CHARACTERISTICS OF A PERSON WHO IS A FRIEND OF GOD
By: Dr. Mike Jones
We love to sing the song by Israel Houghton, “I am a Friend of God”: We clap to it; we bounce up and down and even barb our heads as we sing the lyrics. It’s a catchy song with meaning. But today, we want to uncover the true meaning of the phrase “a friend of God,” as outlined in Holy Scripture.
Saints, do you know that Abraham was the ONLY ONE in scripture that was called ‘A Friend of God’? The Apostle James said in Chapter 2:23, “And the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.” The apostle James draws attention to the phrase because the term “friend” carries the connotation of intimate and has a sense of closeness, trust, and sharing.
Remember, the almighty God was the one who made this statement about Abraham and their relationship. [James was quoting from Isaiah 41:8, “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend”.]
In the New Testament, Christ uses a metaphor to show how connected a true believer is to Him as He is to the Father. In John Chapter 15:1-11, Christ is the Vine, the Father is the Vinedresser, and we are the branches. The Father prunes the fruit-bearing branches to make them bear more fruit. He removes the fruitless branches, and they are burned. Let’s read it here in John Chapter 15:1-11;
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit to itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. IF anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
Saints, simply put: A branch is nothing apart from the vine, and we can do nothing apart from Christ. A branch draws strength from the vine, and we become strong through Christ. One well known Bible Scholar said it very eloquently when he said, “A Christian can abide only by being firmly grounded in Jesus. If a branch is to abide, it cannot be even half an inch away – it must be connected. Those who are saved are those who are abiding, and those who are not abiding are not saved.”
With that definition of abiding in Christ, let’s look at some of the characteristics of this person, who, by New Testament standards, would be [like Abraham], called a true ‘Friend of God’.
FRUITFULNESS
A true Christian or Disciple of Christ is someone who will bear fruit. Jesus [Himself] tells us how the person does it, here in John 15 verse 4: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” The person who abides quickly realizes that his SOUL/SPIRIT are fed with the truths of God as he stays in a close, loving, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ. The natural result of that is spiritual fruit.
Sometimes we look back over our lives and get the crazy idea that we’ve bear fruit all by ourselves, because of how smart we are, and spiritually mature we are; we forget God worked through us to produce the fruit, because the scripture says, “A branch can bear no fruit apart from the vine.” [Therefore, we have to be attached to Jesus Christ!]
To be a real fruit bearer, we must have a relationship with Jesus, and lay aside all the things of the world that become a distraction. Remember, Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”… (TO BE CONTINUED)
(Adapted from Characteristics of a Person who is a Friend of God; all Scripture references are taken from the KJV unless otherwise noted.)