In Acts 2:42, we read, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Notice how “the apostles’ doctrine” and “fellowship” are coupled together in the sentence by the word and between them and the comma after the word fellowship. Instead of giving a comma after each of these items as if they were simply a list (e.g. doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayers), the punctuation pairs the apostles’ doctrine with fellowship. Greek editions of the New Testament have this punctuation as well.

The early church engaged in each of these activities. We may readily see how some of these items could fit together. If we break bread, then we will offer prayer to God while doing so. We also view this as fellowship. However, the linkage we may fail to notice is doctrine and fellowship, yet from the way the sentence reads, this association is emphasized.

We cannot have fellowship unless we all continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. Doctrine means teaching. What the inspired apostles taught in the New Testament is our basis for unity and cooperation. To Corinth the apostle Paul wrote:

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Cor. 1:9,10.)

In the context of Acts 2, Peter had just delivered a sermon about Jesus. His life attested by miraculous activity (v. 22), His crucifixion by wicked hands (v. 23), and His resurrection from the grave as the fulfillment of prophecy (vv. 24-35) all pointed to the conclusion that Jesus indeed is Lord and Messiah (v. 36). The crowd was convicted by these words (v. 37). They believed Jesus was Lord and Messiah and that they were guilty of putting Him to death. When they asked the inspired apostle Peter what to do (v. 37), he replied, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” (v. 38). These are teachings upon which we must agree if we are to have fellowship.

The apostles’ teaching regarding receiving salvation is plain. We cannot have fellowship with those who teach something other than what the apostles taught in the New Testament regarding how to receive remission of sins. If the apostle Peter says baptism saves us (1 Pet. 3:21), then we cannot teach differently. If the apostle John faithfully records that Jesus taught we must be born of water and the spirit to enter the kingdom (John 3:3-5), then we cannot teach another way of entry and remain in fellowship with God and His people. The apostle Paul teaches that we become children of God through faith by being baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26, 27), that baptism places one into Christ, uniting one with Christ’s death, freeing one from sin (Rom. 6:3-7), that baptism is a burial,  the working of God that makes us alive and forgives us of all trespasses (Col. 2:12-13), and that it is God’s mercy to save, the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5). We must continue steadfastly in this teaching. We cannot have fellowship with those who teach and practice something other than what the apostles have taught on this vital subject.