Jesus tells us that we are his friends if we obey his command to love, and that command is fulfilled through abiding. As we abide in him we will bear the fruit of righteousness. This does not add to our salvation by grace alone through faith alone, yet it confirms our transformed heart. And the offer to be Jesus’s friend — the author and perfecter of our faith, the Alpha and Omega, the Beautiful One, the one who bore our sins and transgression the offer to be his friend is irresistible for the Christian.