Re:Verse Passage – John 15:9-17 (day six)
This is an important question: what is the basis of our friendship with Jesus? Are we friends because we obey His commands? Do we earn Jesus’ friendship because of our meritorious behavior? Sometimes we can behave as if this is true. We lapse in our worship attendance, so we think, “If I return to worship I will find favor with God again”, or “If I get a few quiet times under my belt then Jesus will like me.”
That is not the Gospel; it’s heresy. We are friends because Christ first loved us (vs. 12) by laying down his life; we are friends because of His work, not ours. Obedience then is not the condition of friendship but the affirmation or confirmation of our friendship with Jesus.
Listen, you don’t have to earn Jesus’ love or His friendship; He has already loved you, He died on the cross for you. The cure for disobedience is not trying harder, but repentance and returning to your first love or remaining in His love; believing in the work of Jesus through which he calls you friend. We always obey whom (or what) we believe; believe in Jesus!
Great blog. I believe that true friendship requires trust in one another, loyalty which may include laying down one’s life for a friend, supporting and believing in a friend’s mission. Trusting and having faith in a friend’s mission helps with engagement for achieving a common purpose! Good efforts from the heart counts, not the volume.
We are friends of Jesus because we trust and believe in His mission on earth. Jesus’ obedience of His Father, including dying for us on the cross, is a great example for us to follow, to trust and to believe in Him. I could not agree more, Obedience then is not the condition of friendship but the affirmation or confirmation of our friendship with Jesus!
Thanks for the reminder of what true friendship is about!
Phuong Le Callaway, PhD, CA
Two kinds of love that are the core in Christians’ love: 1) God’s love, and 2) friendship love. God loves all people and this love can be excercised by Christian churches with the engagement of followers of Christ; and friendship love is the type of love that we are bonding with one another as God’s followers in servicing the Lord! There are other types of love that are more personal, individual to individual and are not the type of love I discussed here! It is good to draw a distinction!
Anyone has any personal opinions about the definition of love and the types of love you wanted to share?
Phuong Le Callaway, PHD, CA