James 2: 23-24 – God’s Friend

And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

The scripture James refers to is found in Genesis 15: 6. God has just told Abraham that he will have a son who is his own flesh and blood. God tells Abraham to count the stars in the night sky if that is possible and he will have an idea how many offspring he will have. The text says that “Abraham believed God.” Does this mean he simply said, “Oh yeah, God. Sure. I believe you,” or did he accept it as a foundational truth that what God said would happen?

We don’t see the evidence of Abraham’s belief in what God told him until God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. At that point, we know what it means when scripture says he “believed.”

Two things resulted from this belief.

The first thing is that God considered him righteous. Righteousness in this context is doing what God thinks is right. Was Abraham perfect in always doing what God wanted to be done? No. That is clear from the Genesis text. The fact that Abraham believed God with a pure and abiding belief set him apart. No one else believed God that way. God wants us to have no other Gods before him. He wants our complete love, trust, and devotion.

The second result of his belief was that he was called “God’s friend.” Isn’t that a wonderful definition of a friend? Abraham trusted God and believed in him. God appreciated that.

Application: As you go through your day today, ask yourself: ”How can I trust God in this situation?”

Food for Thought: Many words have more than one meaning. For example, ”the law” refers to several kinds or groups of law. The word ”love” can mean that you like what is on your dinner plate, or it can refer to an intimate relationship. Does James’ use of the word ”faith” fall into this category?