"Ye are my friends, IF ye do whatsoever I command you." John 15:14
There are many popular sayings in the churchworld and often they have no basis in truth. One such saying is that "Jesus is a friend to sinners."
friend: a person attached to another by feelings of affection, liking, and loyalty; a supporter or ally; a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile.Does Scripture support the belief that God is a friend of sinners? No! Yet many - unknowingly it seems - espouse such things, even while considering themselves a "Christian". They have forged a god based on their own imaginations who is nothing like the God of Scripture; so much so that the character of the true God offends them.
Much of the Christian contemporary music scene undergirds the image of this false god; an idol that feels really warm and fuzzy to man, but is based in falsehood. One such song is "God is Not a White Man" by Gungor, which we reviewed in a previous article. Recently, someone contested this article by claiming that God is a friend to all and He loves everyone. Afterall, don't we know that Jesus is a friend to sinners?
In the text of John 15:14, Jesus defines exactly who His friends are: those who obey Him. Do sinners obey God? No. They are by definition "children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2, 5:6; Colossians 3:6). Technically, we could end the discussion right there. Jesus makes it abundantly clear who qualifies to be His friend. However, let's look at why Jesus is not a friend of sinners and where this idea comes from.
"Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." John 9:31
God doesn't even hear sinners. Yet people want to claim that God is still a friend to sinners?? The saying that Jesus is a "friend to sinners" was not a teaching from God. Consider the absurdity of such a statement and its source.
The Jews knew that God was not a friend of the unrighteous, but that He was angry with the wicked "every day" and "hears not" sinners (Job 27:8-9; Micah 3:4; Psalm 7:11; 66:18; Proverbs 15:8, 29; Isaiah 1:15, 59:2).
They were accusing Jesus of having fellowship with darkness, which would make Him a partaker of that darkness (II Corinthians 6:14-18).
These same religious leaders also claimed that Jesus was Beelzebub and operating under the power of Satan. Should we lay claim to these statements as being true as well? So understand that claiming Jesus to be a "friend of sinners" was intended to disparage His righteousness. Yet, the question remains, is such a statement true?
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James 4:4
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Romans 8:7
If God is a friend to sinners - and we know that all have sinned - then He can logically have no enemies. Jesus being a friend of sinners requires that God is all sinners' friend.
However, these leaders knew that there was a difference in Jesus' interactions which excluded them and welcomed others. While Jesus was inviting to others, He was decidedly unfriendly to them (Matthew 3:7, 12:34, 23:1-38, 15:1-3, 15:14; Mark 7:5-7; Luke 3:7; John 2:15, 8:44).
Why was this? Because the religious leaders failed to bring forth fruit for repentance (Matthew 3:8; Mark 2:17; Luke 3:3-8, 5:32, 15:7). It is the quality of repentance that makes a sinner able to be received by God. Remember the two thieves on the cross. They were both sinners, but only one received salvation/fellowship with Christ.
"But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9:13
Repentance is not a one time act or being sorry for a particular sin. True repentance is a turning of the heart so that we can see sin as God does. We are acknowledging that we must forsake sinful ways - all of them - and not pursue sin, but pursue righteousness. True repentance is seen in an attitude that abhors sin.
Jesus was not a friend to sinners, for even the religious leaders were sinners. He was a friend to those who acknowledged their sinful state and obeyed His call to repent. This is why the Scriptures say that Jesus was "separate from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26). The word separate here (the Greek word chōrizō) means "to separate, divide, part, put asunder, to separate one's self from, to depart."
The world (and even much of the churchworld) likes to paint a picture of Jesus cozying up to sinners as their best friend, but that is not a picture which Scripture supports. Jesus is only a friend to those who obey Him (John 15:14). He draws near only to the humble.
God has mercy on all, including sinners, but only gives grace to the humble. And salvation - through which we are reconciled with God and made His friend - comes by grace. Apart from repentance from sin, we are enemies of God and still in need of reconciliation and salvation from God.
"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Romans 5:10
What is so wrong with portraying God as a friend to sinners?
- It is a message that Jesus never taught.
- It is at odds with the Scripture.
- It turns men into Pharisees and Saducees.
In reading this, some might say, "But I am a sinner!" Then my only answer for you is that you need to repent.
You are not a friend of God if still in sin (Psalm 5:4-6; II Corinthians 6:14-16; Matthew 7:23-24; John 12:46; I John 1:6, 2:4).
The Good News to sinners is NOT that Jesus is your friend, but that you no longer have to be a slave to sin (Romans 6:1-22, 8:2-13; I John 3:8-10). You can be changed, and through that change you can be made a friend of God.
Gungor - the group which sings the blasphemous song "God is Not a White Man" had a BIG hit in recent years with the song "I am a Friend of God". Who is a friend of God? To whom is this song directed? According to "God is Not a White Man" it is the atheists, charlatans, communists, lesbians, and terrorists...just to name a few.
Do you not see the web that is being woven, the anti-christ agenda being promoted? Are we so blind that we cannot perceive the false gospel used in these songs in order to blind people to their only hope of salvation from the world and from Hell?
Oh how the world perverts the things of God. We now have a Christian "god" promoted in song and in worship in churches all across the world who is no God at all, but works to destroy the very essence of who God is. The modern-day Pharisee is not the one calling sinners to repentance, but those claiming that such don't need to repent!
Let your message be the message of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let you words be the first words of the Gospel. All else is false and the preaching of "another Jesus" (II Corinthians 11:4).
"Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once." Proverbs 28:18
14 comments:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 KJV)
I know you are sincere, but John 3:16 and 1st Timothy 1:15 pretty much destroy this theory.
Hi Prophetic Observer,
I too am sure you are sincere, however those texts do not say what you suppose.
John 15:13 does not say that everyone Jesus died for was His friend. It merely says that He gave His life for His friends…and He did!
Jesus died for the sin of the whole world. He died for the righteous AND the unrighteous; for those who would receive His sacrifice AND those who would reject it. Yet, when He died for us, we were each His enemy, not His friend (Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21). We only became His friends after reconciliation.
God’s love and compassion for those in the world does not make every person in it His friend, and neither does John 3:16 say such.
I Timothy 1:15 states: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
This is in complete harmony with what I wrote. Jesus is a Savior for sinners. The text does not say that He is a friend, for He is not.
Further, neither is Paul claiming here to be a "chief sinner" as some often misinterpret. He says that he is chief amongst those sinners who have been saved by Christ. He is expounding upon the extraordinary salvatory power of Christ, to the point where God could save even him.
You may want to read the whole chapter and not just one verse, which can often skew the context of the text. In verse 12-13, Paul makes a clear distinction between his condition pre-salvation and afterwards. “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was BEFORE a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious…”
Paul doesn’t continue in the ways of unrighteousness and neither is he glorying about such a sinful state. He is making a stark contrast between what he was before (a sinner) and what he is now (saved).
There is an explicit command for those who would be saved to turn from sin. If this is not done, then one will not inherit the Kingdom. That is why he can say with confidence to the brethren that “such WERE some of you”; albeit, no more. (I Corinthians 6:9-11).
I pray that people come to understand and see sin the way that God does. Repentance is not about turning away from a particular sin. It is turning from "sin" in general, which means adopting an attitude towards sin that mirrors God. We feel about sin the way that God does. We don't accommodate it or make excuses for it, but abhor it and turn from it.
Scripture is clear that only those who obey God are His friends (John 15:14). Again, this is just one line below the verse you cite. It is so important that we not just take individual verses here and there for not looking at the whole context will leave us with a perverted view of God.
May the peace of God be with you.
For those to whom it may be helpful, you may also want to refer to the series on "I Am Not A Sinner".
Part1
Part2
God never calls those who are His a "sinner".
my sister, thank you sooo much for this! several years ago, I remember the Holy Spirit spoke to me that God is not a friend of sinners and this is not biblical and of course I looked at in scripture and it was true. I got alot of stick from some for even saying it, because christians dont like to hear it. I thank God because like you said He is a Saviour, Jesus came for sinners in order to save them, this is what Jesus said - I have not come for the just, that is why He was able to sit with sinners in the first place. These same sinners welcomed His presence and He received them to Himself because they wanted to change. They wanted to leave a life of sin and truly become friends of Christ.
The context of John 15:13 follows the command that Jesus gave the disciples love one another and greater love has no man than to lay down His life. In context this appears to be speaking to us as men, that we ought to lay down our lives. Jesus showed greater love than men, because He layed down His lives for His enemies/sinners - those of us who hated Him because we loved darkness/sin - thank God for His Spirit that has drawn us now to the light and we can now be called friends and children of the Most High!
Thank you so much for this again!
A huge AMEN to this
where is the post about the AKA??? I wanted to read it
love this post!!!
Hi Transforming Keels,
Simone hasn't made her videos able to be posted outside of Youtube yet. I am waiting for an email from her on her status and pulled the note until I could actually get the videos on the page. I will report as soon as she enables them to be posted. In the meantime, you can see them on her Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/simone56.
God Bless!
Thanks for these wise words. You make it so clear. Do you think this statement ''God love the sinners but hate sin'' it is also wrong?
People, am part of them, use it often to talk about homosexuals.
Be blessed for His glory.
Hi Laetitia,
I hope that you have been doing well.
I would say such is wrong in terms of evangelism. The love of God was never used as part of the preaching of the Gospel. The Gospel message throughout the NT is man's need to repent and be saved from sin.
Now, is it Scripturally correct to say that God loves sinners? I can think of no Scripture which supports such. There is the following:
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." I John 4:9
God showing sinners His love is not the same as saying He loves the sinner. If anything, it is an example of His mercy. And in the text above, we must keep in context who the "us" is being addressed; it is those who are saved.
Further, God's love does not preclude His wrath nor His judgment. Yet, the way many define "love", those concepts are incongruent.
The problem is not in God's love, but fallen man's perverse understanding of love. So using such a concept as an effort to reach the lost is condemned to failure from the start.
One thing you may want to search the Scriptures for is "What is God's attitude towards sinners?"
God - in His mercy - shows His love to sinners, which again is not the same as saying He loves them. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; I John 4:9)
God's wrath abides on them continually (Psalm 7:11; :36; Romans 1:18; Ephesians 5:6John 3).
He counts them as His enemies and they are alienated from Him (Romans 8:7; James 4:4).
Does God show His love to even His enemies? Yup, He sure does. But that doesn't stop them from being His enemies. It doesn't stop them from needing reconciliation with Him. Nor will it stop them from being condemned should they not receive Him.
The only message which was used to reach the lost was one of turning away from sin. I believe we must follow Christ's example and preach the same Gospel He gave to His disciples.
Hi Mia,
I am fine thanks and believe you too.
Just to wish you a blessed year. May our God be always the center of your life.
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks for this post. It was a great resource as I sought Scriptures on this subject.
Hi,
Just wondering your thoughts towards Matthew 25:50. Jesus calls Judas a friend even though he was betraying Him. Does this not mean Jesus sees us as a friend even when we fall and betray Him? I still sin...and of course you do too, does this mean we are not friends of Jesus? Looking forward to your reply, thanks
Hi Dupe,
I think you meant Matthew 26:50, so that is what I will address here.
I believe that Jesus was calling Judas a friend because Judas had been. Psalm 41:9 says the following:
"Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."
Some indicate that this is a Messianic prophecy concerning Christ and Judas. However, even if it is not (and I believe it is), it is proof that even a Godly man's friends can betray him.
The fact is that - even though Christians can sin - not one born again believer is ever called a "sinner" by God in the Scriptures. So being a "sinner" is not just about committing sins in the eyes of God, but about being in covenant with sin.
When a Christian sins, such does not make him a "sinner" (according to Scripture), but it can break fellowship with God. This is why God says that if we sin, we should confess and Jesus is faithful to forgive us & cleanse us from it. As with Peter, Jesus' preference is for us to repent, for us to turn & be cleansed from the sin. The goal is always reconciliation.
So those who have been reconciled to Christ are His friends, even when we fall. Yet, continuance in sin and failing to repent makes of us His enemy, whereby such will then have their place with the evil doers (Hebrews 6:4-6; James 4:4).
Consider the following:
"Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed." Isaiah 1:27-28
This text references 3 specific groups of people:
1. Zion - those who belong to God.
2. Transgressors & sinners - sinners, evildoers
3. They who forsake the Lord - those who commit apostasy
Notice that the ones who once knew the Lord and have since forsaken Him are still not lumped into the category of "the transgressors & sinners". They will suffer the same fate, but they are still not relegated as sinners, but as those who betray the Lord because they were once reconciled unto Him.
Thank you very much for answering! =)
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