Friend of God

The Bible names only one person by name as being a friend of God. That person is Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. God promised Abraham that he would make him a great nation. God promised that Abraham's offspring would be as numerous as the stars. It was because of his belief in God's words that Abraham was called the friend of God.

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
James 2:23

The author of Romans drives home the point that it was Abraham's belief in God and not his good works that made Abraham right with God.

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Romans 4:2-3

Abraham had already proven His obedience to God by leaving his home to go to a land that God promised to show him. It was only after God had pronounced Abraham righteous and a friend, that Abraham was given the ultimate test. After God promised to make Abraham's offspring as numerous as the sands of the sea, God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son. The son that God had given him in his old age after his wife, Sara was well past the age of childbearing. Abraham passed the test with flying colors (see Genesis 22:1-18). When God gave Abraham the command to sacrifice his only son, I'm sure that Abraham thought God would bring his son back to life.

Jesus also established a covenant relationship with His disciples when He called them His friends:

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
John 15:14-16 (NKJV)

We too can prove ourselves to be a friend of God through our belief in Jesus and by our obedience to God's word.

We may have only a few friends in this life or we may have many. Some might betray our trust. Some might be the best friends we could ever hope for. But none of those friendships will ever compare to being called a friend of the creator of the universe. Being a friend of Jesus is a friendship to truly cherish. Being a friend of God is a friendship that lasts for an eternity.