How God Views Sinners

Daily Devotional – Friday, November 15, 2024
And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:2 (NKJV)

To the Jews of Christ’s time, especially to the religious leaders, the tax collectors were the epitome of sinners. Such people were treated with contempt and were sometimes ostracized. Jesus, on the other hand, had a markedly different view of sinners.

He Eats with Sinners

Take, for example, this passage: “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2).

How could Jesus, a Rabbi, entertain such vile sinners around Him, if indeed He was a righteous man? The answer is in how God views sinners. The soul that the world despises as lost and forsaken is, in the view of God, a wayward child that requires love, kindness, and an invitation back to the presence of God.

How God Views Sinners

Jesus associates with sinners, not in approval of their rebellious ways but in appreciation of the fact that He left the heavenly mansions to come and die for them out of His indescribable, self-sacrificing love. He mingles with the outcasts because they are the objects of His love.

God treats all of us in this manner because we are sinners. In us, He sees candidates for eternity. When the world gives up on us, He waits on us. He never tires of inviting us back home. Is that how you view those who, in the eyes of the public, have crossed the red line of sin?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me, a vile sinner. Help me to extend the same love to fellow sinners.