God hates sinners. God not only hates sins; God hates sinners. Anytime we distort God’s hatred to sinners, we are putting a discount on His love to die for us on the cross.
God hates sinners not because He is bad, but He is good, and we are bad.
God loves sinners not because we are good, but He is good. God is love.
God is not separated. God’s hatred to sinners is not 50%, not 90%, but 100%, because God is 100% holy and 100% just. On the other hand, God’s love is also 100%.
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
and
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already.”
John 3:18a
Outside of Jesus, the wrath. Inside of Jesus, the love.
THE LOVE OF GOD IS THIS:
He would die to put His enemies in Christ, so He can love them as His children. It is only in Christ, we are not sinners. It is only in the Son, we are children of God. God’s love is amazing only in the context of God’s holy wrath.
Therefore, if you do not understand God’s holy hatred, you do not understand God’s holy love, and both of them are on the cross!
For sinners, the opposite of love is hatred. We cannot imagine (or reason) how love and hatred can coexist. For God, there is no opposite of love, because He always loves. God’s hatred is due to His holiness. God is holy, and we are sinners. God hates sinners, not because He is bad, but He is good, and we are bad. Therefore, God’s holy hatred and holy love can coexist.
God does not need to love us even God is love. God loves us because God loves us (Deut. 7:7-8). There is no other biblical reason. And if it says that God loves us in Christ before the foundation of the world, it means that God loves us in Christ in the eternity.
If a person says he loves his neighbors, my question is how much does he love God? And if he says he loves God, my question is how much does he read the Bible? I don’t want to question if he pray, because if he reads the Bible, he will pray, and he will love God, and he will love his neighbors.
Helpful links:
R. C. Sproul & John MacArthur – God’s Love Is NOT “Unconditional”
R. C. Sproul – Is It Biblical to Say That God Loves Everyone?
David Platt – Does God Hate Sinners?
John Piper – God Loves the Sinner, But Hates the Sin?
CARM – Does God hate anyone?
We are all sinners and God does not hate sinners. Please don’t write this for all to see. It breaks my heart!
Jill, if you do not understand God’s hatred, you do not understand God’s love. You do not even understand the Gospel! God hates sinners not because God is bad, but God is good!
Your were Remiss not to add the Fact of the Cross as well that He Loves the sinner..
I’ve said so many times about God’s love to sinners, didn’t you see that? But my point is this, God’s love is not your definition of love, if you don’t understand that God hates sinners.
God is not the father of sinners.
God is the Judge of sinners.
It is only in Jesus Christ, we are not sinners.
It is only in the Son, we are the children of God.
God does not hate sinners- he hates sin. God’s heart breaks for those who will not choose Him- it breaks because He loves them. They have the freedom to choose sin and their own way but it is not Gods will that any should perish, again because He loves us all. But He cannot have sin in heaven because he’s holy. So choosing sin rather than Jesus who forgives it excludes you from heaven. But God does not hate any of His creation. He came to die for all because of his love for all. After that the choice is ours
My friend, God does hate sin, but God also hates sinners! Psalm 5:5 says “The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you (God) hate all evildoers.”
The beauty of God’s love is that He totally loves the enemies whom He hates totally.
The beauty of the glory of God on the cross is that, God’s love and hatred joined together on Jesus. His hatred is holy and just.
If god hated sinners He wouldnt have redeemed us by the blood of Jesus. What your preaching is not true gospel, my friend. You cant use fear to try to draw people in, thats religion. The whole gospel is about His great love and mercy.. God is not angry. He is patient, He is kind, He is gentle, He is love. Anything that strays from that is not true. Religion isnt love. Even Jesus spoke truth against the Pharisees who preached exactly what you are preaching.
Psalm 7:11, “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” If God does not hate sinners, God is not God, and God is not holy and not just, and Jesus wouldn’t have to talk about hell. If you do not understand God’s holiness, you cannot understand God’s love.
Romans 5:8-10 “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
God is saving us from Himself, from His holy wrath! My friends, that is the great love of God!
The love of God is to die for you in order to put you in Christ. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Thank you for writing this post. I was alarmed at first when I read that God hates sinners. My knee jerk reaction was, nah-uh! However, it is only sinners that will meet the judgement of eternal hell. It is those sinners, who’s slates are wiped clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, those that repent (meaning turn completely away from the temptations and sins that they are a part of), and try with all earnest to walk the good walk with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It is indeed a hard thing to hear and do in the world we live in. I know that I struggle day in and day out. However, the truth is not always sweet and will not tickle the ears of hearers. It is a two edged sword.
May God have mercy on our souls, when it comes down to it though, I can rest assured whatever God’s will it will be the best.