I Believe in the Communion of Saints

The idea contained in the term ‘communion’ is fellowship or sharing. So we need to ask here two questions: (a) with whom do saints have fellowship and (2) with whom do they share spiritual realities? The answer to those questions is twofold – they have communion with God and they have communion with each another. But, first, a brief consideration of what it means to be a saint.

What is a saint? 

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. 

 

To begin with, each of God’s saints was at one time not in a relationship with God 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 were set apart to God by the Holy Spirit as belonging to him. 

 

The communion of saints refers to the blessings that they all share. The Bible often reminds us of this reality. We can see that is the case from Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:3-14. In that passage, Paul says that they share election, adoption, sanctification, redemption, forgiveness, and future glory. Because they share in them, they can speak to one another about them, even if they are speaking for the first time, having met somewhere even in a casual encounter.

 

Communion with God

That passage from Ephesians also highlights that those blessings come from the work of each person in the Trinity. Another verse that stresses communion with God is the verse that is often said as a benediction: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all’ (2 Cor. 13:14). To begin with, 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 that are beyond most believers. 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 described as being 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 also 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. 

 

Sometimes we need to break down the plenteous grace of Jesus into sub-sections, as it were. The first aspect of his grace that we can mention is receiving grace. By this I mean his acceptance of his people in the eternal covenant when they were given to him by the Father. Jesus wants his people to know that he was delighted with the Father’s gift.

 

The second aspect of his grace that he wants his people to appreciate is redeeming grace. His work on the cross was how Jesus showed his love for his people. In his word, in passages such as Psalm 22 he draws near to us and explains the depth of his love for us.

 

A third aspect of the Saviour’s grace is what we can call his enriching grace. Paul refers in one verse to the amazing fact that through the poverty of Jesus we have become rich. How wealthy are Christians? We are heirs of an incredible inheritance – we are joint heirs with Jesus. The most amazing part of it is that we shall be like him.

 

A fourth aspect of the grace of Jesus is his representative grace. The apostle John reminds us that when we sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is our Advocate while we are in this world and in heaven his presence constantly requests and obtains ongoing forgiveness and restoration from the heavenly Father.

 

A fifth aspect of his grace is connected to what we can call his ruling grace. We speak of divine providence, and we should, but we should remind ourselves that it is all in the hand of Jesus. He is Lord, governing all things for the benefit of his body the church. His hand is on the tiller of the universe, and he knows where each of his people is at any time. Every moment of their lives is under his control. 

 

A sixth aspect of the grace of Christ is what we can describe as his rewarding grace when he will yet commend them on the Day of Judgement for the little acts of service that they did for him in this world. Indeed they are so small that they forget that they did them, but it is amazing to know that he will never forget.

 

There are many other aspects of his grace that we can think about. But we can see how focussing on his receiving, redeeming, enriching, representative, ruling and rewarding grace can encourage and comfort his people. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would know the length, breadth, depth and height of the love of Christ (Eph. 3), and we can do so when we consider it from a variety of viewpoints.

 

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.’ What are those privileges?

 

God the Father desires that his people think about the amazing fact that he chose them for salvation. They know that there was no reason in them as to why he did so, yet the fact is that he did. It was his incredible grace that he included them for blessing in his great plan of salvation. Election is a mystery, but not something to be shunned by the Father’s children. 

 

The Father also wants his people to appreciate the fact that he adopted them into his family. We can imagine a situation in which he could have forgiven them without adopting them. Forgiveness would have brought justification, and it is good to think about justification and adoption together. But adoption is the higher privilege, although it can only happen to those who have been justified.

 

God the Father also want his children to have the blessing of answered prayer. His desire is seen in the way that they are expected to take everything to God in prayer. Prayer at one level is simple, it is speaking to God. Yet it is not childish, although it is childlike. And it is a spiritual activity because the petitions arise in their hearts because of the work of the Holy Spirit who urges them to pray in line with the promises of God.

 

The Father also want his children to have assurance that they belong to him. They can obtain assurance by observing a change in their life, and that way is important. Yet, there is also what Paul calls the witness of the Spirit which occurs when the Spirit enables his people to say with confidence, Abba, Father. In doing so, they are addressing the Most High God, but as his sons and daughters.

 

A fifth way in which the Father shows his love occurs when he chastises and disciplines his children for their sins. When that happens, it is not pleasant, as the author of Hebrews reminds us. Yet it is for their spiritual good and leads to them living more spiritually fruitful lives. The chastisement can involve a withdrawal of the sense of his comfortable presence, and when that happens, they should search their hearts for possible causes.

 

Those five aspects of the love of the Father – his electing, adopting, prayer answering, assuring and chastening acts – are wonderful encouragements for communion with him.

 

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. 

 

Of course, we know the fellowship of the Spirit when we use for God’s glory the gifts that he has given to us. Whatever the gift may be – a more public one like teaching the Bible or a more personal one like encouragement, we can know his guidance and power as he works through us. And he is at work within his people in order to make them like Jesus in character, which is another way of saying that he enables them to have the fruit of the Spirit.

 

The communion of saints is a phrase therefore that describes the greatest privileges that believers can know in this world. We should know the blessings of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.