Friendship in Focus: Jesus
Romans 10:9-10 (NIV) 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Salvation means preservation or deliverance from harm. When you zoom in on the word through Christ, it means deliverance from sin and its consequences. Thankfully, through Christ we are saved not by our own doing or effort. He died for us before any of us chose him, even died knowing some of us wouldn’t choose him. His sacrifice was out of pure love for us, to protect us and reunite us with him. All he asks us to do is believe that Jesus is who he says he is, our Savior and Lord, and to declare it with your mouth. It requires no work of our own.
“But is’’t that still works? We have to believe this and say this to be saved?”
No, because all the word says is that we must believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. It’s like friendship. It is not works to decide to be friends with someone, to make that choice or to have that desire takes no effort. It takes work to maintain a friendship, yes, but if you’re trying that friendship will continue. No one’s going to be perfect but that’s not the point of friendship. Real friendship is not dependent on you being a perfect or having it all together. It’s based on honesty, trust, sincerity, grace, and transparency. It’s the same thing with Christ. The thing is, even in human friendships, you can’t just do whatever you want or you will destroy the friendship. You must consider the other person.
Our lives are to honor Christ. To be a good friend to him, you must consider how you can honor him as a friend.
You say, we don’t have to do anything to be saved, but yet to follow Jesus, I can’t do all these things? If my salvation is not based on my actions, and Jesus loves me anyway, why is there any change required at all?
Why can’t we loves Jesus and still pursue our own desires? Why can’t we love Jesus and still have sex outside of marriage? Why can’t we love Jesus and still maintain our homosexual lifestyle? Why can’t we love Jesus and still spill tea on the weekends with the girls? Why can’t we love Jesus and still do what we feel like doing?
Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
Back to the idea of friendship again, if you love someone, you will honor them. If they’ve communicated that they need a friend who can discuss disagreements without yelling, you would try to listen because that lets them know that you love them. Of course, we are not always perfect as we discussed above, but we try. Obeying Christ shows our love for him, but beyond that the reason Christ even calls us to do anything is for our health and good. Everything God asks us to do is out of his love. He is life itself, so he knows that anything outside of him is death. He is the creator of all things, he existed before there was anything that we know now, so he knows what is good and what is bad. If he truly loves us, he can’t allow us to keep walking into death. Every word from the Lord is to lead us into light again, away and out of darkness. Jesus came and died for our sins, so that we would no longer be separated from our Father. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the word, that he sent his only begotten son so that we would not perish, but have eternal life”. He did this so we could be with him again, freely connected to love himself, joy himself, peace himself—the source of all life and goodness.
We see love in Christ’s sacrifice for us. Love requires sacrifice. It is a choice, not a feeling. A lot of times we think if something doesn’t feel good, or give us what we want, it is not good or should be thrown away. This is not always the case. Just because something doesn’t feel good, does not mean it can’t be healthy. Think about therapy. Dealing with the trauma doesn’t feel good in the process but in the end you know it’s for your long term health.
Christ calls us to obey his word because it brings life and honors him.
The crazy thing about it though is that even though he requires this from us, he doesn’t expect us to do it alone. All he asks, is that you come, meet him, seek him, and he will guide you. He loves you, and will lead the way. When you give your life to Christ, you are now adopted into his family as his child, his daughter, his son. A good parent teaches their child the way to go in kindness and love. A child does not have to know everything. As you seek him, his spirit helps you along the way. Just walk with him. He is all you need. Come as you are.
God’s heart is to be with you, to know you, to live life with you, and for you to know his love. Christ is like the best of friends. There is nothing required to come, just come and be with him. Just decide and keep investing in the relationship as you would a friend, or a loved one. Keep getting to know him, there’s always more to discover! Go spend time with him. Speak to him as you would a friend. In him you will experience true friendship. I know all of us have not had great friendships throughout our lives, but he is the perfect friend. He is kind, faithful, patient, never holds a grudge, quick to forgive, gentle, full of joy, hope, and the keeper of peace. He always has your best interest at heart. His word assures us that he has good plans for us, to prosper us, never to harm us, but to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). He defends and protects us, always has your back (Isaiah 41:10). His love is reckless and endless towards you.
He wants to sit with you, not just be a task to check off. Seek God as a friend. Just as you would at a coffee shop, catching up with a friend. Go catch up. Whether it’s on a hike, a walk, or on a lunch date. Tell him what you’ve been learning, what you’ve been struggling with, or what you’re looking forward to. He loves hearing from you. He already knows, but he cares. Sit with him today. I hope you enjoy your frate (friend +date)!
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