John 15:14
14 “You are My friends, if you do what I command you.
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Jesus clearly defines who His friends truly are!!!

Reader, Let me ask you a question regarding John 15:14 above:

Do ”Sinners” do what Jesus commands them to do? 

Sinners, by nature, practice sin, they are disobedient (lawless).

1 John 3:4
4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
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So why isn’t the simple Scripture sufficient?  It should be easy to answer the question at hand.  This is why I find it unbelievable how some twist the words of God and make Jesus to be a “friend of sinners”. 

Let me ask those of you who stand toe to toe with the Lord of Glory and exclaim “guilty as accused” like the Pharisee’s did when it comes to this subject.  When you quote your proof texts, who is it that is speaking? 

Is it Peter, Paul, maybe John or Matthew? No, it is the unregenerated Pharisee’s casting insults and accusations at our precious Lord.  How is it you join in with their chorus and claim innocence before Christ? 

Let’s look at Luke 7:33-35, Luke 7:36-50, and Luke 15:2 because they are all quoted as so-called “proof”. 

Luke 7:33-35
33 “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!’ 35 “Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
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It is clear that there are four accusations hurled out our Saviour and His servant, John the Baptist, in this passage…

1. John the Baptist “has a Demon”
2. Jesus was a “Gluttonous Man”
3. Jesus was a “Drunkard”
4. Jesus was a “Friend of tax-gatherers and sinners” 

How any man can reason that the accusations are true is completely beyond me.  To take just one out of the four accusations AGAINST Christ and claim that it is true, is twisting scripture, taking it out of context, but men with smooth words deceive multitudes by doing this very thing.  

You see, if we say Jesus was a “friend of sinners” then we conclude that the accusations are true, and then He also is a drunkard and a gluttonous man, as well as John the baptist had a demon (God forbid).  Certainly none of those things are true, so we can conclude that Jesus was NOT a friend of sinners, as well as He was NOT a drunkard, or a gluttonous man, nor did John have a demon.

In fact, the Holy Spirit wrote in Hebrews 7:26 that He was “seperated from sinners”…

Heb 7:26
26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;
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And remember, this is in addition to John 15:14 where Jesus has already CLEARLY defined who His friends Truly are.

Let us look at Luke 15:2.

Luke 15:1-2
15 Now all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
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It is not surprising that we find AGAIN in the passage that the words are an accusation of a pharisee.  

I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT USING THE WORDS OF THE PHARISEE’S IS NOT THE SAFEST WAY TO FORM YOUR DOCTRINES!!!

Why do some insist on beating the same drum as the Pharisee’s.  Imagine that one pharisee stands up in a crowd and says to Jesus “You are a Drunkard”, and another says “you are a Glutton” and then you stand up in the same crowd and say ” you are a friend of sinners”.  Unbelievable!

So what about Luke 7:36-50. 

Luke 7:36-50

36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee’s house, and reclined at the table. 37 And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. 45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” 49 And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” 50 And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

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What the Pharisees could not see because they were BLIND and did not have the “eyes to see” is that this woman was experiencing conversion from a sinner to a saint and her broken contrite heart (which is why she was crying) made her the righteosness of Christ.

THIS IS CLEARLY SEEN BECAUSE JESUS SAYS “Your sins have been forgiven.” AND “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  

May I point out that before this experience with Jesus the woman clearly was a “sinner”!!! JUST LIKE ALL OF US WERE AT ONE TIME… but the Pharisee’s (and obviously many who profess Christ today) could not and can not see that Jesus was cleansing her and that she was “forgiven” as the Lord said which makes her the righteousness of Christ.

Besides all that, Jesus wasn’t just “hangin out with her” and being “her friend”, building a “relationship bridge”, while not being about His Father’s business. 

My point is saying that to walk in the Lords footsteps is to bring the gospel to ”sinners”.  Associate with them…Yes.  Dine with them…Yes.  Visit with them…Yes. 

YES DO ALL THESE THINGS WITH THE INTENT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL:

Mark 16:15

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

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If you never do preach the gospel, then what good is your “relationship bridge”.  If you never walk across the “bridge” and boldly claim the name of Christ to the unbeliever your bridge is good for nothing.  Perhaps, at that point, it is good for satan.

1 Cor 15:33

33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

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These are some other passages relevant to this subject…

2 Cor 6:14-18

14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them;And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean;And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”Says the Lord Almighty.
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There are 4 questions asked in 2 Corinthians 6  which are all designed by the Holy Spirit to bring one to a clear undeniable answer…

1. What partnership has righteousness and lawlessness?  NOTHING!
2. What harmony is there between Christ and satan? NOTHING!
3. What agreement has the temple of the living God with idols?  NOTHING!
4. WHAT DOES A BELIEVER HAVE IN COMMON WITH AN UNBELIEVER?

NOTHING!!! 

Somehow when it comes to that last question, many want to deny this plain teaching and become contrary to the Spirit in their thinking, they say they actually do have something in common with the unbeliever. 

James 4:4

4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

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For the Truth of my King