Are You God's Friend?

 We have heard it said in the Bible that Abraham was the friend of God. He obeyed God and it was counted as righteousness.  Jesus also said that He would call us friends if we do as He commanded us. We are exhorted to love one another even as He loved us. Love is the greatest of laws and can never be satisfied.  It's an eternal debt of gratitude to God for His ultimate and supreme sacrifice on the cross. He gave His all and wants us to be willing to take up our crosses and follow Him. Now, my point is that God may be our friend but we may not live or love as His friend, but as enemies and even practical atheists who can live like there is no God and let one's faith have little effect on one's ethic and way of life.  

In reality, we can be servants at the same time as friends because we must not put God in a box and say something like, "I like to just see Jesus as my friend," when He is Lord and Judge! God would never treat us as His enemies no matter what we do, but if we go astray, He will discipline and chastise His wayward children but only in love,  Note that only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes. These two go hand in hand and cannot be divorced.  In other words, there can be no disobedient believers by definition.  

Now when two instruments are tuned to the same pitch they are in tune with each other and can make music in perfect harmony. It' the same with friendship: If two believers are obedient and walking in the Spirit, they should be in harmony or fellowship with each other. or as they say on the same page. This is why no one can claim to love God and not his neighbor and anyone can love his friend, family, or lover, but we to love our enemies. Note that Jeus defined the greatest possible love as laying down your life for them. And this is what Jesus did for us while we were yet His enemies.  The important thing is that we abide in Christ's love and manifest it to the world as ambassadors of it. Soli Deo Gloria! 

Suffer The Little Children

Jesus welcomed the little ones, wanted them to come to Him, and blessed them, while the disciples had no time for them and thought Jesus was too busy to be bothered.  He said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, [in NIV:  "do not hinder them"] for such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14).  Jesus rebuked them and told them that to such belong the kingdom of God.  He also said that he who humbles himself like a little child shall be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Are children the enemies of God?  Yes and No.  James 4:4 says that he who is a friend of the world is the enemy of God.  Children are born in sin, of course. "In sin did my mother conceive me," says Psalm 51:5.  The Minnesota Crime Commission issued a report saying that little children are born to be criminals and if they are not civilized by the parents will grow up delinquent. The grace of God covers all children till the age of accountability (I don't want to get into an extensive proof of this doctrine here because most believers accept this) and children are to be welcomed into the church body and its fellowship, and not to be treated as outsiders.  There will be no children in hell, and God loves all children and wants to bless them.  If you make one of them stumble you will be better off with a millstone around your neck and cast into the sea.  They have angels that always behold the face of God and take care of them.

Yes, children sin but they have not learned to discern good and evil and are innocent to a certain extent.  Technically all unbelievers are children of Satan but children can be converted to Christ--the way of salvation is so simple even they can comprehend it. God can and sometimes does speak to us through the children, just like St. Augustine claimed happened to him.  We were all enemies of God before salvation and the miracle is that God loved us in that while we were His enemies He sent Son to die for us.  It is true that infants are completely self-centered and their world revolves around them, and it is the job of the parent to civilize them and bring them up in the training and nurture of the Lord ("Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it," says Proverbs 22:6, ESV). Responsible parents stand in loco Dei or in the place of God to teach concepts of authority, respect, and obedience.

Though children may have not accepted Christ yet, God is working on them and it is the job of the parents to teach them the truth and way of salvation.  We should never treat them as if they are enemies of God--that is the logical outcome of believing they are.  Only God knows and sees who His elect are and we are not to judge people prematurely or before the time.  The wheat and chaff look similar when growing together and it is not the task of believers to separate them because they could be wrong.   Soli Deo Gloria!