Friend or Family: Why Not Both?

Ever since I heard about Abraham being a “friend of God,” I’ve wondered what that meant.

The Bible mentions Abraham’s friendship with God in several places (Isaiah 41:8; 2 Chronicles 20:7; James 2:23).

God called him a friend because of his faith. Abraham trusted God. He took God at his word. He “believed the Lord, and he [God] counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). He was declared righteous before he was circumcised in obedience or even given the law (Romans 4:3).

The foundation of Abraham’s faith in God was the everlasting covenant God made with him (Genesis 12:2-3; 15:1-21), a covenant that extended to the people of Israel (Isaiah 41:10-11). Yet, those who rely on faith in God are the spiritual children of Abraham (Galatians 3:6). Faith in what Christ has done in dying for our sins is how God credits the righteousness of Christ to us.

Out of Abraham’s faith in God came a desire to obey him. James said that Abraham’s obedience—concerning offering Issac—was the proof of the faith he possessed (James 2:23). True faith is not devoid of works. His obedience was also proof of his love for God.

How to Be God’s Friend

Human friendship has numerous characteristics, and Abraham’s friendship with God had some of them. Friends like each other and, for the most part, understand each other. They want to spend time together and often have shared interests or goals. Friends reach out to help and encourage each other. They are loyal and come to our defense.

If we want to be God’s friend, we will spend time with him in prayer and in the Word of God. We will grow in our love for him and seek to understand his will, purposes, and interests. We will faithfully stand for him and the Scriptures and be grateful for his help. We will seek to please him and speak well of him. We will want others to know him.

Out of our love for him, we will want to obey him and pursue those things that reflect his glory. Jesus said we can prove our friendship to him through obedience to his commands (John 15:14-15).

More than a Friend

God is already more than a friend to believers. When Christians accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, they are adopted into his forever family (Ephesians 1:3-5). Because we are now family, Jesus, who saved us, is the “friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

God will never leave his children, never abandon them. Because we are his own, he is the friend who loves “at all times” (Proverbs 17:17). Although he is the sovereign king of the universe, he is also our loving, caring Father God.

One day I told my sister-in-love, Janice, that I was “glad we are more than family; we are friends.” We can be both! And it’s just as true to turn that around: more than friends, we are family.

So it is with God. Even before friendship with him, we can already rejoice that we are family. And because we are family, we can pursue a deeper and deeper friendship.

It’s a wondrous win-win!

[Graphic: AI-generated by Jose Weslley from Pixabay]