Hymns about Friend of Sinners

Friend of sinners is a title that Scripture and Christian devotion ascribe to Jesus Christ, who came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The Gospels show Him receiving the outcast, eating with the despised, and speaking peace to the guilty who came in faith. His friendship is holy, not indulgent of sin; He saves His people from their sins even as He draws near to the broken and the lost. In His person the holiness of God and the mercy of God meet, so that the chief of sinners may find welcome without the least diminishing of righteousness. To know Christ as the Friend of sinners is to rest in free Grace rather than in human deserving.

Hymns under this theme celebrate the approachable compassion of the Saviour and the wonder that He receives the unworthy. They give voice to gratitude from those who once felt far off and now are made nigh by His blood. Congregations singing such songs are reminded that the church is a company of the forgiven, not a society of the already perfect. These hymns soften hard hearts, encourage the timid to come, and keep the gospel from becoming a message of cold moralism.

Use these songs in evangelistic worship, communion, and any service that sets forth the kindness of Christ to the lost. In private devotion they comfort those who feel the weight of past failure and need to behold the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Browse this category for hymns that honour Jesus as the gracious Friend of sinners.