Share a proverb you think is completely wrong and make your case.   Proverbs 29:11 says, “A fool vents all of his feelings, but a wise man holds it back.  This particular proverb to me is not really wrong, but there are people who talk excessively and don’t know when to be quiet.  This is something that I had to personally learn how to be quiet because in jail, all of your actions are being recorded by corrections officers and staff members throughout the entire jail facility.   I am a whole lot more mature as a man than I used to be 30 years ago.  Therefore, I have learned a valuable lesson because this situation is also repeated in Matthew 12:36-37.  It says that for every idle word man may speak, they will give an account for it in the day of judgment.   By your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you shall be condemned.   This means that everything that we say out of our mouth is definitely being recorded.   Psalm 56:8 says You number my wandering put my tears inside of your bottle; are they inside of your Book?”  God is also recording our tears that we cry from our eyes.   It is inside of His Book of Life.   Thank you for allowing me to answer this question to the best of my ability.  God is still with us all of the time.   Thank you, and May the Lord God continue to bless all of you worldwide 🌐 🙏 ❤️

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July 22, 2026

Christian Living\Spiritual Growth\Fellowship

What Is Christian Fellowship?

Jared Jeter

4 Min Read

I’ve always found fellowship to be an interesting word. While it does occur outside of Christian circles—for example, in academia or among fans of The Lord of the Rings—you are sure to hear it often in the church. You might associate the word with fellowship time, that brief part of the church service that tends to involve small talk in rapid-fire succession. Or you may understand fellowship as a close synonym for friendship—just a peculiar, Christian version of it. But what is Christian fellowship, actually?

The language of fellowship is popular in Christian circles because it is biblical language. The Greek word behind it, koinōnia, involves more than small talk or friendship. It refers to a close association with others that involves active participation in something larger than the individuals who share in it. Scripture uses this language to describe something unique about the relationship Christians have with one another. While much more could be said, allow me to highlight three characteristics of Christian fellowship.

1. Christian fellowship is grounded in our union with Christ.

Many people seek to be part of something larger than themselves by joining a club or association, whether that be for advancing a cause, enjoying a hobby, or participating in an activity. But the association Christ has built for His people transcends all these things. The members of this association participate in Christ Himself, the One who has redeemed us and set us apart for Himself. It is the fellowship of Christ (1 Cor. 1:9).

As Christians, we “in one Spirit” were “baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13). That body is the body of Christ, the church, and each individual Christian is a member of it (1 Cor. 12:27). One of the practices the Lord gave us, the Lord’s Supper (or Communion), sets visibly before us not only our union with Christ but also our union with one another. It is “a participation (koinōnia) in the blood of Christ” and “in the body of Christ” (1 Cor. 10:16). In partaking of it, “we who are many are one body” (1 Cor. 10:17).

In 1938, after the Gestapo shut down the underground seminary where Dietrich Bonhoeffer taught, he wrote Life Together, a brief but profound meditation on the joy and strength of Christian fellowship at a time when such fellowship was costly and precious. He wrote that we enter into this fellowship “not as demanders but as thankful recipients.”¹ We did not work to be in this fellowship. Rather, God established it and firmly planted in it all who are united to Christ. Therefore, we can give thanks to God for providing us with a fellowship that transcends not only any earthly cause, hobby, or activity, but every barrier and border that would normally be impassible by human efforts (Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:11–22). In this fellowship, we are made to be “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” the household of which Christ Jesus Himself is the cornerstone (Eph. 2:19–20).

This sanctifying work of Christian fellowship means that the church is a place where believers are made to grow in the Lord and shine forth the good news of the gospel.

2. Christian fellowship is anchored in the truth.

At the beginning of 1 John, the Apostle proclaims Christ “so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). Then John explains what it means to be part of this fellowship:

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5–7)

In the fellowship of Christ, darkness is cast out, light thrives, and the truth is practiced. Bonhoeffer once again provides powerful insight at this point:

Human love is directed to the other person for his own sake, spiritual love loves him for Christ’s sake. . . . Human love has little regard for truth. It makes the truth relative, since nothing, not even the truth, must come between it and the beloved person. Human love desires the other person, his company, his answering love, but it does not serve him. On the contrary, it continues to desire even when it seems to be serving. . . . Spiritual love, however, comes from Jesus Christ, it serves him alone.²

Christian love marks Christian fellowship, which is anchored in the truth and serves other believers not to win their favor or affection but first to serve Christ. It “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). It holds other believers accountable to the truth out of love, not out of flattery:

Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy. (Prov. 27:6)

This leads to a third characteristic of Christian fellowship.

3. Christian fellowship is a Spirit-wrought means of sanctification.

One of the ways Christian fellowship benefits those who share in it is by serving as an instrument to conform them to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29; Phil. 3:10–21). Sin likes to hide in the darkness. As Bonhoeffer put it, “Sin demands to have a man by himself.”³ But Christian fellowship, shaped by truth and the grace of the gospel, shines a light that breaks forth in the darkness of the heart. In it, fellow sinners speak the truth in love, bear one another’s burdens, confess sin, extend forgiveness, and help one another walk in the light when sin inevitably arises (Gal. 6:1–3; 1 John 1:7). It is Proverbs 27:17 in action:

Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

This sanctifying work of Christian fellowship means that the church is a place where believers are made to grow in the Lord and shine forth the good news of the gospel. Ultimately, this fellowship is a gift from Christ to His people, who have the joy of “being built together into a dwelling for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22).

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1. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community, trans. John W. Doberstein (HarperOne, 1978), 28. ↩
2. Ibid., 34, 35. ↩
3. Ibid., 112. ↩

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More from this teacherJared Jeter

Rev. Jared Jeter is associate pastor at Dayspring Community Church in Apopka, Fla., associate editor at Ligonier Ministries, and resident adjunct professor at Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Fla.

What Is Hermeneutics?Jared Jeter

More on this topicFellowship

What Does the Bible Say About Friendship?Brian CroftChristian FriendsJames HarveyApostolic Fellowshipgalatians 2:7–9

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July 23, 2026

Theology\The World\Sin

Does God Punish Us for Our Parents’ Sin?

Aaron Garriott

5 Min Read

There are times when the Bible seems to contradict itself about whether we are punished for our parents’ sin—sometimes even in the same book. For instance, the second commandment forbids the worship of God through images because the Lord is “a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Ex. 20:5–6; Deut. 5:9–10). We also read in the book of Numbers that the Lord will “by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Num. 14:18). Yet in Deuteronomy, we read, “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deut. 24:16).

Centuries later, Ezekiel warns:

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezek. 18:20)

Similarly, Jeremiah prophesies of a day when “they shall no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’” (Jer. 31:29). So, which is it? Does God punish children for the sins of their fathers? The answer is yes and no. Let’s get the yes out of the way first.

Adam, Federal Headship, and Original Sin

God does punish us for the sins of our first parents (see Rom. 5:12–14; 1 Cor. 15:22). This is because of the covenantal role Adam played as a federal head in the prelapsarian covenant of works. Adam uniquely represented all his posterity, such that when our first parents fell, they incurred punishment not only for themselves but for their descendants—all people who would be born into this world through ordinary generation (see Westminster Shorter Catechism 13–17). The Westminster Confession of Faith explains regarding our first parents and original sin, “They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation” (WCF 6.3). The only way, then, that we’re delivered from the sin and misery brought on us by our first parents is by being united by faith to a faithful head—the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning our federal parentage, then, God deals with us according to our parents’ sins or obedience. In this way, our answer to the question at hand depends on how we define parents in context.

The parentage that truly matters is whether we’re under the headship of Adam or Christ.

Now that we’ve discussed Adam and his unique role as federal head in the covenant of works, we can consider the question closer to home—your father and my father, which is typically the way the question is framed.

Individual Culpability vs. Corporate Consequences

Unlike Adam, our parents are not in a position of federal headship in a covenant of works wherein their obedience or disobedience determines everything thereafter for their descendants. Therefore, we can safely say that God does not directly punish children for the sins of their parents. Yet at the same time, the consequences of sin often affect future generations, and in this way, there is a sort of indirect punishment. For example, the sins of idolatry and false worship become deeply planted in the religious life of any society or family. This is why, for instance, in the accounts of the various successive kings in Israel, we often read of kings who follow in the ways of their fathers—whether for good or for ill. King Ahaziah, for example, “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 22:52). Idolatry and false worship aren’t easily extinguished once they’re inherited from previous generations. It takes intentional, Spirit-wrought reform, like that carried out by Josiah, who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left” and destroyed the high places upon which idols were worshiped (2 Kings 22:2; 23).

There is no guarantee, however, that righteous fathers will beget righteous sons and wicked fathers will beget wicked sons. Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 23:32). Hezekiah, on the other hand, had a wicked father in Ahaz, yet he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done” (2 Kings 16; 18:3). Notice that the author of Kings mentions David as Hezekiah’s father. Hezekiah followed in the godly ways of David rather than the wicked ways of Ahaz.

In these Old Testament examples, we see that idolatry passes easily from one generation to another, and God often punished the Israelites as a result of their idolatry. Although the Lord does not punish people directly for the sins that their fathers commit (the Lord punishes those who follow in the sins of their fathers), their fathers’ sins often reverberate, and the consequences can be felt for generations to come. Also, although a righteous son will not suffer directly for the sin of an unrighteous father, he’s susceptible to following in the path of his wicked father. He will often indirectly suffer the consequences of some of his father’s unrighteous behavior. For example, if a father is given to drunkenness, his son is more likely to experience abuse and follow in his father’s footsteps. Nevertheless, each human bears the punishment for his own wickedness. As Matthew Henry says, “God does not punish the children for the fathers’ sins unless they tread in their fathers’ steps.”¹ Therefore, our answer to the question at hand depends on how we define the word punish in context.

So What?

What does this mean for us? We can draw several applications, but let’s just note a few. First, we must be quick to repent, being especially careful with sins that have so easily entangled our family members in the past. Our sins, if not mortified, will affect our children. Second, we’re reminded of the importance of Christian parents’ properly discipling and praying for their children. Typically, God blesses through familial lines. Third, sin has direct consequences for those who commit it, but it can also have indirect consequences for those around us and future generations. Last, we’re not slaves to the sins of our parents. We are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness (Rom. 6:12–23). God has providentially placed us in our respective families, cultures, and societies, with all the privileges, temptations, and disadvantages that come with that context (see Acts 17:26). The parentage that truly matters is whether we’re under the headship of Adam or Christ (Rom. 5:12–21).²

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1. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1374. ↩
2. Editor’s Note: This article was originally published July 25, 2022. ↩

This resource is part of the Responding to Apparent Contradictions Resource Collection

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More from this teacherAaron Garriott

Rev. Aaron L. Garriott is managing editor of Tabletalk magazine, resident adjunct professor at Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Fla., and associate pastor of Spruce Creek Presbyterian Church in Port Orange, Fla. He is author of A Word Fitly Spoken: A Theology of Communication and Thy Deepest Distress: Anxiety and Depression in the Christian Life.

Truth in a World of LiesAaron GarriottEschatological Communication: How God’s Word Leads to Perfect CommunionAaron GarriottWhat Does the Bible Say About Sex Outside of Marriage?Aaron Garriott

More on this topicSin

Man’s Radical FallennessR.C. SproulThe Necessity of the AtonementR.C. SproulOpportunism and PartialityAaron Garriott

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Home\Learn\Articles\Does God Punish Us for Our Parents’…

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