“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:14)
God has made us to be relational beings since we are made in the image of the relational God.
Sin has distorted this reality as everything else about us. From the very first sin this was seen in husband and wife hiding from one another and both from God. Like Adam and Eve we know that sin causes us to hide – form God, and from one another.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Gospel message is the truth that Jesus snot only saves us, great and necessary as that is. Here in John 15:14 Jesus speaks of the relationship He has with those who believe in Him through the Gospel as that of friendship. He says to His disciples, to all Christians, “You are my friends.”
Are you a friend of Jesus? Such a friend is characterised by
(1) the doing of Christ’s commands – one cannot call oneself a friend of Jesus whilst trampling upon His revealed will. You cannot have Christ without His Word in its full authoritative position over your life (or in the case of a church, over that church);
(2) understanding the revelation of God which Jesus has graciously given – if we do not give ourselves to the study of God’s Word with the Spirit’s help, we are no friend of Jesus;
(3) love for those who are the friends of Jesus – if we cut ourselves off or are unduly reserved from other Christians then we cannot be a true friend of Jesus.
You have probably heard many sermons encouraging you to love other Christians. But have you ever translated your knowledge into action? Are you loving believers any more now than you were in the past? Are you trying to imitate the sacrificial nature of Christ’s love? Or is your love limited to a smile and a handshake and merely being a pleasant person? It’s hard to make sacrifices out of love when you are preoccupied with personal comfort and convenience. But Jesus said that the person with the greatest kind of love is willing sacrifice his life. How great is your love? (John Macarthur)
Some work to do at home: read Proverbs 13:20 with 14:20; 16:28 with 17:9; 17:17 with 18:1; 18:24 with 19:4,6,7; 22:24 with 27:6; 27:9,10a.