God: Father, not just Friend

There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch. I have not had a drink since.  (Big Book, pg. 13)

Bill W. started about offering Himself up to God, but a dead man has nothing to offer, not even himself.

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5: 8)

Jesus made it very clear that we do not find God, but rather God finds us:

"And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father." (John 6: 65)

We enter into Sonship with God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ -- He is far more than a "Friend", as Bill W. claimed.

I also find it quite telling that Bill W. talks about "sins" in this portion of his story, but in the Twelve Steps, adherents in the program are expected to come to grips with their "defects of character". This discrepancies are telling and disturbing.

"I have no had a drink since. .. "

At the end of his life, Bill was clamoring for alcohol. He also dabbled with other illicit drugs, like LSD. This man's claims to sobriety are false and all washed up.

"I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch."

The Root of Jesse (Isaiah 11: 10) and the Branch of Righteousness (Jeremiah 33: 15) has taken away all our sins at the Cross (Colossians 2: 13).

We bring nothing but our faith, which is also given to us in the Word of the Gospel:

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Romans 10: 17 NASB)