The friend of sinners
Does Jesus Love Sinners?
Yes, and this is not a grudging, teeth-gritted love that tolerates you while wishing you were better. The whole message of the Gospel is that God's love reached you at your worst, not your best. Scripture says it as directly as it can be said: God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Not after you reformed. While you were still in it. If you have feared that you have finally exhausted the patience of God, or that His love is only for cleaner people, the New Testament was written to take that fear away from you. Jesus loves sinners. He always has. He came for them on purpose.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”Romans 5:8
“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.”1 Timothy 1:15
“When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”Mark 2:17
“Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”Luke 7:47
What the Gospels actually show
Paul, who had violently opposed Jesus before being met by Him, wrote a sentence he could hardly get over: this is a faithful saying, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. The chief, he called himself, not the exception. When Jesus was criticized for keeping company with the wrong crowd, He said plainly, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And to a woman with a long and public reputation who wept at His feet, He said, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much. His love did not wait behind her record. It walked straight through it.
Why this drew people to Him
A love conditioned on your goodness can never rest, because you can always fall below the line. But a love that came for you as a sinner cannot be lost by your sin, and that changes a person from the inside. It is why the people Jesus loved did not stay the same; being loved before they deserved it gave them something to change toward instead of something to earn. Sinners loved Him back not because He lowered the standard but because He absorbed the cost. He did not pretend the sin did not matter. He carried it Himself. That is a love with weight, and it is the only kind strong enough to actually free you.
Come to this Jesus
So hear it as personally as it is meant. The love of Jesus is not aimed at an improved, imaginary you; it is aimed at the real you, sins and all, right now. He came into the world to save sinners, and if that word fits you, then you are exactly who He came for. There is no sin so deep that His mercy does not reach beneath it, no record so long that His grace runs short. Turn to Him honestly, hold nothing back, and you will find not a reluctant judge but a Savior who has loved you the whole time.
Who is Jesus? · Begin with Jesus · Ask someone to pray with you
Questions people ask
If Jesus loves sinners, does my sin not matter?
It matters deeply; it mattered enough to cost His life. Loving sinners is not the same as ignoring sin. Jesus takes sin seriously precisely because He takes you seriously and knows what it does to you. His love does not excuse the sin; it deals with it, forgives it, and frees you from it.
What if I keep sinning the same way?
God's love was never rationed by your consistency. Jesus told Peter to forgive seventy times seven, and He is not less merciful than He asks us to be. Repeated failure does not lower His love or your standing when you keep turning back. Keep coming; His welcome does not wear out.
Do I have to stop sinning before Jesus will love me?
No, that reverses the good news. He loved you while you were still a sinner; that is the starting point, not the finish line. His love is what gives you the power to change, so you come to Him first, as you are, and the change grows out of being loved.