God loves the Sinner but hates the Sin right?
Is this a true or "churchy" statement? it may surprise many that the Bible never makes the above statement. We in the church have popularized it. Does the word of God even imply the statement is true? Let's examine the word to find out.
Psalm 5:5 says the Lord hates the workers of iniquity. Psalm 11:5 says the wicked and the one who loves violence His (the Lord) soul hates. The word wicked in Hebrew means someone who is intent on breaking God's law, His rules. They do not want to stop sinning. For them sinning is insatiable. We would call someone like that a menace to society. This is the type of person that God hates. Please hear me clearly as I write, God not only hates the sin, He hates the person who commits sin without remorse.
Why?
Because God cannot punish sin without punishing the sinner right? It would be just as illogical to say an oncologist will treat cancer but not treat the cancer patient. By getting rid of the cancer, they cure the patient of the disease.
How God's love rescues us from sin's penalty
It is because of the Father's love and hatred of our sins that the Father sent the Lord Jesus to die and take away our sins (John 3:16; Rom 4:25; 1John 2:2;4:10). As we all know, our sins were not crucified, Jesus was crucified as if He was an actual sinner bearing our sins and suffering our penalty which was death (II Corinthians 5:21). Do we see how deplorable it is for someone who knows the most extreme lengths of God's love for them through the death of Christ to despise that love and to persist in rebellion against God? God has every right to hate that person. Here is the wonderful thing though - God's arms are still open wide to receive recalcitrant sinners to repent and believe the gospel. But time is of the essence. God will not be patient forever.
What about Christians who sin?
The difference between a believer and a non-believer is that our sins have been removed from us forever when we trusted Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and the justification of our souls. We are no longer in sin, we are now in Christ. He is our blessed refuge and hope. He earned salvation for us so sin's penalty has been removed forever because we acknowledge our need for Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world. God no longer hates us when we sin. But we must be quick to confess and forsake it to God so that we do not break sweet fellowship with the Lord (1 John 1:9).
For the unrepentant sinner, their sins have not been forgiven because they refuse to confess them and trust Jesus for the forgiveness and removal of them. Their sin remains (John 9:41). What is the tragic result of their sinful condition? God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11).
Rounding The Bases
For those who believe that God is a God of love only, what I have written is a shocking revelation to you. God is the only being who loves and hates perfectly. What is perfect hatred? It is hatred without malice or evil. We can't relate because we can neither love nor hate perfectly.
God does indeed love sinners and hates all sin. Notice I did not say God loves all sinners. God hates the wicked. I know that type of thinking runs antithetical to what we have been taught to believe.
It is most important we know and understand this characteristic of God so that we have a greater reverence for Him. The greater our knowledge of how the Almighty's pedigree is, the deeper we can go in our relationship with Him. Every child wants to have an intimate relationship with their father. How much more should we desire a deep relationship with our Heavenly Father?
So, let us spend the rest of our natural lives loving what God loves and hating what He hates.
Why?
Because God cannot punish sin without punishing the sinner right? It would be just as illogical to say an oncologist will treat cancer but not treat the cancer patient. By getting rid of the cancer, they cure the patient of the disease.
How God's love rescues us from sin's penalty
It is because of the Father's love and hatred of our sins that the Father sent the Lord Jesus to die and take away our sins (John 3:16; Rom 4:25; 1John 2:2;4:10). As we all know, our sins were not crucified, Jesus was crucified as if He was an actual sinner bearing our sins and suffering our penalty which was death (II Corinthians 5:21). Do we see how deplorable it is for someone who knows the most extreme lengths of God's love for them through the death of Christ to despise that love and to persist in rebellion against God? God has every right to hate that person. Here is the wonderful thing though - God's arms are still open wide to receive recalcitrant sinners to repent and believe the gospel. But time is of the essence. God will not be patient forever.
What about Christians who sin?
The difference between a believer and a non-believer is that our sins have been removed from us forever when we trusted Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and the justification of our souls. We are no longer in sin, we are now in Christ. He is our blessed refuge and hope. He earned salvation for us so sin's penalty has been removed forever because we acknowledge our need for Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world. God no longer hates us when we sin. But we must be quick to confess and forsake it to God so that we do not break sweet fellowship with the Lord (1 John 1:9).
For the unrepentant sinner, their sins have not been forgiven because they refuse to confess them and trust Jesus for the forgiveness and removal of them. Their sin remains (John 9:41). What is the tragic result of their sinful condition? God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11).
Rounding The Bases
For those who believe that God is a God of love only, what I have written is a shocking revelation to you. God is the only being who loves and hates perfectly. What is perfect hatred? It is hatred without malice or evil. We can't relate because we can neither love nor hate perfectly.
God does indeed love sinners and hates all sin. Notice I did not say God loves all sinners. God hates the wicked. I know that type of thinking runs antithetical to what we have been taught to believe.
It is most important we know and understand this characteristic of God so that we have a greater reverence for Him. The greater our knowledge of how the Almighty's pedigree is, the deeper we can go in our relationship with Him. Every child wants to have an intimate relationship with their father. How much more should we desire a deep relationship with our Heavenly Father?
So, let us spend the rest of our natural lives loving what God loves and hating what He hates.
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