to God, but the setting apart that the gospel accomplishes is always to become part of the church of Christ. It is impossible to be set apart to God anywhere else. This is true in a spiritual sense because we join the family of God, but it is also true in a practical sense because all believers should identify with a local group of Christians. I have often thought how odd the common idea of sainthood is when it venerates those who do the opposite and live in isolation.

Obviously each of God’s saints was not always in that relationship with him and with one another. The great change was brought about when they responded to the gospel and became believers in Jesus. They heard about his great work of salvation on the cross and how they could be forgiven by accepting personally what he had done on behalf of sinners. Having done so, they became related to God in a variety of ways.

One obvious relationship they have with God is that of membership of his family. Another relationship is that of discipleship as they learn from and obey Jesus as their Lord. And a third status that they have received is that they instantly become saints. This relationship is an unchanging one that is not annulled by the unfaithfulness of believers. The clear example of this is the church in Corinth, which we can see from 1 and 2 Corinthians had many wrong practices and emphases. Yet Paul addresses them in 1 Corinthians 1:2 as ‘the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.’ And in 2 Corinthians 1:1 he greets them as ‘the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia.’ So the status cannot be undone, although the enjoyment of the benefits connected to it will decrease if the saints are not devoted to God.

The description of saints in both these Corinthian references highlights another important aspect of biblical sainthood, which is that each saint is not only linked to the believers they know locally but is also united to every other saint throughout the world. Therefore the communion of saints is connected to the fact that the church of God is catholic, that is it includes every believer on earth. While there are aspects to that communion that we cannot understand, it does mean that all of them share the same blessings in a spiritual sense. Although they may have different colours of skin and different levels of intellectual ability, they all share the great blessings of God.

It is useful when thinking about those shared blessings to read Paul’s great statement of praise in Ephesians 1:3-14: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

 ‘In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.’

Moreover, the communion of saints described in the Bible extends beyond earth and includes the residents of heaven. This aspect of the communion is seen in Hebrews 12:22-24: ‘But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.’ We cannot understand the workings of this communion, but as with those on earth the residents of heaven share the same spiritual privileges as those on earth, with the obvious difference that they are now sinless and holy in their souls. Yet they do not have a stronger claim to membership of God’s family and they still receive instruction from Jesus, although at a higher level of understanding. It is through Jesus that they draw near to God.

Communion with God

We can explore the significance of this communion through the words of the benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’ Before doing so, we can observe a few brief facts about its details.

First, Paul expected all the saints in Corinth to be able to experience the content of his benediction. He is describing a very high range of experiences, but he is not describing the heights of experience. Instead he is describing the normal Christian life.

Second, the benediction indicates that we can interact with each person of the Trinity simultaneously – I think the conveying of the distinct blessings linked to each divine person is not sequential as such, as if love of the Father followed after the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Spirit followed both. Rather they should happen together.

Third, sometimes the particular blessing that is here from one divine person may elsewhere in the New Testament come from another divine person. This is a reminder of how rich is the relationship that the saints enjoy with their God.

Fourth, it looks as if the remedy for the problems and needs of the church in Corinth would be met if they experienced together the range of blessings connected to the details in the benediction. We can see how it would remove the pre-occupation they had with human leaders – which human leader could give them what the persons of the Trinity would give? It is safe to say that a church in turmoil is not focussing on the benediction.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

Paul is asking us to think here of the position of Jesus and of the practice of Jesus. The position of Jesus is seen in his title, Lord. He has supreme authority in the universe and he is Lord of his church. Often when we think of the title ‘Lord’ we focus on the need to obey him, which is an essential response. Yet here the focus is more on the role of Jesus as Lord and in that capacity his function is to administer grace constantly for the benefit of his people. In the communion of saints they receive constant grace from Jesus. He reveals his grace in many ways and one very helpful method of understanding it is to think of him as our prophet (who teaches us), as our priest (who helps us), and as our king (who rules over us and protects us). And he gives his grace kindly and gently.

The love of God

By God here, Paul means the Father. The apostle wants the Corinthians and us to think about what it means to be members of God’s family. They have communion with him as his children. The details of the communion are summarised in the answer given in the Shorter Catechism concerning the question of adoption. ‘Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.’

Those details are enlarged in the description given of adoption in the Westminster Confession of Faith: ‘All those that are justified, God vouchsafes, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have His name put upon them, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry, Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as by a Father: yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption; and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting salvation.’ This is the range of blessings enjoyed in the communion of saints on earth.

The fellowship of the Holy Spirit

In the Upper Room, on the evening during which he was arrested, Jesus met with his disciples and among the instructions he gave them was information about the work of the Holy Spirit. One of the features of the work of the Spirit, said Jesus, would be to bring comfort to the disciples of Jesus. As he shares with those disciples out of the riches of heavenly grace, the Spirit will do so in a comforting, encouraging way.

This is a reminder that the Holy Spirit cares passionately for those with whom he shares what belongs to the Father and to the Son. He is not like a supermarket worker who gives to a customer out of the riches of the supermarket. The worker may have no experience of the goods he is handing on, may not know why the person wants to purchase them, and he has no idea why the owners have selected particular items for sale. In contrast, the Holy Spirit knows every detail about what the Father and the Son possess, and also knows how to apply those blessings to each individual believer.

The communion of the Holy Spirit is also an expression of his power.  We can imagine all kinds of difficult situations in which believers can find themselves. Some may be facing persecution, some may be undergoing severe physical illness, some may have troubles in their families, some may have deep depression, some may have had huge disappointments, and some may be undergoing strong temptations. In such situations, they may find that human help is of little use. Yet the Holy Spirit can bring to such some features of the grace of Christ and the love of the Father. Into their darkness he brings aspects of light in such a manner that often, in their sense of fear and despair, they experience the powerful comfort of the Spirit.

We have to remember that the Holy Spirit takes seriously his role of sharing divine blessings with the people of God. This is one of his constant missions and we should anticipate his fulfilling of that purpose. Expectation is an important aspect of faith. In a manner similar to how we expect the Saviour to fulfil his roles as prophet, priest and king, so we should look out to the Spirit, as he desires communion with us, to bring divine blessings to us.

The communion of saints is a phrase therefore that describes the greatest privileges that believers can know in this world and in the next.