My Best Friend

John 15:14–16 (NKJV)

John 15:14–16 NKJV

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

John 15:14 (NKJV)

John 15:14 NKJV

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

The Greek word for friends here is philos, pronounced “feel ohs”. It means a person with whom one has a close bond or friendship or to whom one is under a basic obligation.

The Gospel according to John b. Unpacking the Metaphor (15:9–16)

This obedience is not what makes them friends; it is what characterizes his friends. Clearly, then, this ‘friendship’ is not strictly reciprocal: these friends of Jesus cannot turn around and say that Jesus will be their friend if he does what they say.

The Gospel according to John b. Unpacking the Metaphor (15:9–16)

Neither God nor Jesus is ever referred to in Scripture as the ‘friend’ of anyone. Of course, this does not mean that either God or Jesus is an ‘unfriend’: if one measures friendship strictly on the basis of who loves most, guilty sinners can find no better and truer friend than in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Son whom he has sent.

Let me make one thing absolutely clear. God doesn’t need our obedience, He wants it.

John 15:15 (NKJV)

John 15:15 NKJV

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

A slave is told what to do without being told why. In this friendship with God, He tells us why He does the things he does.

The next verse gives us a good example of that.

John 15:16 (NKJV)

John 15:16 NKJV

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Jesus chose and appointed us. Why? So we could go and bear fruit.

How do we bear fruit though? He already told us! We’ve got to abide in Him! Back in verse 4 Jesus says “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

The formula for being a friend of Jesus is: Me+ obedience = Friend of Jesus

The formula for producing fruit for Jesus is: Me + Abiding in Christ = Fruit that lasts

James 4:4–6 (NKJV)

James 4:4–6 NKJV

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

“God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble.”

If you are making friends with the world, you are committing spiritual adultry against God.

The Greek word for enemy here is echthros (ek throws) and it means one who is hostile toward another and thus is an enemy.

Think about that for a second. You could be going to church all the time, reading your Bible, being kind to the other people in your dorm, but still be an enemy of God.

James 4:7–10 (NKJV)

James 4:7–10 NKJV

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

The Greek word for submit here is hypotasso, which means to obey, or bring under subjection.

The Greek word for resist here is anthistemi (an tease te me). It means to be hostile towards, stand against, or oppose.

The devil only has power over you if you give it to him. I’ve heard it said like this before, “Jesus has set you free! Yet there are believers who go back and put the chains back on.”

Galatians 5:1–6 (NKJV)

Galatians 5:1–6 NKJV

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

Jesus says that we’re his friends if we do what he commands. So again I’m asking which one are you? Are you a hearer of the word? And not a doer? If so, you’re faking it, lying to yourself, and others around you, but you’re not faking anything to God. I pray that you become a doer of the word. Be obedient to God. Grow in your faith, be a better person to others around you, your family, yourself. You don’t have to be what the world says you are. You can be a friend of God.

My Best Friend

We Are God’s Friends

Want a friend? Be a Servant

Enemy of God or Friend of God? Which are you?

Are You in The Wrong Place?

Be Free, Be Obedient