“JESUS ONLY SAVES SINNERS”
LUKE 5:27-32

I. Introduction
Are you religious? In order to answer that question you would first need to define the word “religion,” wouldn’t you? Religion can be defined as the practice of one’s per-sonal faith. Religion itself is not faith, it is merely the outward visible expression of that faith. So the word, “religion,” in its most basic sense, speaks of externals or ceremonial observances. Therefore, religion is what one does, not what one is.

It is for that reason that many theologians argue that biblical Christianity is not a religion at all. This is the case, they say, because virtually all of this world’s religions are man-made. They are expressions of man’s efforts to reach out and grab hold of God; whereas biblical Christianity has nothing whatsoever to do with man reaching up to God. On the contrary, biblical Christianity is all about God reaching down to man.

Think about that for a moment. Virtually all religions are like road signs to direct man’s quest for personal salvation, whatever that may ultimately mean. They’re all expressions of man’s efforts to get to heaven, wherever it may be found. In short, all religions are about man’s efforts, his struggles to be “good enough” to earn his way into the eternal bliss that awaits him… if he has been good enough to achieve it.

While the world’s religions insist that good works and obedience to the tenets of their belief systems will get an adherent into heaven, biblical Christianity teaches that such human efforts can only earn you a place in hell.

Yet men continue to work at their religions. They reach up and try to grab hold of God, but their hands are too weak and their arms are too short. So God has mercy. His hand is strong enough and His arm is long enough. He reaches down and rescues and saves His children. God reminded Israel of that very fact all the way back in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 5:15
15 “And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm…”

So if religion is defined as man’s efforts to reach God, then it is right to say that biblical Christianity is not a religion. To use the old cliché, Christianity is in fact, a relationship. When we are adopted into God’s family, we are related to Him in every meaningful sense of the word.

Having said all of that, I suspect that we’ll continue to think of Christianity as a religion.
That’s fine as long as we never lose sight of what makes Christianity unique. None of the world’s other religions have faith in God as their only requirement.
None of them have God humbling Himself to the point of death. None of them have God doing the work and man receiving the benefits.

Why does mankind make up religions of works? It’s because man is prideful and wants to do something to secure his salvation. “See all the good things I have done to earn heaven. How could God fail to be impressed with me?” So man invents religions filled with rituals and observances he likes and is able to do. He makes a list of good works that will impress those around him and make him feel particularly good about himself. But of course anyone can do good works, perform religious rituals, observe religious holidays, and show acts of mercy, kindness, and love.

John MacArthur, using the word “religion” as it’s commonly used, has said there are two kinds of religions. He calls the first the religion of human achievement, and the second, the religion of divine accomplishment. Every religion, from the Garden of Eden until today, is based on one or the other. Either you can achieve salvation based on your own efforts and good works, or you can rely on God to accomplish your salvation by His effort and His good work. Either salvation is up to you or salvation is up to Him. Those are your only choices. Those are your only options. There are no other possibilities.

Do you know anyone who is religious and worships regularly? Sure you do. Do you know anyone who is not religious and does not worship regularly? Don’t answer too quickly. You were going to say, “Yes,” weren’t you? But I submit to you that the ans-wer to the second question is, “No.” You do not know anyone who is not religious and who does not worship regularly. That’s because everyone has a religion and everyone worships at some altar sometime and someplace.

Every human being worships something or somebody. This is true whether they are pagans living in the jungles of Africa, South America, or the islands in the South Pacific, or the “super rich” in their private jets flying to their private yachts in Monaco. I say again, they all have a religion and they all worship something or somebody.

Human beings worship because human beings are inherently religious. Even outspoken atheists, those who claim they have no religion at all, most certainly do have a religion, something or somebody they worship. They may worship their own perceived intelli-gence. They may worship their worldly goods, their fame, their power, their money, or other people, and last but not least, they may worship themselves.

Even professing atheists put their faith somewhere. It is not in the one true God, even though they know He exists. The Bible says they do. They know He exists but they will-fully refuse to admit it and acknowledge Him.

And so, since they must worship something or somebody, they invent their own gods.
They think they are wise, but God says they are fools. Furthermore, God says they are condemned and they are under His wrath.
*Romans 1:18-22
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, having been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

These people are everywhere. They worship the earth, or they worship the sun, moon, and stars, or they worship trees, or they worship animals. They worship every thing God has made but refuse to worship the God who has made every thing. If you doubt that just consider some of the positions taken by those in the extreme environmental movement or in the fringe animal rights groups. It isn’t hard to see their religious fervor, is it?

Look, everyone wants salvation, however they may define it, but only a few turn to Jesus Christ to find it. That requires humility, not pride. That requires a willingness to turn from all sin, not an excuse to keep favorite ones. So men invent countless religions and philosophies designed to satisfy and nurture their pride, and overlook and excuse their sin as they “work their way to heaven.” Here are some examples of human achievement.
• Buddhists seek nirvana by following something called the “Eightfold Path.”
• Hindus think they find salvation in Self-realization, Transcendental Meditation, and Yoga, that last of which seeks “Union with the Divine.”
• Muslims hope to gain heaven by adhering to the “Five Pillars of Islam.”
• Jehovah’s Witnesses strive to achieve their salvation by living moral lives and going door-to-door seeking converts.
• Mormons expect to become “little gods” by membership in the Mormon Church and by accepting Joseph Smith and his successors as true prophets of God.
• Roman Catholics’ hope for heaven is determined by the authority and power of Rome. If they attend the Mass, receive the sacraments, pray, and do good works, the church will sanction their entry into heaven. If they fail to do those things, or don’t do them often or well enough, Rome allows for the good works and prayers of others to intervene for them after they die so that they can escape Purgatory.
All of these religions demand personal goodness and human effort. All of them demand adherence to certain rules, regulations, and required rituals.
All of them insist that people prove themselves to one degree or another. And all of them require faith in their own religion. But is anyone really good enough to find salvation as a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Jehovah’s Witness, a Mormon, or a Roman Catholic? If your hope is resting in one of those religions, you’d better be good enough!

And please don’t assume that professing Protestants are any clearer how salvation is obtained. Have you ever talked to someone about Jesus and the salvation He offers to all who will receive Him and then heard something like this: “As soon as I clean up my life and get rid of some of my bad habits, I’ll become a Christian”? The person who says that, and I said it myself before I put my faith in Christ, is really saying, “I’m not good enough to be a Christian yet. I’m too big a sinner. I’ll get saved when I stop sinning.”

Some of you have thought the same thing. Maybe you’re even thinking it right now. But if you think it all the way through, I believe you’ll see how foolish such a thought really is. It’s like a sick person saying, “Once I get over this sickness and am well again I will go see the doctor.” But doctors aren’t out there for people who are well. They’re out there for people who are sick.

By the time Jesus came to this earth Judaism had gotten sick. It had deteriorated into a religion of works. The Jews were far more interested in external rituals and observances than they were internal realities. While they knew they were sinners, they believed that their own good works could compensate for their sin and get them into heaven anyway.

Does that sound familiar? How many times have you heard someone say, “Well, if my good outweighs my bad, I’m sure God will let me into heaven.”? That is the very religion that countless men and women are clinging to today. “I hope my good outweighs my bad.” Why would anyone really want to hang their hope for eternal life on that? What if God decides your bad outweighs your good? Then what?
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II. Review
Over the last five or six weeks we’ve seen Jesus identify Himself in both word and deed. He has declared His deity and has shown Himself to be God by demonstrating His power and authority over evil and demons, illness and disease, nature, death and the grave, and finally, over sin itself. All of that leads us to where we are today. This morning we will see how we are to respond to Jesus, and He will tell us just who He has come to save.
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III. Text
Now that we know who Jesus is, we will see Him focus His ministry directly on those people who need Him. Someone will ask, “Isn’t that everyone?” Well, yes it is. But in Luke 5:27-32 Jesus is going to focus on those who know they need Him, not those who think they don’t. We will see Him concentrate not on the religious who are banking on their own self-righteousness to save them, but on those who know they are sinners and know they cannot save themselves.
*Luke 5:27-32 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
27 And after that (Jesus) went out, and noticed a tax-gatherer named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”
28 And (Levi) left everything behind, and rose and began to follow Him.
29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and other people who were reclining at the table with them.
30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax-gatherers and sinners?”
31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

There is a startling contrast in these verses. We find out just who it is that Jesus will forgive, and maybe more importantly, just who it is that Jesus will not forgive. He turns to one of the most hated and reviled characters in the entire NT, a tax collector. Jesus reaches out to this man and saves him. He does so right in front of the holier-than-thou Pharisees and, in the process, confronts them with their hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
*Luke 5:27-28
27 And after that (Jesus) went out, and noticed a tax-gatherer named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”
28 And (Levi) left everything behind, and rose and began to follow Him.

Back in vv. 20-24 the Lord had just healed, both physically and spiritually, the paralytic man who had been set down in front Him. Leaving that house He walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and saw Levi (known to us as Matthew, the writer of the gospel that bears his name) in his toll booth collecting taxes from the crowds that were around Jesus.

Tax collectors were despised because they were Jews working for Rome. They were seen as robbing their own people because Rome permitted them to collect and keep what-ever they could over and above the amount that Rome demanded of them. There were taxes on everyone, including slaves. There were income taxes, property taxes, and taxes on anything that was transported past a toll booth. There were taxes for using roads, and crossing bridges. There were even taxes on the number of wheels on carts or wagons.

The point is that there were taxes on anything and everything the tax collectors could think of. And if people couldn’t pay, the tax collectors employed thugs to persuade and intimidate, and loan sharks to lend money at outrageous interest rates. It sounds like a cross between Al Capone style “protection” and the IRS, doesn’t it?

The fact that Jesus would reach out to Levi was incomprehensible to the Pharisees. But Jesus knew Levi’s heart. He knew that Levi recognized his sin and wanted to be made righteous. At the end of Luke 5:27 Jesus utters two words to Levi. That is all it took.
“Follow Me.” It isn’t clear if Levi fully understood who Jesus was at this point, but he did know that Jesus was preaching God’s Word and doing things that only God could do. Levi’s immediate response speaks to the reality of his repentance, his sincere desire to be forgiven, and to receive the salvation that Jesus offers. In v. 29 it says that Levi “…left everything behind, and rose and began to follow Him.”

Levi’s break with his old life was instantaneous and complete. It was a classic example of what Paul says about the new Christian to the church at Corinth.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things (have) passed away; behold, new things have come.

Remember, this man Levi was a traitor to his people, an extortionist, a robber, and, as the Englishman who led me to the Lord used to say of himself, “a sinner of great repute.” Until the moment Jesus called him, Levi had been a very religious man. He worshipped at the altar of money and power. But God reached down from heaven and saved him. Levi gave up the temporal for the eternal. 1 Peter 1:4 speaks of it. Levi obtained…
1 Peter 1:4
4 …an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade a way, reserved in heaven…

Look at what Levi did next.
*Luke 5:29
29 And Levi gave a big reception for (Jesus) in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

Now we know who and what Levi was. Can you picture the crowd that showed up for dinner that night? You can be sure that neither the Pharisees nor any so-called “good people” came. For one thing, it’s doubtful that Levi knew anybody like that. For another thing, the Pharisees and so-called “good people” wouldn’t go anywhere near a tax collec-tor. He was “anathema” to them.

The party Jesus attended that night would have included other tax collectors, the afore-mentioned thugs and loan sharks, drunks, prostitutes, and whoever else they “hung around with.” In Levi’s own gospel, Matthew, he even refers to them as sinners.
Matthew 9:10
10 And it happened that as (Jesus) was reclining at the table in the house, behold many tax-gatherers and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.

And aren’t these the very people Jesus came to save?
*Luke 19:10
10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
But what do the religious people think about Jesus spending the evening which such a crowd of “low-lifes,” the scum of the earth, and SINNERS? (back to Luke 5:30)
*Luke 5:30
30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax-gatherers and sinners?”

Isn’t it interesting? These religious men will not confront Jesus directly. Instead they go to His disciples and accuse them. “Why do you eat and drink with sinners?” This really isn’t a question at all. It’s a statement of their disdain for Jesus and His followers. They see Jesus mingling with sinners and they consider it an outrage. “How dare He befriend such people?” There was no thought in their minds that some of those sinners may well repent and come to saving faith. Personally, I don’t think they cared. They wouldn’t want those kinds of people showing up at the synagogue next Saturday anyway.

Their attitude proved that they were prideful hypocrites. They were convinced they were going to heaven and that’s all they cared about. You can almost hear them. “Let the tax collectors, the drunks, the prostitutes, and all those unclean and unsavory types go to hell. We don’t want anything to do with them.” Like whitewashed tombs, they looked beautiful on the outside, but inside they were full of dead men’s bones. (Matthew 23:27)

Is any of that kind of thinking swirling around inside of you? Do you look down your nose at those who don’t measure up to your standards? Do you really hope that folks like that won’t darken the doors of this church? If so, do you think it’s possible that you may need an attitude adjustment? I’ll ask again. Aren’t these the people Jesus came to save? “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Levi’s is a house filled with the lost, overflowing with sinners, a place brim-full of “sick people.” But the scribes and the Pharisees are hair-splitting legalists. How could they remain ceremonially pure if they were to mingle with such scum? The religious leaders want to stay away from these sinners so they won’t be contaminated. But Jesus, the “Great Physician,” does the very opposite. He goes to the sinners because He knows they are spiritually sick and He knows how badly they need Him.

And even though these pious legalists, these religious hypocrites question those who are Jesus’ followers, it is Jesus Himself who answers them.
*Luke 5:31-32
31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

The Pharisees knew full well how sick the people in Levi’s house really were. The fact they would do nothing to help them was bad. But worse was that they didn’t want Jesus, or anyone else for that matter, to help them. Thus the coldness of their own hearts was fully revealed. They didn’t love the lost, they hated them.
Their position was, “There is no evil in us and no good and no value in them.” Levi witnessed all of this. Later, after his name was changed to Matthew and he wrote the first gospel, he added some information that Luke did not.
Matthew 9:13 (Jesus speaking directly to the Pharisees)
13 “But go and learn what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not sacri-fice,’ for I did come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus quotes the Prophet Hosea here. His point is that all of the Pharisees’ rituals, tradi-tions, and good works are, as Isaiah said, “filthy rags.” Sacrifices, displays of religious fervor, and legalistic adherence to man-made laws, are worthless. They have no value to save anyone. We know the Pharisees were lost. Their religion allowed for no mercy or compassion for lost sinners. The heart that shows no mercy will receive no mercy.
James 2:13
13 For (God’s) judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; (because) mercy triumph’s over judgment.

Those are frightening words, are they not? The Pharisees were saying, “We want no part of these people. Let ‘em go to hell, let ‘em go!” But Jesus had mercy on them.

Do you know Jesus Christ? If the answer is, “Yes,” then He has already had mercy on you. Can you have anything less on those who do not yet know Him? And if the answer is, “No,” then you can be assured that He is willing to have mercy on you. You just need to go to Him. If you aren’t sure how to do that, talk to Jeff or myself after the service.

Well, it has been said that sarcasm has no place in biblical preaching or teaching. And as a general “rule of thumb,” I think that’s essentially true. But here and there you will find an exception in Scripture. Jesus’ own words in Luke 5:32 are one of those exceptions. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

His words seem to acknowledge and accept the Pharisees own inflated opinion of them-selves. Jesus is sarcastically saying that since they are so good and so righteous they don’t even need a Savior. So He hasn’t come to call them to repentance. They don’t need to repent. They’re already perfectly righteous. But mixed in to His words is the sobering truth that the Pharisees are on the verge of being irretrievably lost. The problem is they are so spiritually blind they just don’t see it.

The bottom line is this. God will not save anyone who doesn’t think he needs to be. God will only save those who know they do need to be. God will not save anyone who will ignore or trivialize their sin. God will only save those who will recognize it for what it is and are willing to turn from it. He will not save the proud, but He will save the humble.

The Pharisees thought that obedience to God’s Law could be achieved by human effort and good works. But they were as wrong as they could be. In reality God’s Law shows us that it’s impossible to obey. We need a Savior.
IV. Conclusion
• Do you see why I called this sermon, “Jesus Only Saves Sinners”? It’s kind of a “tongue-in-cheek” comment on Luke 5:32. Jesus doesn’t save those who think they are righteous, not because they don’t need to be saved, but because they will not humble themselves before Him and beg forgiveness for their sin.

• Do you see why religious people are so hard to reach with the truth of the gospel? You would have more fruitful results preaching the gospel in a local “drunk tank” than in a church filled those who are convinced of their own self-righteousness.

• Do you see why it’s impossible to be saved if you refuse to repent, to admit you are spiritually ill, and seek after the one Physician who can heal your sin-sick soul?

In this morning’s passage the sinner Levi (Matthew) “got it.” The self-proclaimed, self-righteous, and holier-than-thou Pharisees did not. What more do you need to know?

John Newton is best known today for writing the hymn “Amazing Grace.” It came from the heart of a man who had been a slave trader and infidel. He came to understand how spiritually sick he was and turned to Christ for forgiveness and healing. Among his writings is this poem entitled “A Sick Soul.” I’ll close with it.

How lost was my condition till Jesus made me whole!
There is but one physician can cure a sin-sick soul.
Next door to death he found me, and snatched me from the grave,
To tell all those around me His wondrous power to save.

The worst of all diseases is light compared with sin;
On every part it seizes, but rages most within;
‘Tis palsy, plague, and fever, and madness-all combined;
And none, but a believer, the least relief can find.

From men, great skill professing, I sought a cure to gain;
But this proved more distressing, and added to my pain;
Some said that nothing ailed me, some gave me up for lost;
Thus every refuge failed me, and all my hopes were crossed.

At length this great Physician, how matchless is His grace!
Accepted my petition, and undertook my case;
First, gave me sight to view him, for sin my eyes had sealed,
Then bid me look unto Him; I looked, and I was healed.

A dying, risen Jesus, seen by the eye of faith,
At once from danger frees us, and saves the soul from death.
Come, then, to this Physician, his help he’ll freely give,
He makes no hard condition. To Jesus look and live!