That’s a meme I found in a Facebook Group recently that caused me to reconsider God’s love, as well as God’s hate. We love to dwell on God’s love, and rightly so! We don’t often dwell on what God hates. We are told to “Love the sinner but hate the sin.”, although it’s not actually a verse found in the Bible. I was curious about the comment, “Those who claim God hates sinners are denying Jesus and His sacrifice, and likely painting God in their own image and splattering their hate onto Him.” (Psychologists call that ‘projection’- the process of displacing one’s feelings onto a different person, animal, or object.)
So, wanting to find out more about what the author had in mind, I replied very simply, “Proverbs 6:16-19?”
Proverbs 6:16-19:
16These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look, A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
I received as a response: “Please also consider Luke 6:27-28. Would Jesus expect us to love our enemies, yet not love His own enemies, (e.g., sinners)?” That was an honest reply, although it didn’t address the Proverbs passage that indicates that God does in fact hate some people.
Luke 6:27-28
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
We are told that there are things that God hates in the Proverbs passage and how we are to treat our enemies in the Luke passage. These are different contexts.
“It might seem a contradiction that a God who is love can also hate. Yet that’s exactly what Bible says is true: God is love (1 John 4:8), and God hates (Hosea 9:15). God’s nature is love—He always does what is best for others—and He hates what is contrary to His nature—He hates what is contrary to love.”[i]
Psalm 5:4-6 tells us specifically that God hates wickedness and individuals:
4For 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.
Is there some kind of contradiction there? No. Scripture never contradicts itself.
What should we do with all of this? Well, God is God and cannot do evil. If that’s true, God’s hatred for whatever or whomever He hates is pure and just at the same time.
In the Romans 5 passage, Paul is telling ‘believers’ in Rome that while “we” were yet sinners Christ died for us. What does that mean? We are all born in rebellion against and enemies of God (Rom 8:7-8) Does it point to what the Bible calls the “elect” of God? Those who were “ordained to eternal life” (Acts 13:48). Does God love His “elect” (chosen before the foundation of the world for salvation (Eph 1:4 & 2 Thess 2:13) with a special love that is different than His love for the rest of His creation?
These are just questions that I have wrestled with and am still working on. What do I KNOW? That I am not God. That I am to love my enemies for the sake of Christ, whose sole mission was to come to this earth to “save His people from their sins” (Matt 1:21).
I KNOW that in sharing the gospel with the world around me, I’m to be like the farmer who plants seed and then goes to bed, to rise again the next day and plant more seed, not knowing exactly how it grows (Mark 4:26-29. I am to share the gospel to God opened hearts (Acts 16) and trust Him to save those whose hearts he opened to ‘hear the gospel’. So I pray often for God to open hearts to ‘Hear’ the message and thank Him that I have the great privilege of sharing that message.
BE BLESSED!
[i] Does God hate? If God is love, how can He hate? | GotQuestions.org
The Battle Cry 