GOD hates sin , but loves the sinner?

i hear this often, so i thought about it.... now i can see many verses that say god loves us, but i recently heard a paul washer sermon... and i heard ravenhilll say something like this to... that it isent so, do anyone know any verses that say god acctaly hates people that do sin?

christian

Ps 11:5, Ps 5:5, Ps 139:21-22 Prov 8:13 Mal 1:3

just some of them

ahhh found it myself :)

Psa 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

maybe theres more...

christian

hmmhmm wrote:
i hear this often, so i thought about it.... now i can see many verses that say god loves us, but i recently heard a paul washer sermon... and i heard ravenhilll say something like this to... that it isent so, do anyone know any verses that say god acctaly hates people that do sin?

christian

Psalms 11:5 Jehovah tries the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one loving violence.

Pro 6:16 These six things Jehovah hates; yea, seven are hateful to his soul;...
Prov. 6:19 a false witness who breathes lies, and he who causes strife among brothers.

Hoseah 9:15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them out of My house for the wickedness of their doings, I will not add to love them; all their rulers are revolters.
Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Hebrews 10:31 "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
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It is very dificult to seperate the sin from the sinner.
Like homosexuals; they are recognized by their lifestyle, which is there theier sin not to mention the very act.

Actualy, I think that the term sinner is a very bad definition of what it means.
Spiritual death is the reason that people sin. In the same matter, People are not sinners because they sin as much as I am not a dog because I bark like one. However, People sin because they are sinners, as much as all dogs bark because they are dogs.

A sinner (a spiritualy dead person) can't do anythink but sin, even their most noble and sincere acts are tainted by sin.
So, if one sinnes, it doesn't make him a sinner, but being a sinner makes one sin.
Replace "sinner" with "spiritualy dead"

Why does one sin in the first place?

Because "Sinners" are seperated from God(spiritualy dead) and theirefore can not know good exept what there concience knows and consequently can not do good, and therefore they can not follow what they know to do(see Romans 7).
This is because the Law of Sin; when people would think to do good, evil is present with them....moreover, there is another law in their members, warring against the law of their mind(concience) and bringing them into captivity to the law of sin which is in their members.([b]Rom 7:22,24[/b])
[b]Romans 8:2[/b] [color=990000]For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.[/color]

My premiss is that it is not the sin or even the lifestyle that God hates, it is the very fact that they are staying seperatede from Him when He made a way for us to be reconciled to Himself.

This is the very definition of death:
Death in the Bible is always pictured as a separation between two things(Jam 2:26).
It is also a Process that involves corruption or decay(Psa 16:10, Psa 49:9)

Adam died spiritually when he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was separated form the true fellowship with God.

Now, death can't bring forth life, so whoever is born of Adam is still spiritually dead. This is why we need to be born again, born of the Spirit.

If one does not recieve eternal life, he remains spiritualy dead, and one is only thrown into hell for dieing in the state of spiritual death

What is Life?
Life is always pictured as a relaitionship with God [b]John 17:3[/b] [color=990000]Now this is eternal life: that they shall be knowing You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent.[/color]
It is also a process that involves growth and repair([b]Psalm 1:3[/b]).

do anyone know any verses that say god acctaly hates people that do sin?

The other question, I think, is "Will the Lord hate me [u]if[/u] I sin or does the Lord hate me [u]now[/u] because I have sinned?" This is a very serious question. I am afraid that we run the risk of not being able to ultimately survive our own preaching. There are times over my Christian life that I have indeed 'sinned'. I will not accuse anyone else, but I know I have 'sinned' as a believer. Desperate to love God I have stumbled and failed in areas. Just being honest here. Even in the midst of preaching repentance I have not been [i]perfect[/i]. We certainly should teach and preach perfection, but within what frame work? In a Finney theological construct it is one strike and you are out. That is a terrible perception of our relationship with God. I sinned and now God hates me? What misery.

The challenge is to preach perfection without sabotaging our own and others Christian life. This is not a new challenge. My pastor is about 67 years old and is old timey holiness. He gets on to me when I come off too strong and reminds me that everyone but one of the so-called "holiness or hell" preachers he has ever known have backslidden. We have to preach holiness and perfection, but we have to be careful how we do it. If we suggest God hates a person when they sin then we have said that the Father hates the son returning home. Will the son return home to a Father that hates him? Is this an accurate depiction of God? Certainly it is not.

Psalm 11:5
"The LORD tests the righteous,But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates."

Proverbs 6:16
"These six the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:"

Psalm 5:4-6
"4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man."

He hates them in righteousness. In justice he condemns them to hell.

Ezekiel 18:32
"For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”"
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Revelation 21:8
"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”"

God has no problem calling people what they are. God hates in righteousness.

Job 42:6
"Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

Actually, I think only God is allowed to hate the sinners. He alone is the just Judge. Yet, we should love them as Christ did... tell them of the cross. What more love is there to give? When we stand with God we will be happy to see Him ridding the universe of thier filth. Filth which we were forgiven of. Forgiveness which they have rejected. I mean, I'm open for discussion.

____________________________________________

Spurgeon wrote:

"“Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” It is not a little dislike, but a thorough hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated of God is an awful thing. O let us be very faithful in warning the wicked around us, for it will be a terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry God! Observe, that evil speakers must be punished as well as evil workers, for “thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing.” All liars shall have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. A man may lie without danger of the law of man, but he will not escape the law of God. Liars have short wings, their flight shall soon be over, and they shall fall into the fiery floods of destruction. “The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.” Bloody men shall be made drunk with their own blood, and they who began by deceiving others shall end with being deceived themselves. Our old proverb saith, “Bloody and deceitful men dig their own graves.” The voice of the people is in this instance the voice of God. How forcible is the word abhor! Does it not show us how powerful and deep-seated is the hatred of the Lord against the workers of iniquity?".

_______________________________________________
www.cornerstoneorlando.org

well i dont think we should confuse gods holy hate whit our sinful hate...witch it is most of the time.... becuse when god hates ...that to is good right? so i dont think gods hate is like our hate...just as our love cant compare whit his love....

and i dont think we should go out screem GOD HATES YOU!!!

but i dont think the "frase" ohh god loves you , he just dosent like your sin... i dont think that is a true statement in light of scripture... his love is often spoken of.... i just think people take the love gospel and run whit that ...and only that.... and when god is all love its easy to forget he has other attributes to... what i meen is people use that frase to excuse peoples sins....try to make them look better, that ohh you just happend to sin..but besides that god is totally ok whit you....

It should be understood that when we speak of God hating sinners we are speaking of the unrepentant, the reprobate. (Romans 9:11-13)

To the elect, God’s children, He declares, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3)

God’s Spirit my be grieved, He may be angered by our sins and may have to discipline us for our unrepentance (Hebrews 12:5-6), but there is nothing in Scripture to suggest that He hates His own. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus! (Romans 8:31-39)

"well i dont think we should confuse gods holy hate whit our sinful hate...witch it is most of the time.... becuse when god hates ...that to is good right? so i dont think gods hate is like our hate...just as our love cant compare whit his love...."

I think God alone has the right to hate sinners. His hate is a just and holy hatred. I think His display of love on the cross shows His love and the casting of sinners into damnation is showing His hatred.

Here's where I think one needs to define 'love'.

I think that this ' love sinner but hate sins ' business can be quite tricky and destructive to ourselves if we find ourselves loving them by yoking or mingling with the sinning brethren or the unregenerates.

Instead, we should love them through prayers and perhaps admonitions whenever possible. This is by far an unwise call when it comes to our children.

2 Corinthians 6:14
Be ye [b]not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: [/b]for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Separate ourselves from them, whether they be unbelievers or sinning believers ,( sin = unbelief ), while restore fellowhip with the them upon repentance.

Here's another precept of God from:

2 Chronicles 19:2
And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, [b]Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.[/b]

We know that our Lord told us to love even our enemies, again, with HIS kind of love. But the thread is about whether GOD HIMSELF hates sinners, the answer, in my mind is yes. If God doesn't hate sinners, there's really no need for the Cross or for hell. One would think. HE could just easily come out and forgive sins..and forget about everything.

God loves mankind and He is love.....hang on to those truths. The Bible clearly teaches that God is love, as well as that God shows love. For example, 1 John 4:8-9 says, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."

Many Christians use the cliché "Love the sinner, hate the sin." However, we must realize that this is an exhortation to us as imperfect human beings. The difference between us and God in regard to loving and hating is vast. Even as Christians, we remain imperfect in our humanity and cannot love completely, nor can we hate without malice. But, God can do both of these perfectly well, because He is God! God can hate without any sinful intent at all. Therefore, he can hate the sin and the sinner in a perfectly holy way and still be willing to lovingly forgive at the moment of that sinner's repentance and faith (see Malachi 1:3; Revelation 2:6; 3 Peter 3:9). Mysterious, but true, God can perfectly love and hate a person at the same time. This means He can love them as someone He created and can redeemable, as well as hate them for their unbelief and sinful lifestyle. We, as imperfect human beings, cannot do this, thus we must remind ourselves to "love the sinner, hate the sin."

How exactly does that work? We hate sin by refusing to take part in it and by condemning it when we see it. Sin is not be hated, not excused or taken lightly. We love the sinner by being faithful in witnessing to them of the forgiveness that is available through Jesus Christ. A true act of love is treating someone with respect and kindness even though they know you do not approve of their lifestyle and/or choice. It is not loving to allow a person to remain stuck in sin. It is not hateful to tell a person they are in sin. In fact, the exact opposites are true.

Recommended Resource: The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson.

http://www.gotquestions.org/love-sinner-hate-sin.html

It is very dificult to seperate the sin from the sinner.

You can't seperate the sin from the sinner any more than you can the paint from the painting. There needs to be a new canvas to have one without stains of paint.

God loves mankind and He is love.....hang on to those truths.

We tend to pick at God's attributes to fit our fancies... Yes GOD IS LOVE but GOD IS HOLY HOlY HOLY. I like to hang on all the truths.

The Goodness of God is amazing but so is His righteousness and His holiness.
His justice demands a just punishment for sin (HELL). If the devil was cast from heaven on account of jealousy what makes us think we deserve to get in? Truth is we don't and that my friends is God's grace.

God requires us to love everyone, including enemies of the cross, but he himself hates them? Did Jesus love the many sinners he encountered?

I think God alone has the right to hate sinners. His hate is a just and holy hatred. I think His display of love on the cross shows His love and the casting of sinners into damnation is showing His hatred. Christ had compassion for them and told them the Gospel and then He died on the cross. What greater love is there? But don't forget Christ clearly warned them that if they did not change Christ Himself would judge them guilty and have them thrown into everlasting torment. His hatred is just. Do not speak things you do not understand and end up putting your foot in your mouth. We are speaking of God Almighty! Having the wreong view of Him is idolatry.

www.cornerstoneorlando.org

PreachParsly wrote:

It is very dificult to seperate the sin from the sinner.

You can't seperate the sin from the sinner any more than you can the paint from the painting. There needs to be a new canvas to have one without stains of paint.

He loves us as His own creation, but he hates what man became when he fell and that is spiritualy dead, therefore He throws them in hell.

this is tricky...of course the bible says he loves people...god is love ..and so on...but we cant deny the other verses... it clearly says he hates...now i can understand even if he hates that to is good... but if someone can make some of this... i can clearly see how we can get "of track" whit this, ive heard this sermon by mr
Leiter
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=8309&commentView=itemComments

its called wrath of god... but i cant see clearly how it all fits toghter...i see two sides

Wow, I am amazed at some of the statements here. I cannot believe what I am reading. Some of you speak as if God delights in "casting" sinners into hell as if it is some sort of sport. I can imagine that He weeps over every one because He died for each of them.

If God hates sinners then He certainly goes through alot of trouble to bring them to salvation.

I remember a popular verse that says "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son." It doesn't say "For God so loved the righteous" but "the world."

1 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." It seems that He is even mediating on behalf of those whom He hates (as some here may believe).

When Jesus walked the earth He showed compassion, mercy and love to humanity, healing their sick and raising their dead, who were sinners by the way. Wow that sounds like a hateful God to me (sarcasm added).

In Matthew 5:43, 44 Jesus tells us to love our neighbor and our enemies, many of whom are sinners. How can He expect that from us if He Himself hates sinners.

Luke 6:32, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." How could God hold us to that standard if He only loved those who loved Him?

Or how about Luke 6:35, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." Showing kindness to those whom He hates?

This verse says it all. Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Look at the great commission. He gives the comission out of His love for the sinner. If God hates sinners because of His holiness, then (according to some here) since we are commanded to be holy as He is holy we aught to have the same hatred, right? Why then should we evangelise those whom we should hate? Why do people evangelise to begin with? Because they have a passion and a love for the people to come to Christ.

In Philippians Paul tells us the attitude that Christ has towards sinners. Phil 2:5-8, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Let me paraphrase that for you. In other words, the attitude that Christ had was that it was not worth being equal to God if all of mankind went to hell.

Here is more, Ephesians 2:1-5, " And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)"

1Th 3:12 "and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you"

Tit 3:4 "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared"

1Jo 4:10 "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

1Jo 4:19 "We love, because He first loved us."

thats true... but still those verses are there! we cant just well yeah yeah..im focusing on this love thing... witch is great ...dont get me wrong ... i know god loves me, he has such a love for me i dont think its humenly possible to fully understand how much he loves...it is impossibe, but how much we talk about his love..i admit the love should be our focus as belivers... it was his love and grace that saved us... but it CLEARLY SAYS god hates.... i just cant think well yeah thats not so important..id just rather focus over here its so much nicer reading... i just want "the whole" picture... god is love...that is more true then we can figure out in a life time... and we will experince that love for all eternity.. but still he hates to...and i just want to go deeper whit that... i want to see all of gods attributes..even if it scares me...even if it not may feel so good for me.. i wanna see all of god...not just one side..i just cant close my eyes to some verses.... i hope you understand...

christian

Here is a thought I would like to share (do with it what you want..):

Maybe part of the confusion is thinking that (God's)love and (God's)hate are utter opposites. What is the opposite of God's love (agape)? Selfishness. True love is willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. God's hate does not contridict His love, but complements it. Also they cannot be opposites or God contridicts Himself.

Here is another thought that helps me relate the two:

I know of a pastor who his son was living in utter sin. He was involved in drugs, and would bring them in the house. The pastor told his son (with much greif- not joy) that he had to either leave or never bring the drugs in his presense or the house. He was angry at his son for the wickedness he was involved in. He wasn't angry because the son "didn't know any better" or was ignorant, but because the son knowing what was Godly willingly and openly rejected it. The man didn't lack love for the son, but loved righteouness and holiness above that. The son did decide to leave, but later on has cleaned up his life conciderable- yet is still not converted.

I see that God has a general (pardon the term if you don't like it..) love for His creation. There surely has to be a different kind of love for His children or why would we be told to abide in His love and yet He loved the whole world? That wouldn't make sense if it were the same, or whether you abode in His love or not you will still fall under the catagory of "the world," right? So it seems to me (I may be wrong) that God has a general love for His creation, but a special love for His children.

Was this my exhortation regarding the question you responded to? Mind you it was a genuine question because I don't understand.

If God hates sinners then He certainly goes through alot of trouble to bring them to salvation.

A question: If Christ died for the sin of the whole world, where does that leave sin in the eyes of God? If God is just He could never allow sin. God is just so how does he allow sin and not destroy sin and the sinner? God had to be justified in allowing sin and the sinner. Why did Christ go to the Cross? There is love in God and God is love, but He had to be justified in loving those that are sinners without destroying every sinner. True God hates sin that makes the sinner the hated one. God does not hate sin and love the sinner. God hates sin and the sinner. God being justified in the Death of His only begotten Son could look at the sinner and say Now I Can Save some if they only believe what I have done, I am now justified in saving son's for My House.

God almost wiped out the whole world in the Flood. But God knowing before the foundation of the world Christ would die for the sin of the world, He chose One man and his family by His mercy, to finish the Plan of Christ in the believer, being His Plan before the foundation of the earth.

Ephesians 1:4-7 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

So God hating sin and the sinner, is justified in saving the sinner by the death on the Cross of His Son and the shedding of His Blood.

Sin and the sinner are still just as bad as they ever were and that should be our guide in not wanting to sin, because The God or Creation wanted son's because of His Great Love of wanting son's that could love Him back of their own free will because Justification and Righteousness in Christ made it possible for God to place that Son in the believer that would be true offspring of The God who knew what He wanted, not just created beings that could not be son's with the nature of the Son of God, by birthright, with the same capacity to Love the Father as Jesus Christ loved Him and gave Himself for the Father's Justification and for His own Love for the Father and those that are saved by believing Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

In Christ: Phillip

Deuteronomy 9:8
Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was [b]angry with you[/b] to have destroyed you.
Deuteronomy 9:20
And the LORD was [b]very angry with Aaron[/b] to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
1 Kings 11:9
And the LORD was [b]angry with Solomon,[/b]
Psalm 7:11
God judgeth the righteous, [b]and God is angry with the wicked every day.[/b]
Psalm 85:5
Wilt thou be [b]angry with us[/b] for ever? wilt thou draw out thine[b] anger to all generations?[/b]

God's angry not only at sins but sinners.
Without CHRIST's shed Blood, we don't have a chance !! Let's not kid ourselves that God hates one's sins but not sinners, outside of Christ, no one shall be able to stand at His judgment and condemnation.

God's righteous hate is part of God's attributes. Without it we well have no need for Christ. by this same 'hate', HIS love shines forth, first and foremost to HIS SON, and through HIS SON to these hated sinners.

Isn't GOD so gracious?

LOVE AND HATE

The difficulty in all this comes in our limited understanding and knowledge. Superficially, given what we hear and know, we may seem to find conflict. However, as we know there is no conflict in God.

Let us break down LOVE and HATE into definitive terms that are easy to understand.

LOVE is simply the giving of oneself over to the growth, life, and benefit of another. In words we can understand: love seeks to create, to nurture, to provide, to uplift, to build, and to uphold. When we call God our Father, we are acknowledging that God is the provider of our life, the one who gives of Himself so that we in turn my have life. When we think of Jesus dying on the cross, it was for this very reason. He gave His life as a sacrifice so that we may have life.

HATE is simply the giving of oneself over to destruction and end. In words we can understand: hate seeks to destroy, conquer, demolish, remove, and put to an end.

We must understand that both LOVE and HATE are acts where the "self" is given toward the other. Selfishness is not an act of hate. Rather, selfishness is something all together different. Selfishness is simply a person giving oneself to self.

In this, it must be noted that when we love, hate, or act selfishly, our whole purpose becomes just that. When we love someone, our life purpose or "will" is for the good of that person. When we hate someone, our life purpose or "will" is for the evil of that person. When we are being selfish, our life purpose or "will" is for ourself.

This is important to understand because love and hate are active pursuits. It is something sought after. It is something continual. Of course, hate cannot continue once it has achieved it's goal. Once hate wins, destruction occurs, and then hate is left alone.

Quick recap....
LOVE = good will towards something or someone
HATE = evil will towards something or someone

HATE is best seen in Satan. The Devil hates God and hates us. His goal is to seek God's destruction and our destruction. Satan never ceases to seek this goal. It doesn't matter what happens, he overcome with hate. He will seek our end until either he dies or we do.

God is love. He does not wish anyone to perish or come to an end. God seeks to give us eternal life. He seeks to love us and care for us for eternity.

God is love. His will is good. He seeks what is good and best for all. He does not put Himself first at any moment. Rather, He puts all other things first before Himself.

You might stop here and think, "Yeah, but all things are done for God. I mean, we glorify God and give all things to Him. Isn't that selfish?"

It is not, because God is Holy. You have to consider who God is. The word Holy means "sacred." God is sacred because all things depend on God. He is the creator of all things. God gives life to all things. God gives definition to all things. This means that if God is great, then all things are great. Whatever God is, all other things benefit from it. If we give God all the glory, then all things are glorified together with Him, because God gives definition to all things. Also, God gives life to all things. God is Holy and so life is sacred.

In addition, God is good. This means that since God is good, all other things benefit from God's goodness. Think of it like this, if you give God all your money, you can trust that He will use it for good things. It is important all things are given to God, because He will use it for good. Jesus said, "Only God is good."

God is love and God is good. These are not contradictory, in fact, they are complementary. They go together. Love is good will. Love seeks the good of the thing or person to which love is directed.

Obviously, there are things that God does wish to be destroyed and come to an end. This, of course, is sin. What is sin?

Obviously, sin is loosely used in the bible to describe several things. Sin is used to describe our fall, how we "missed the mark." Sin is also used to describe those who are "unrepentant."

If we were to give it one definition to suit all, we would have to say that sin is the opposite of God's will. God is love. God's will is good. And so, sin is the rejection of God's love. In addition, if love is the giving of oneself, then sin is the rejection of God.

A "sinner" is someone who rejects God. And God hates sinners. He seeks to destroy anyone who rejects Him. Anyone who rejects God is His enemy.

At first, you might think, "That's not fair." or "But Jesus said we should love our enemies."

You must think of it like this. God is good. If you reject God, you are rejecting good. This means, you are evil. If you are evil, then your desire is either 1) selfishness or 2) hate. This means you are abusing the love of God. You are taking His love for granted and abusing it. In addition, you are dethroning God and defiling God. You are stripping Him away of His position and tainting His Holiness. In turn, you are hurting, not only God, but all things. And if God allows evil or selfishness to continue, eventually it will put an end to all things.

God loves His enemies, however, he hates that they reject Him. But you must ask yourself, what can God do when they reject Him?

I often think of my ex-fiance in this situation. I loved her and wanted to marry her. At first, she agreed. But then something changed. She didn't want me anymore. She gave me the ring back and left with another man. What was I to do? I cannot force her to love me. It is her choice. And so, I did the only thing I could. I let her go.

God does the same. He lets us go. However, to be without God is to be without life, without love, without peace, without joy, and without everything good.

Now, we must also consider Hell in this equation. Let us say you were engaged, and a friend of yours suddenly turned on you. He hated you and your fiance. He hurt you by hurting her, abusing her, and much more. Would you not punish him? Would you not seek justice?

The Devil did just this. The Devil sought to dethrone God by destroying His Holiness. He sought to defile that which is sacred. And so, in justice, God created Hell.

Now, think of this. Your fiance to whom you love suddenly loves your enemy and seek to murder you.

People are sent to hell because they follow the Devil there. They make the Devil their husband and in they spend eternity with Him forever.

Of course, God is love, and his mecry and compassion are endless. For those who repent and seek Him, He has made a way for redemption.

As we know, Jesus came to save sinners. Why is it we should be saved?

Initially, in the garden, we rejected God. We wanted to do things our way. We sinned. However, God also knew that we it wasn't entirely our fault. We were decieved by the Devil. And so, God gave us a chance and time to repent. He also made a way that we may be saved through His son and God's greatest act of love.

Through Jesus Christ, we may be born again. We may be transformed from a fallen creature and made new. We are not "restored" creatures, rather, we are resurrected. We are made into something greater than Adam and Eve. They were made of dust in fleshly bodies, and in our future glory, we will have spiritual bodes. God will lift us up higher than we can ever imagine in our current state or history.

The bible speaks of God's elect. These are God's righteous. These are the bride of Christ. These are the ones who will be transformed into a glorious state.

Now, these loves ones were once lost. They were once attacked by the Devil and even killed. God's own son was murdered on a cross. In addition, God's chosen people have suffered under immense persecution and such from the Devil.

God will one day bring justice to His elect by sending the Devil and his people to Hell. This justice is for God's loved ones. They will be Holy, just as He is Holy, and reign in Heaven with Christ. By sending the Devil to Hell, God is making a declaration of not merely His Holiness, but of the Holiness of His Church.

Back to God's hate....

God hates sinners because they defile His Holy ones. They are an abomination because they commit adultery against God. God is offering Himself to them, and they reject Him. God seeks to destroy sinners in order to uphold righteousness. Obviously, when a person is born again, they are transformed. They are no longer a sinner. And so, those who are in Christ will not suffer God's wrath. They have not rejected God. They have accepted Jesus.

In conclusion, saying "God hates the wicked" and "God is love" are not contradictory. God wishes that the wicked were not wicked, that they would change. God cannot force them to change. God is offering His Son to them, so that they may be redeemed. However, they have chose to reject His Son. In addition, they persecute God's people. They hurt the ones He loves. God hates sinners, and He will seek justice for the one's he loves.

As a last note: Jesus said "love your enemies." You must keep in mind that God has a day set aside for judgment. He has an hour established for punishment. This time has not yet come. Until then, God is allowing sinners to live and commit evil. Instead, Jesus said "love your enemies." Give yourself to them. Help them, care for them. Jesus said if someone forces you to walk one mile, walk two with them.

Why? Why is would God say such a thing? Why would God allow people to abuse Him and His people like this?

Because God knows He is greater than all things. He is the chess champion who has already won the game. He is just moving the pieces around the board.

God allows evil to persist and sinners to live in order that all may have a chance to repent. God allows evil so that people may be humbled and see their sin. He allows pain and suffering so that we may see our need for Him and appreciate Him even more.

Love your enemies. God is with you. Let your light shine. God has promised He will care for us. God will give you new life. He made that promise. Don't worry about your life. Give it away. Let evil take advantage of you so that God's mercy may be displayed.

Jesus submitted unto the cross. Three days later, He was raised from the dead!!! You will be raised just as Jesus was raised.

We don't know who is really our enemy here on earth. All people who are alive have the hope of Jesus. There is a chance they could repent. God knows if they will repent. God allows the unrepentant to live in order to humble the repentant. However, we cannot see the heart of a person. We must abide in Christ and let Him take control.

The day of judgment will come. Until then, we must be abandoned to Christ so that His Spirit may control us, and as a result we produce fruit worthy of our calling.

In Christ,
Blake

K_DAY wrote:
I think we need some clarification here. In witnessing to poeple whose lives are characterized by seperation and sin, is it erroneous to say to them that the reason Christ died for them is because he loves them and wanted to provide an alternative to the wrath they deserve? John 3:16.

Is the suggestion that we are supposed to love all people (even our enemies) while God secretly hates his? Furthermore, God's love is unconditional. If he hated all sinners and then loved them as soon as they turned to him, does this make him inconsistant?

There has to be a balance. The Bible continually talks about God's righteous anger towards sinners and sin. It also talks about his love for mankind demonstrated by his death for them on the cross. Can god hate them and love them at the same time? What about us? We are to hate what God hates - does that mean men?

Maybe I am missing the point?

My I direct your attention to a piece that I wrote called [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=10691&forum=36#82859]Appropriate Affection Toward the Enemy of God
[/url]? This deals with the question that you have raised here.

Thank you for your comment! I'd just like to draw your attention to one thing you said...

Initially, in the garden, we rejected God. We wanted to do things our way. We sinned. However, God also knew that we it wasn't entirely our fault. We were decieved by the Devil. And so, God gave us a chance and time to repent. He also made a way that we may be saved through His son and God's greatest act of love.

Ephesians 1:5
"having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,"

Ephesians 2:8
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,"