I can't stand people who hate.
And God hates those who do not hate with righteous indignation.
HATE THE SIN BUT LOVE THE SINNER:
“Hate the sin but love the sinner” is probably the most quoted Bible verse next to “Judge not.” Even unbelievers know these verses. But, and this is a big but, “Hate the sin but love the sinner” is not to be found in God’s word. This quote comes from Hindu teaching and was first said by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was a fool and is now in Hell awaiting judgment. We Christians should not look to him for wisdom.
Ambassadors for Christ
Paul warns us that we are “ambassadors for Jesus Christ.” If we are to represent Him, then we should present the true Jesus Christ and not a Christ we think He should be. When we read Jesus’ “Woe to you Pharisees” rebuke, we should know that we are not dealing with a Barney Fife. When we read Jesus saying, “Bring those enemies of mine here before Me and slay them with the sword,” we should fear and know that He is not lopping off the sin. He’s lopping off heads!
Love and Hate
God gave us the free will to either love Him or hate Him. One can’t have the will to love without also having the will to hate. Does not God also have free will—to love or hate? God could have created robots with no ability to choose. But then love would be meaningless. I value my wife’s love because she is free to love another. But, she chose me.
Does God Hate?
God’s word says that you can’t separate man from his sin (except through Jesus Christ): “As a man thinks in His heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). And God hates the sin before it’s committed. Contrary to what Gandhi believes, God hates the wicked. Let’s look at a few of God’s scriptures:
“God hates all workers of iniquity” (Ps. 5:5).
“The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man” (Ps. 5:6).
“The wicked and the one who loves violence [God] hates” (Ps. 11:5).
“The face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (Ps. 34:16).
“God loves righteousness and hates wickedness” (Ps. 45:7)
“The Lord hates a heart that devises wicked plans, a false witness, one who sows discord among the brethren” (Prov. 6:16-19).
God reminds us, “All wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more” (Ho. 9:13).
And Moses wrote of God: If you do not obey Me, “My soul shall abhor you” (Lev. 26:27-30).
But That Was the Old Testament
Some Christians today think that God was a mean old God in the Old Testament, but then He went to Government Sensitivity Training and became nice in the New Testament. And Christians today are trying to be nicer than God. But the word nice is not in the Bible. Christians should never ponder as to what Jesus would say or do. Rather we should read our Bibles and see what He actually said and did.
Jesus was the Rock of offence. John the Baptist, having a bad day, sent his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the Christ or should we look for another?” Jesus said, “Tell John that the lame walk, the blind see, and many are offended.” When the Pharisees asked Jesus, “By what authority do you do these things?”, He refused to answer their question. Realize also that the answer to their question was salvation. He withheld it from them because their hearts were hard. When His disciples said that the Pharisees were offended, He said, “Leave them alone. They are the blind leading the blind. . .” When He came walking on the water to His apostles in the boat, Scripture says that “He would have walked on by them” because they deemed Him to be a spirit. They did not believe that Jesus could walk on water (after seeing all His miracles). He purposely offended His disciples when He said, “Drink my blood and eat my flesh.” He was telling them that for centuries they were eating the Passover lamb and He was the true Passover Lamb. His parables were turned road signs to confuse hard hearts. When the Pharisees walked away confused, He left them in their confused state. If they asked Him to explain a parable, He explained. His word was for “those with ears to hear and eyes to see.” He called Gentiles “dogs” and “swine.”
Hypocritical Love
What is hypocritical love? The Bible answer is, “Should you love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you” (2 Chr. 19:2). Warning the wicked of the coming judgment is harsh, but is a necessary component of acceptable love. A love that is not hypocritical rebukes and condemns, and then points to Jesus Christ.
Paul also warns, “Let your love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil.” Love is a precious commodity that should not be squandered. The lips that profess love for God should not in the next breath profess love for an unrepentant homosexual molester of young boys. This type of love profanes God: “You call good evil and evil good.” “You put those to death who should be kept alive and keep alive those who should be put to death.” If you love everybody, then your love becomes meaningless. If we gave the Medal of Honor to all soldiers, then it would no longer merit a salute.
Cliches
“Hate the sin but love the sinner” is a cliché. Cliches should not take precedent over God’s word. But, sadly, they do.
“Hate the sin but love the sinner” hinders the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This cliché is used mostly when referring to homosexuals. For some unfathomable reason, Christians, in their effort not to offend, refuse to warn the homosexual that he is a pervert who is going to hell unless he repents of his sin. Instead, we lead him to believe that God loves him and only hates his sin. If we have the cure for cancer, it does no good unless we first convince a person that he has cancer and is going to die.
God bless, Tom from Mabank, TX
