This narrative is told in Matthew 9:10-17, Mark 2:15-22, and Luke 5:29-39. The Pharisee rebuke Jesus for eating with sinners, to which Jesus responds, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."
Matthew 9:10-13 King James Version (KJV)
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
1 Corinthians 5:11 NIV
But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
God's forgiveness and love are unconditional. He loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8) and we cannot earn His love by our good works. We are forgiven based on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. God does, however, require repentance in order to grant forgiveness.
But listen: God knows our hearts, and if we are truly sorry for our sins, he has promised to forgive all of them. Let your prayer be that of the Psalmist: "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults ... Then will I be blameless" (Psalm 19:12-13).
THE ANSWER IS YES!!! When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the penalty of sin for all who believe in him.
In Matthew 11:19 Jesus is called “a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” He wasn't afraid to be known for keeping company with heathens and turncoats, because it was heathens and turncoats He came to save.
Ephesians 5:11 – "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness…" II Corinthians 6:14 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers..." John 17:13–16 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
I count ten meal scenes in which Jesus eats with others in the Gospel of Luke. ' Three of them have parallels in the other gospels; seven, however, can only be found in Luke, and as we shall discover, are decidedly integral to and reflective of the theological interests of this particular evangelist.
God chooses to save sinners unconditionally and acts in mercy to save those who do not deserve it. That includes all of God's children.
The act of repentance and faith in Christ gives the lost person new birth and entrance into the Kingdom of God. This is a huge happening! Luke 15:10 tells us, “… There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Why is this a cause for rejoicing?
Jesus then drove home the point that lost people are so precious to God that all heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. They are worth turning the world upside down, just to find them.
“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answers that he does so on purpose—because he has come to help those who need help, and to call them to repentance.
1 Tim 1:15,16 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst.
In Luke 15 Jesus is eating with tax-gatherers and sinners. Pharisees and scribes are grumbling about it.
God's Word says that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus and not by our own efforts or works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace Alone. Faith Alone. Grace alone means that God loves, forgives, and saves us not because of who we are or what we do, but because of the work of Christ.
Romans 8:35-39 teaches that it is impossible for the believer to be separated from Christ and his love. Nothing can stop Christ's love or separate the believer from his love (Romans 8:35). Believers face various kinds of intense adversity.
He was a friend of sinners. Jesus himself said that he didn't come for the spiritually healthy, but for the sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31–32).
Since the end of the first century, the beloved disciple has been commonly identified with John the Evangelist.
But this Difference is uncertain, because •he Words Ungodly and Sinners are often used promiscuously, to signify one and the same Person. By Ungodly all Sinners are understood, Rom. iv 5▪ And by Sinners are often understood those who Exceed in Ungodliness, who are therefore ranked among Publicans, Luke xv 1.
God set up a system to forgive us here and now, not afterward, and that's the way it is. We honor God's system out of our love and respect for him.
One eternal or unforgivable sin (blasphemy against the Holy Spirit), also known as the sin unto death, is specified in several passages of the Synoptic Gospels, including Mark 3:28–29, Matthew 12:31–32, and Luke 12:10, as well as other New Testament passages including Hebrews 6:4–6, Hebrews 10:26–31, and 1 John 5:16.
But listen: The Bible repeatedly warns us not to wait until the last minute! For one thing, you do not know what the future holds; life is uncertain, and you could be gone in an instant. And would your repentance be sincere -- that is, would you honestly be sorry for your sins?