Friendship with Jesus – Conditional?

Friendship with Jesus – Conditional?

by Eric C. Wheeler

I realize that this will probably come as a shock to many people, but Jesus explicitly said that friendship with Him is conditional. Yes, you read that right! Friendship with Jesus is conditional – NOT unconditional. In fact, believe it or not, neither is His continual love unconditional – according to what Jesus Himself said. Notice what He clearly stated to His disciples:

“IF you keep My commands, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and abide in His love… You are My friends IF you do whatever I command you” (John 15:10,14).

Those are two pretty big “IFs” (pun intended!). Despite what many people think and what most churches have erroneously taught, Jesus is not the lovey-dovey ‘What-a-Friend-We-Have-In-Jesus’-type person that the world has portrayed Him to be. Jesus flatly declared in these verses that friendship with Him (as well as remaining in His love) is contingent upon obedience to Him!

I’m willing to bet that nobody has ever seen these verses from the Bible displayed at a football game alongside the signs in the audience that read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16). The very thought that God’s abiding love and friendship is contingent and dependent on whether or not we obey Him seems utterly inconceivable; but this is clearly what Jesus declared. Yes, it is indeed true that God loved us so much that He gave Jesus to die in our place for our sins while we were yet still engrossed in our sinful lifestyles and in our ignorance were hostile towards Him (Rom. 5:8). But now that we’ve come to know and realize, and to understand and appreciate this profound and humbling truth, we are now expected to fully come to Him and to serve Him with our whole hearts in complete and total submission, faithfully and reverently obeying His every command. Anything short of this wholehearted commitment and allegiance to Him is not acceptable – and can (and will be) construed as taking His love and grace (and friendship) for granted. The Bible assures us that God will not tolerate any of us taking His great and precious love and sacrifice for granted. So say these Scriptures:

“We love Him because He first loved us.” (I John 4:19)

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:6-8)

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself… (Heb. 12:3)

 “He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (II Cor. 5:15)

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.” (Heb. 10:26-31)

These verses make it abundantly clear that once we’ve been enlightened to the truth of God’s love and grace that have been shown to us – in that while we were still sinners and hostile against Him in our ignorance He showed us mercy and forgiveness by having Jesus die for us – we NOW must recognize Him as not only our Savior but as our Lord (“the Boss”). We must now do what He says. We cannot go on sinning. That is, we can’t go on continuing our sinful behaviors and lifestyles that are against Him and contrary to His commands. If we do so, we will no longer be shown His continued love (we will no longer “abide in His love”) nor be looked upon favorably as His friend but will be accounted an enemy of God. As Jesus warned, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do the things I say?!” (Luke 6:46). “Behold, I will surely say to these people, ‘Depart from Me, you who practice sin and disregard My commands. You will be cast into outer darkness!’” (see Matt. 7:21-23; 13:40-42; 22:12-13; 25:30).

Don’t we realize that this is what happened to Satan? Before his name was changed to Satan which means “one who opposes” and/or “the adversary,” his name was Lucifer which meant “light bringer” or “light-bearer.” His name was changed to Satan when he quit bringing and bearing the Light (who is God). Instead, he chose to oppose God wanting to work against God; therefore, God changed his name to Satan, calling him what he is and what he chose to be – God’s enemy. As a consequence, he was thrown out of heaven (“cast into outer darkness”) and ultimately, he will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where he and his demons will be tormented forever and ever (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10). The Lord God is consistent in all that He does. Therefore, don’t we realize that this same terminology is also expressed against us who have tasted God’s goodness and have been made aware of God’s grace shown to us, yet who haven’t continued on in faith and obedience to God and are rebelling just as Satan did? Don’t we understand that the punishment will be the same? As Scripture says: “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace!” (Heb. 6:4-6). Jesus said that these people too, like Satan, will be cast into outer darkness and potentially subsequently thrown into and burned up in the lake of fire which is the second death (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:14-15). The only difference being is that they, being human and mortal, will be burned up, whereas Satan and his demons, being immortal, will be tormented forever and ever.

Jude, the half-brother of Jesus and a leader among the first-century believers wrote to the Church that certain corrupt teachers had secretly infiltrated the Church and had brought-in destructive heresies “changing the grace of God into license for immorality while also denying the lordship and sovereignty of Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). In other words, they were teaching that you don’t have to obey Jesus’ commands; that you are now under “grace” so you can continue to sin and do things which are immoral such as fornicate (sleep with your girlfriend or boyfriend), get drunk, take God’s name in vain, cheat on your spouse, use foul and perverse language, lie, take recreational drugs, view pornography, steal, lust after things or people, be unthankful, complain, talk back to your parents and dishonor them, be selfish and self-centered, and the like.) They were teaching that you don’t have to repent and change because “God already did everything for you. Jesus died on the cross for you, so you don’t have to do anything or need to change your behavior or even pick up YOUR own cross and follow and obey Him. Do whatever you want – just make sure you come to church regularly though.” Sound familiar? This is the same garbage and heresy that many of today’s church leaders and pastors are teaching, just like Jude warned the brethren about in his day. Don’t be fooled. Jesus IS the Boss. He is Sovereign and He is Lord, therefore we must obey Him and do everything He says. He is not going to allow immorality of any kind. He is the One who said that if you even look at another person lustfully, you have already committed adultery in your heart. He expects much more from us than Moses ever commanded (see Matt. 5:20-48). And Jesus said that friendship with Him and continuing in His good graces (“abiding in His love”) were completely conditional and based upon whether or not we obey Him once we have come to the knowledge of His loving and gracious sacrifice for us. If we don’t, then Scripture says, “there no longer remains a sacrifice [grace] for sins for us, but rather only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” (Heb. 10:26-27). Let us all take note, my friends, and faithfully obey our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Pease feel free to reproduce, reprint and/or forward as desired. Altering or editing is strictly prohibited. To contact us, send a request to info@sharingtheway.com or visit our website at https://www.sharingtheway.com/. Using an article for any form of advertising is strictly prohibited.