Friends of God
"Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: 'Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.' He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works." James 2:21-26
In these verses, the half-brother of Jesus Christ emphasizes the way we live our life in real time - it is to match our faith and what we say we believe. Otherwise, our faith is dead and can be easily challenged by those opposing Christianity. We are not a strong witness of Jesus Christ without the depth of good works matching our faith.
We are shown to be right with God and friends of God by our behavior - not just our speech.
Our righteousness, our behavior - our conduct - is the outworking of our heart and mind's belief. It relays Jesus Christ is alive and at work in our heart, making us new creations - 1 Corinthians 5:17. Our pure hearts, once evil, desire the things of God, not the things of the world. Our actions also relay the Holy Spirit filling us and guiding us, as godly power encompasses our good deeds and takes our good deeds beyond what our self-efficacy can accomplish. Our righteousness shows the world we are friends of God. We have chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He is on the throne of our heart and mind, and we choose to obey what He has declared in His word out of our love for Him. Jesus says in John 15:14, "You are my friends when you do what I command."
Truly, people can identify our friendship with Jesus Christ by watching our actions - our behavior lines up entirely with Him. In this, we are telling the world - I choose Jesus.
People can also identify our doctrine by our actions, as doctrine dictates behavior. How we choose to live tells the world what we believe to be ok in God's eyes. When our actions counter Christianity and we justify sinful lifestyles, the world is very quick to judge and point out hypocrisy in the church like they know our faith better than we do. I personally believe that is one tactic of Satan, as the demons know God also but refuse to obey Him - and due to the world being people focused, hypocrisy is effective in keeping people from desiring a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Hypocrisy is perfected deceit and a win for Satan, as he turns it on the church for his personal gain.
Abraham was called righteous and the friend of God because of his obedience to God's command to him personally, not for the specific action of offering his son Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice. Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. What He personally commands us to do is for our faith to grow into maturity to completeness. Abraham obeyed God's command and His faith was made complete.
What's amazing is God saw Abraham's willingness to obey Him and stopped Abraham before he could sacrifice his son - and provided a sacrifice in his son's place. Very picturesque of God sending Jesus Christ to be born of a virgin to die on the cross for our sins, rising again three days later. The perfect Lamb was slain once for all time and we are made perfect and complete simply by believing in Him and obeying Him.
Obedience to God's voice is better than sacrifice - 1 Samuel 15:22. Truly, our good works indicate we are alive in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit.
Moreover, Rahab was shown to be right with God, not by the act of lying to the murderous pursuers but by obeying God in protecting His people. Her protection saved a nation. What we need to remember is Rahab's lie was situational. She did not believe in God, however she became a believer and is recognized in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Rahab did not lie to Jews about sinful behavior to protect sinners from being held accountable for their actions (sinful actions are always to be dealt with righteously) - she protected God's people from evil doers out to destroy. Humanity often misses God's meaning in works, when they look at the singular action and forget relationship with God and the entire counsel of God. Thus, faith and works go together.
Many today desire the power that comes from being friends of God, but they deny relationship with God. They want the perks without the commitment. They desire the power minus relationship. They look to actions to identify strategy in order to accomplish similar outcomes. They are idolatrous, forgetting God and personal relationship with Jesus Christ- seeking to imitate actions simply to glory in power. These are the people who say, "Lord, Lord I did this in your name," whom Jesus says, "I never knew you." That is one reason why it is so important for faith in God and works to go together. Works reveal the everlasting power in our Christian faith, while our Christian faith reveals our everlasting relationship with God.
When isolated, faith without works lacks depth and longevity and is shown to be dead without proof of belief; while works minus faith shows manipulative strategy to obtain power, Satan's imitation and defiance to God and His ordained way of relationship - recognizing one's sin and need for Jesus Christ as Savior.
Therefore, it is important for us Christians in our everyday to keep Jesus Christ at the center of logistics, pointing to Him in our actions - relaying to the world that Jesus Christ is our best friend. He alone makes our faith complete. We obey Him.
With idolatry consuming many in the world today, can people tell that you are friends of God?
Prayer: Abba, open my ears to Your voice and please give me understanding of what You are calling me to do today. In Jesus' precious name, Amen.
