{"id":820,"date":"2014-03-20T16:43:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T16:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/03\/setting-the-record-straight-on-jesus-the-friend-of-sinners.html"},"modified":"2014-03-20T16:43:00","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T16:43:00","slug":"setting-the-record-straight-on-jesus-the-friend-of-sinners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/03\/setting-the-record-straight-on-jesus-the-friend-of-sinners.html","title":{"rendered":"Setting the Record Straight on Jesus, \u2018The Friend of Sinners\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Many people know that the New Testament refers to Jesus as a \u201cfriend of sinners,\u201d but what does that mean exactly? Apparently not what some Christians think it does.<\/span><\/div>\n
In response to a twitter comment I made about Christian singer Natalie Grant walking out of The Grammys, Joe Carter, prominent Calvinist and director of communications for the\u00a0Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission<\/a>\u00a0rhetorically\u00a0asked<\/a>, \u201cDidn\u2019t [Jesus] only welcome those seeking forgiveness?\u201d\u00a0He went on to\u00a0agree<\/a>\u00a0with another that \u201cThe sinners Jesus partied with were already followers.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
Theological sirens blared inside my head as Carter doubled down on his assertion that Jesus wasn\u2019t really\u00a0a friend of sinners, but I assumed it was probably a fringe view I wouldn\u2019t likely encounter again.<\/span><\/div>\n
A few days later, however, a friend emailed me a blog post from The Gospel Coalition titled,\u00a0\u201cJesus, Friend of Sinners: But How?\u201d<\/a>,\u00a0written by another Calvinist,\u00a0Kevin DeYoung.\u00a0He said that Christians needed to be \u201csafeguarded against doctrinal and ethical error\u201d regarding Jesus\u2019 social habits.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cJesus gladly spent time with sinners\u00a0who were open to his teaching<\/i>\u2026Jesus embraced sinners\u00a0who believed in him<\/i>,\u201d DeYoung wrote before\u00a0concluding<\/a>, Jesus \u201cwas very pleased to welcome sinners\u00a0who were open to the gospel, sorry for their sins,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0on their way to putting their faith in Him.<\/em>\u201c*<\/span><\/div>\n
The sirens returned. Was there really a conditionality in Jesus\u2019 relationships?\u00a0Carter\u2019s and DeYoung\u2019s assertions didn\u2019t square with what I know about Jesus from the New Testament. Christ preached the Kingdom everywhere he went, but he also indiscriminately and unconditionally forged relationships with those at the margins of society, offering them a seat at the table. This scandalous social practice earned Jesus that nasty nickname to begin with.<\/span><\/div>\n
But I\u2019m a columnist and not a Bible scholar, so I decided to investigate in case I was wrong. After all, hell hath no fury like a Calvinist scorned.<\/span><\/div>\n

Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many people know that the New Testament refers to Jesus as a \u201cfriend of sinners,\u201d but what does that mean exactly? Apparently not what some Christians think it does. In response to a twitter comment I made about Christian singer Natalie Grant walking out of The Grammys, Joe Carter, prominent Calvinist and director of communications […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSetting the Record Straight on Jesus, \u2018The Friend of Sinners\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many people know that the New Testament refers to Jesus as a \u201cfriend of sinners,\u201d but what does that mean exactly? 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