It is difficult to reason that God mentally or emotionally hates mankind (even sinners) due to a nature that we are born with. This is particularly a difficult assumption when we consider the wealth of Scripture from God's own Word regarding His love for us while we were yet sinners:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."- John 3:16"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."- John 15:12-15"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."- Romans 5:8"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."- Romans 8:38-39"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."- II Peter 3:9"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."-I John 3:16"And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village."- Luke 9:54-56"And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?"- Jonah 4:9-11"The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."- Matthew 11:19"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."- I Timothy 1:15"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved); And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."- Ephesians 2:4-6"For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,"- Titus 3:3-4
_________________Christopher
We need to know all of the attributes of God, and just knowing one aspect of God's character will give us a faulty view of God. Much of the Church is unbalanced in their view of God and much of this is due to the teaching that God is either all mercy or that He is a God of wrath just waiting to pounce on us. We must see both the goodness and severity of the Lord. Both the Lords great love for us, and His hatred of sin. The book of Romans is a good book to see both the wrath of God against sin, and His great mercy towards sinners. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:6-10).
_________________Mike
We were so blessed and encouraged to have brother Greg Gordon and Ely come and preach at our small church in Southall, West London UK. Brother Greg preached from Ezekiel 16 and how were were dead and unable to save ourselves, BUT GOD stepped in.In regards to the 'God hates sinners' I have been really battling to understand this myself. I've heard many preachers saying 'God hates sinners' and I understand what they are saying and where they are coming from. However I am slightly confused because Ephesians 2 says:And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)I have been praying over these verses to understand the heart of God for sinners. I was slowly moving towards the idea that God hates sinners until I stumbled upon these verses. Can someone share their thoughts as well.But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christwww.thatimayknowhim.co.ukVic Gill
I too have been puzzled and challenged, in attempting to reconcile biblical statements about 'God hating sinners' and 'God loving sinners'. The way I've come to grips with the tension between these 2 is to recognize that, yes, God does abhor both the sin and the sinner. He is 'angry with the wicked every day'. However, if his was only an attitude of being angry with us for our sin, he would not have sent his son to die for us. Therefore, his hatred remains for those who are without Christ (because of their present condition and position), though his hand of love and mercy is extended towards them, through the cross. Then if sinners 'receive not the love of the truth' (2 Thessalonians 2:10) God's wrath abides on them (John 3:36).Although human comparisons are at best inadequate, I think of how I feel towards my kids sometimes. Sometimes I am extremely upset, no angry with them for their sinful attitudes. (I am not angry with 'the sin', I am angry with 'the kids'). Now, during times when my kids are rebellious etc and I feel angry with them, I am not only angry with them (by God's grace :-) ). So I discipline them in love, with the aim of seeing them established in righteousness. In a bible study this past week, our assistant pastor shared this : "If God's love is like a river, then his wisdom and righteousness are like the banks of that river, which guide the flow of that river." It is only as we understand God's great hatred for our sins, our sinfulness, that we can truly comprehend his love for us, in forgiving us of these sins.In Jesus,John
Excellent verses, thank you for your responses.Please allow me to make a few points as [b]John 3:16[/b], for instance, is of interest in this.[b]John 316[/b] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [b]17[/b] For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.[b]18[/b] He who believes in Him is not condemned; [b]but he who does not believe is [u]condemned already[/u][/b], because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.[b]19[/b] And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.[b]20[/b] For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.[b]21[/b] But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.(And, if we continue to the end of this third chapter.)[b]36[/b] He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and [b]he who does not believe the Son [u]shall not see life[/u], [u]but the wrath of God abides[/u] on him[/b].
What does it mean to hate? Is hate the absence of love...?
What does it mean to hate? ...or is it a verb dealing with the dispersion of judgment?
It just seems that the Scriptures CLEARLY indicate that God loves us...even while we were in sin. [...] The Word of God seems clear that God's love is extended to all...even while they are yet sinners.
So I discipline them in love, with the aim of seeing them established in righteousness. In a bible study this past week, our assistant pastor shared this : "If God's love is like a river, then his wisdom and righteousness are like the banks of that river, which guide the flow of that river." It is only as we understand God's great hatred for our sins, our sinfulness, that we can truly comprehend his love for us, in forgiving us of these sins.
Isn't there a distinction to be drawn between love and reconciliation?John Stott once defined love as comprising the two ingredients "sacrifice" and "service". Based on this and the verses above, I'd say that God loved me before I was saved.Despite of this, I still hope that God one day will put things right and destroy everything sinful and evil; If he doesn't hate sin, there can be no heaven.
_________________Jordan
Question:God hates the sinner, but loves the world of sinners.How? Why?[b]Gen 1:26[/b] [color=990000]And God said, let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;[/color]God loves His own likeness & image because they are perfect and the whole of the trinity hold them.God loves the sinner because he is made in the image, and according to the likeness of God.God hates the sinner because he is defaming or has corrupted His image & likeness.How & why does God love that which He hates?God wants to redeem His own image & likeness which those He hates have.
"And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:15-17) Notice the difference between the reaction of Jesus towards sinners and that of the religious hypocrits. Jesus said: "if you have seen me, you have seen the Father." The Lord would have us to know His great compassion for the lost, to be a minister of reconciliation. We could never do this if we "hate sinners". Mike
The Lord would have us to know His great compassion for the lost, to be a minister of reconciliation. We could never do this if we "hate sinners".
If "hate" was the absence of "love" would that not mean it were the antithesis of "love" and therefore would be anti-God? And vice versa if we consider love to be the absence of hate.
I find in the Gospels, and especially Matthew, that Jesus showed 'compassion' to some and 'rage' to others. The rage was toward the religeous leaders who were supposed to be shephards. Instead they were more like wolves who instead, 'harassed'.Jesus clearly stated that He did not come to condemn the world but that through Him, the world might be saved. He demonstrated this when the woman caught in adultary was brought to Him. 'Where are thine accusers?' 'Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.'In John 17 Jesus is praying in the garden. It is the only time in the Bible that records the fact that God/Jesus sweats. If you read closely, you will notice that the sweat was not over the impending suffering, but overshadowing even that, was the longing He had for those who were left behind to know the love He had for them. It is what He came to show us. He was true to it all the way to the end. I concluded after reading Matthew about a year ago, that He not only came to show His compassion but His rage for the religeous leaders whe were supposed to be doing it but weren't.
_________________Mike Jones
The Masters RageFor years I wondered of the Masters rage; the harsh response on Holy page.Where was compassion that others were shown? What was the difference? What brought it on?He had His fill of all He had seen. The scales were tipped; He would right them again.He was harsh to the harsh and rightly so. They would finally reap what they had sewn.They heaped and harassed so that none could attain, like wolves in the fold that unsettle and maim.They offered no mercy, just more and more rules. They had missed their purpose and in so became fools.It is in this setting that the master comes with compassion for many, yet outrage toward some.There wasnt a struggle with how to react; He had seen it for years and came to attack.It would cost Him His life, but oh what it bought; there was peace for His sheep and hope for the lost.Help us oh Lord to be careful with rules. Let mercy and kindness be our choice of tools.MJ