To be called a friend of God is to live a faith that listens, trusts, and obeys.
James 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
What a privilege to be called a friend of God! To be friends with someone means to be in unity with them, to be of the same soul, and to share all things in common. The Greek philosopher Plutarch describes a friend as a person’s “other self.”
The only other person referred to in Scripture as God’s friend was Moses. There is no place in the Old Testament where Abraham was called a friend of God. However, Jewish thinkers before James, such as Philo of Alexandria, described Abraham as God’s friend to express how closely Abraham walked with God. By James’s time, this line of thought was already familiar.
The idea that Abraham was God’s friend comes from the fact that God didn’t hesitate to share his insights with Abraham (Genesis 18:17). This was after Abraham, by faith, attempted to offer up Isaac, believing that God would resurrect him anyway. Through this act, Abraham was declared righteous.
God had already declared Abraham righteous through faith, and now, Abraham publicly confirms it through his obedience. Had Abraham refused to obey God, his faith would have been exposed as lifeless. Through faith prompted by obedience, he was brought to the full confirmation of God’s promise.
Our faith shouldn’t be any different. It must be living trust that moves us to act. As the redeemed of Christ, we are more than God’s friend. We are his children. Let our faith that springs from that relationship produce visible fruits and not empty deeds.
Father, thank you for calling me into friendship with you through your Jesus Christ. May my faith never be idle. May I continue to live in obedience and love, proving that my heart truly belongs to you. Amen.
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