The Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death . . . .” Phil. 3:10.

“Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him . . . .” Rom. 8:17. To suffer for His name’s sake is something else. To suffer with Him, to have fellowship with Him in His sufferings, is to suffer as He suffered. And He suffered, being tempted (Heb. 2:18), saying: “Not My will, but Yours be done, O God.” This is when we have the opportunity to have fellowship with Him in His sufferings, which are those sufferings that arise from denying oneself according to the flesh. All the brothers have the same sufferings; and Jesus Christ is the first-born, the first among many brethren.

In this way all of us suffer death according to the flesh and are made alive according to the spirit while we live. It would have been impossible for us to have fellowship in these sufferings had He not likewise partaken of the same flesh as we.