Fellow: Not Alone in Christ
A Pastoral Study of the New Testament “With” Words
The Little Word That Says “Not Alone”
Fellow Heirs: No Guests in God’s House
Fellow Citizens and a Fellow Elder
Fellow Servants and Fellow Workers
Fellow Soldiers and Fellow Prisoners
Joined and Knit Together by God
Crucified, Buried, and Raised with Christ
Suffering with Him and with One Another
Glorified and Reigning with Him
Before You Begin
Loneliness can follow us right into church. We may sit in the same pew for years beside people we hardly know. We may serve faithfully and feel that no one notices. We may go through a hard season and wonder whether anyone stands with us.
The New Testament answers that loneliness with a small word. The Greek preposition σύν means “with” or “together with.” The apostles, especially Paul, attached it to ordinary words to describe life in Christ. An heir became a fellow heir. A citizen became a fellow citizen. A worker, a soldier, and a prisoner became fellow workers, fellow soldiers, and fellow prisoners. In English we read past the word “fellow” easily. In Greek it is built into the word itself, and it says the same thing again and again: in Christ, you are not alone.
This study walks through those “fellow” words. It looks at what believers share with one another: an inheritance, a standing, a work, and a cost. It looks at how God joins His people together and how love keeps them together. And it ends with the deepest “with” of all: believers have died, been raised, and will be glorified with Christ. Everything we share with one another grows out of what we share with Him.
Each section closes with a few questions, a short prayer, and one small step for the week. Read slowly, and think of the brothers and sisters God has placed beside you.
The Little Word That Says “Not Alone”
What the Passage Says
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 (NKJV): Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.
Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV): Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
What It Means for Your Life
The word σύν appears in dozens of New Testament words. Some are very rare. “Of the same body” appears only once (Ephesians 3:6). “Yokefellow” appears only once (Philippians 4:3). It seems that Paul sometimes reached for, or even shaped, a word to say that the people he named were not just nearby, but truly joined to him.[1]
That is God’s design from the beginning. “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). The Lord Himself promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” And He gives us brothers and sisters to stand beside us.
Some believers carry a quiet belief that they must manage the Christian life on their own: their struggles, their service, their suffering. The “fellow” words gently correct that belief. You were never meant to walk alone.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Where in your life do you feel most alone? Who has God placed beside you that you may have overlooked?
Pray. Lord, thank You that You never leave me, and that You have given me brothers and sisters to walk beside. Open my eyes to them, and make me a faithful companion to others. Amen.
Practice. Thank one person this week for walking beside you in the faith.
Fellow Heirs: No Guests in God’s House
What the Passage Says
Ephesians 3:6 (NKJV): that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
Romans 8:16–17 (NKJV): The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
1 Peter 3:7 (NKJV): Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
What It Means for Your Life
In Ephesians 3:6 Paul uses three σύν words in a single verse. The Gentiles are fellow heirs, of the same body, and fellow partakers of the promise.[2] Once they were outsiders, “strangers from the covenants of promise” (2:12). Now they inherit everything alongside Jewish believers.
Notice that no one in God’s house is a guest. A guest is welcome but does not belong; he leaves when the visit ends. An heir belongs and shares the family’s wealth. Every believer, young or old, longtime member or newcomer, is a full heir.
Romans 8 goes even further: we are “joint heirs with Christ.” What belongs to Christ is shared with us. And Peter reminds husbands and wives that they are “heirs together of the grace of life,” equals before God.
This changes how we see one another. The newest believer in the back pew has the same inheritance as the oldest saint in the front.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Do you ever feel like a guest rather than an heir in God’s family? Is there anyone in your church you treat more like a guest than a family member?
Pray. Father, thank You for making me Your heir and a joint heir with Christ. Help me to live as one who belongs, and to treat every believer as a fellow heir. Amen.
Practice. Welcome a newcomer or someone on the edges of your church this week as a full member of the family.
Fellow Citizens and a Fellow Elder
What the Passage Says
Ephesians 2:19 (NKJV): Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
1 Peter 5:1–3 (NKJV): The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
What It Means for Your Life
In the ancient world, citizenship meant rights, protection, and belonging. A foreigner lived on the margins. Paul tells the Gentile believers: you are no longer foreigners; you are fellow citizens with the saints.[3] You belong to God’s kingdom with full standing.
Then Peter, an apostle who had walked with Jesus, writes to church leaders and calls himself “a fellow elder.”[4] He could have claimed rank. Instead he stood beside them. And he tells elders not to be “lords over those entrusted to you,” but examples.
This shapes the life of a church. Leaders are fellow members, not a separate class. Members are fellow citizens, not spectators. There is order and leadership in the church, but no one stands above the family. Everyone stands together under Christ.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. How does it change your view of church leaders to see them as “fellow elders” and fellow citizens? If you lead in any way, do you lead from beside or from above?
Pray. Lord, thank You for making me a citizen of Your kingdom. Bless the leaders of our church with humble hearts, and help all of us stand together under You. Amen.
Practice. Pray by name this week for one leader in your church, and encourage that person with a note or word of thanks.
Fellow Servants and Fellow Workers
What the Passage Says
1 Corinthians 3:9 (NKJV): For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
Colossians 4:7 (NKJV): Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.
Romans 16:3–4 (NKJV): Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
What It Means for Your Life
Paul loved to name the people who served beside him. Tychicus was his “fellow servant” (σύνδουλος).[5] Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple, were his “fellow workers” (συνεργός), and so were Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and others.[6] Paul never pictured himself as a lone hero. He worked as part of a team.
Notice two things. First, we all have one Master. A “fellow servant” is someone who serves the same Lord. No one serves for personal glory.
Second, the work belongs to God. “We are God’s fellow workers.” We plant and water, but God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6–7). That means every share in the work matters: the preacher and the person who stacks chairs, the teacher and the one who prays at home, the visible and the hidden. Paul thanked Priscilla and Aquila by name. God sees every faithful worker.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Who are your fellow workers in God’s service? Is there hidden service in your church that deserves to be noticed and thanked?
Pray. Lord, thank You for letting me share in Your work. Thank You for those who serve beside me. Keep me from seeking my own glory, and help me honor my fellow workers. Amen.
Practice. Thank someone this week whose service in the church usually goes unnoticed.
Fellow Soldiers and Fellow Prisoners
What the Passage Says
Philippians 2:25 (NKJV): Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need;
Colossians 4:10 (NKJV): Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),
Philippians 1:27 (NKJV): Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
What It Means for Your Life
Some “fellow” words describe sharing the cost. Epaphroditus was Paul’s “fellow soldier.”[7] He nearly died serving Paul (Philippians 2:27, 30). Aristarchus was Paul’s “fellow prisoner,” and he also traveled with him as a companion (Acts 19:29; 27:2).[8] These were friends who did not leave when life got hard.
Paul also calls the Philippians to be “striving together” (συναθλέω), a word from the athletic arena that pictures teammates contending side by side.[9]
Fellowship in the New Testament is proved in hardship, not only in comfort. It is easy to be friends when life is pleasant. The test comes in the hospital room, the prison cell, the long illness, the time of loss. A true fellow soldier stays.
Who has stood with you in hard times? And whom can you stand beside now?
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Who has been a “fellow soldier” to you in a hard season? Is someone in your church suffering now who needs you to stand beside them?
Pray. Lord, thank You for those who have stood with me when life was hard. Make me that kind of friend. Help me not to back away from others’ suffering. Amen.
Practice. Visit, call, or write to someone this week who is going through a hard time, and simply be present.
Joined and Knit Together by God
What the Passage Says
Ephesians 2:21–22 (NKJV): in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:15–16 (NKJV): but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Philippians 4:3 (NKJV): And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
What It Means for Your Life
Another group of σύν words describes how the church is held together. Paul uses pictures from building and from the body. The building is “fitted together” and “built together” (Ephesians 2:21–22).[10] The body is “joined and knit together” (Ephesians 4:16; Colossians 2:19).[11]
Notice who does the joining. The verbs are passive: we are being fitted, built, and knit together. God is the builder. He places each believer in the body where He wants him or her, and He joins us to one another.
In Philippians 4:3 Paul uses another vivid word: “true companion,” literally “yokefellow” (σύζυγος), two animals sharing one yoke and pulling together.[12] We do not know who this person was, but we know what Paul asked: help two women who had fallen out to be reconciled.
Being knit together means we cannot simply walk away from one another when it becomes inconvenient. God has joined us. We are meant to grow together.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Do you see your place in your church as something God chose, or something you chose? Who has God “knit” you together with?
Pray. Lord, thank You for fitting me into Your building and knitting me into Your body. Help me to stay joined to my brothers and sisters, and to supply what You have given me for their good. Amen.
Practice. Ask God to show you one way to strengthen your connection with others in your church, and take that step this week.
Kept by the Bond of Love
What the Passage Says
Ephesians 4:1–3 (NKJV): I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Colossians 3:14 (NKJV): But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
What It Means for Your Life
God joins His people. Our part is to keep what He has joined. Paul says we are to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The word for “bond” (σύνδεσμος) is another σύν word: something that ties things together, like the ligaments of a body.[13]
And in Colossians, love itself is “the bond of perfection,” the belt that holds every other virtue in place. Without love, patience snaps and kindness wears thin. With love, the body holds together even under strain.
Keeping the bond takes effort. Paul says “endeavoring,” making every effort. It takes humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another. Unity is God’s gift, but it is also our charge.
When conflicts come, and they will, love does not ignore them. It works to restore the bond, as Paul asked the “true companion” to help Euodia and Syntyche.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Is there a frayed bond in your relationships at church? What would “endeavoring to keep the unity” look like for you right now?
Pray. Lord, You have joined us together. Help me to keep the bond of peace with humility and patience. Above all, clothe me with love. Amen.
Practice. If there is tension between you and another believer, take one step this week toward peace.
Crucified, Buried, and Raised with Christ
What the Passage Says
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV): I have been crucified with Christ; 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 gave Himself for me.
Romans 6:4 (NKJV): Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Ephesians 2:4–6 (NKJV): But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
What It Means for Your Life
Now we come to the deepest “with” of all. Believers have been crucified with Christ, buried with Him, made alive together with Him, raised with Him, and seated with Him.[14] Each of these is a σύν word.
This is the root of everything else. We are fellow heirs, fellow citizens, and fellow workers with one another because we have first been joined to Christ. The fellowship of the saints is the visible side of our union with Christ.
It also changes how we see ourselves. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Our old life died with Him. Baptism pictures this: buried with Him, raised to walk in newness of life. And even now, by God’s grace, we are seated with Him in the heavenly places.
When you feel alone, remember: you are never without Christ. You died with Him, you live with Him, and He lives in you.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. What does it mean to you that you have been crucified and raised with Christ? How does union with Christ connect you to every other believer?
Pray. Lord Jesus, thank You that I died with You and was raised with You. Let me walk in newness of life, and let my union with You overflow in love for Your people. Amen.
Practice. Read Romans 6:1–11 each day this week, and thank God for your new life in Christ.
Suffering with Him and with One Another
What the Passage Says
1 Corinthians 12:26 (NKJV): And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Romans 8:17 (NKJV): and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Hebrews 13:3 (NKJV): Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.
What It Means for Your Life
Paul uses the same word, “suffer with” (συμπάσχω), in two places.[15] In Romans 8:17 believers suffer with Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12:26 the members of the body suffer with one another. The two belong together.
When we suffer for Christ’s sake, we share in His sufferings. And when a brother or sister suffers, the whole body feels it. A healthy body does not ignore a wounded limb. A healthy church does not ignore a hurting member.
Hebrews says to remember prisoners “as if chained with them.” That is the heart of compassion: entering into another’s pain as if it were our own.
And the same verse in 1 Corinthians adds the other side: “if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” True fellowship weeps with those who weep and rejoices with those who rejoice, without envy.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. Who in your church is suffering right now? Who is rejoicing? How can you share in both?
Pray. Lord, You suffered for me, and You share in my sufferings. Give me a heart that suffers with those who hurt and rejoices with those who are honored. Amen.
Practice. This week, both comfort someone who is hurting and celebrate someone who has good news.
Glorified and Reigning with Him
What the Passage Says
2 Timothy 2:11–12 (NKJV): This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
Colossians 3:4 (NKJV): When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
What It Means for Your Life
The “with Christ” words reach all the way to eternity. We died with Him, and we shall live with Him. If we endure, we shall reign with Him. When He appears, we shall appear with Him in glory.[16]
This is the hope that carries believers through hard times. The path of the church is the path of its Lord: suffering first, then glory. Romans 8:17 joins them: “if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
Notice that last word: “together.” We will not be glorified one by one, as isolated individuals. We will be glorified together, the whole family of God, gathered around Christ. The fellow heirs will receive their inheritance together. The fellow soldiers will rest together. The fellow workers will see the finished building together.
The people you worship beside on Sunday are the people you will share eternity with. That is a good reason to begin loving them well today.
Reflect, Pray, Practice
Reflect. How does the promise of reigning and being glorified with Christ help you endure today? How does it change the way you see your brothers and sisters?
Pray. Lord Jesus, thank You that I will live with You and reign with You. Help me endure faithfully today, and help me love those I will share eternity with. Amen.
Practice. Read Revelation 7:9–17 this week, and picture yourself among that great multitude, together with your church family.
Bringing It Together
The little word σύν teaches a big truth: in Christ, no one stands alone.
- We are fellow heirs, with no guests in God’s house.
- We are fellow citizens, and our leaders are fellow elders.
- We are fellow servants and fellow workers of one Master in one work.
- We are fellow soldiers and fellow prisoners, standing together in hardship.
- God joins and knits us together, and love is the bond that keeps us.
- We were crucified, buried, and raised with Christ, the root of all our fellowship.
- We suffer with Him and with one another.
- We will live, reign, and be glorified with Him, together.
“For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11). May each of us live today as a faithful fellow to the brothers and sisters God has given us.
A Note on Sources
Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version and should be checked against a printed NKJV before the study is taught or posted. This pastoral version draws on the companion exegetical study of the σύν words, which gives the full word studies and sources. Word meanings summarize Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon as given in that study, and should be confirmed in BDAG before teaching.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] The preposition σύν, “with, together with.” The rarity of σύσσωμος and σύζυγος (one occurrence each) is given in the companion exegetical study.
[2] The words συγκληρονόμος (fellow heir), σύσσωμος (of the same body), and συμμέτοχος (fellow partaker); Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, as given in the companion study.
[3] The noun συμπολίτης, “fellow citizen”; Thayer, s.v., as given in the companion study.
[4] The noun συμπρεσβύτερος, “fellow elder,” found only in 1 Peter 5:1; as given in the companion study.
[5] The noun σύνδουλος, “fellow servant”; Thayer, s.v., as given in the companion study.
[6] The noun συνεργός, “fellow worker”; Thayer, s.v., as given in the companion study.
[7] The noun συστρατιώτης, “fellow soldier”; Thayer, s.v., as given in the companion study.
[8] The nouns συναιχμάλωτος, “fellow prisoner,” and συνέκδημος, “travel companion” (Acts 19:29; 2 Corinthians 8:19); as given in the companion study.
[9] The verb συναθλέω, “to contend side by side,” in Philippians 1:27 and 4:3; as given in the companion study.
[10] The verbs συναρμολογέω, “to fit together,” and συνοικοδομέω, “to build together”; as given in the companion study.
[11] The verb συμβιβάζω, “to unite, knit together”; Thayer, s.v., as given in the companion study.
[12] The noun σύζυγος, “yokefellow, companion,” found only in Philippians 4:3; Thayer, s.v., as given in the companion study. The identity of the person is not stated in the text.
[13] The noun σύνδεσμος, “bond, that which binds together”; as given in the companion study.
[14] The verbs συσταυρόω (crucified with), συνθάπτω (buried with), συζωοποιέω (made alive with), συνεγείρω (raised with), and συγκαθίζω (seated with); Thayer, as given in the companion study.
[15] The verb συμπάσχω, “to suffer together,” in Romans 8:17 and 1 Corinthians 12:26; Thayer, s.v., as given in the companion study.
[16] The verbs συζάω (live with), συμβασιλεύω (reign with), and συνδοξάζω (glorified together); as given in the companion study.