A Sincere Request: Before proceeding, please review my previous articles, listed in order, for context. If you've already read them, please continue.

Condition to Divine Friendship:

Jesus desires to be friends with humanity, as His desire is recorded in Scripture: "You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:12, NIV) Obeying Jesus' Commandments is the condition to become His friend. The secret to divine friendship lies in obeying His commandments. When we disobey Jesus, we cannot be His friends or our neighbours’ friends. If we can't be friends with our neighbours, who are visible, how can we be friends with the invisible Jesus?

John the Baptist: Jesus' True Friend

John the Baptist administered the baptism of repentance by water, the 'Baptism of Water' and 'Baptism of Repentance', for multitude of his neighbours, to raise them to the divine friendship, a friendship with God and Neighbours, from the mentality that lacks friendship with neighbours due to: enviousness, hostility, estrangement, bitterness and enmity – through this he was able to eradicate mutual hostile, sow the seed of mutual respect and friendship, and thus tried to help them a friendship with God. He himself was a true friend of God and tirelessly worked for others, as he was in clear understanding of what is written in the scripture

"Anger and fury are both of them abominable, and the sinful man shall be subject to them." (Sirach 27:33, DRA)

Religion of Friendship: A Heritage

If we, as givers and receivers of the 'Baptism of Water', fail to live out the Religion of Friendship, what benefits can we expect from our worship within the physical church, and who will benefit from it and to what extent? The religion of friendship is a heritage since the creation, as written, in this context, in the scripture:

The Lord is taking note of your sins, and if you take vengeance on someone, the Lord will take vengeance on you. But if you forgive someone who has wronged you, your sins will be forgiven when you pray. You cannot expect the Lord to pardon you while you are holding a grudge against someone else. You yourself are a sinner, and if you won't forgive another person, you have no right to pray that the Lord will forgive your sins. If you cannot get rid of your anger, you have no hope of forgiveness—you are only a human being. Think about it! Some day you will die, and your body will decay. So give up hate and live by the Lord's commands, the commands in the covenant of the Most High. Instead of getting upset over your neighbour’s faults, overlook them. If you stay out of arguments, you will not sin so much, because a hot temper gets them started. It is sinful to break up a friendship by creating hostility among people who get along well together. (Sirach 28:1-9, GNT)

Let's Prepare to Die Holy:

If we die in a state of hostility, enmity, estrangement, and conflict without embracing the Religion of Friendship, who will seek forgiveness on our behalf? Can we expect those who harbour prejudice, bias, and a twisted mindset against us, and superficially worship God within the confined boundaries of their physical church, far from the Garden of love, to seek forgiveness for us? No! Let us not delay! No one can seek forgiveness for our sins. For our conflicts, no one can seek forgiveness. For our enmity, no one can seek forgiveness. For our estrangement, no one can seek forgiveness. For our hostility, no one can seek forgiveness.

Therefore, instead of wasting time, let us continually undergo the sacrament of repentance and confession, the 'Baptism of Repentance', to remain in the Garden of love and live by the Religion of Friendship. Indeed, Jesus has given His life to abide by the Religion of Friendship, as Scripture records His commandments:

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:12-14, NIV)

If, after our 'Baptism of Water', we continue to live with a mindset of partiality and discrimination within the confined boundaries of our physical church, God will express His shame upon us, as recorded in Scripture:

"You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'" (Matthew 15:7-9, NIV)

Embracing Friendship as Jesus Did:

Let us strive to attain eternal peace in this precious life by embracing the Religion of Friendship. Indeed, perfect friendship is possible only in the Garden of love through friendship with humanity, as recorded in the scripture:

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48, NIV)

Jesus is continuously praying and proclaiming to unite the scattered herd of humanity in the Garden of love, where God Himself resides, as the scripture reflects His prayer:

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:20-21, NIV)

Shall we understand the significance of the Religion of Friendship, as He expresses His yearning for friendship with humanity, as recorded in the scripture:

"I am thirsty." (John 19:28, NIV)

He has a thirst for our friendship, but we have repeatedly responded with bitterness. I, the author, sincerely propose a Religion of Friendship to unite with God and others. This can only be achieved by breaking free from the confinement of the boundary of physical churches fragmented worldwide, permanently leaving behind hypocrisy, twisted mindset, prejudice, and bias, and stepping into the Garden of love for a true divine friendship with everyone.

Therefore, in the next article, we will delve into exploring the Gift of Holy Spirit, a result of divine friendship with God and Humanity.

To be Continued…..

==> Stay tuned for our next article, where we'll uncover how 'Baptism: A Vow to Use the Gift of Holy Spirit’ that transforms our faith journey.

Amen!

Praise be to God, Thanks be to God.

Not being Unrighteous is Religion!!

Jharkhand! Peace be upon you!!

India! Peace be upon you!!

Peace to the whole world!!