Are you saying that it is a sin to hate?
yes
Are you saying that it is a sin to hate?
God's sins?
Psalms 5:4-6
4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
6 You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
the LORD abhors.
God does not hate
Really?
Psalm 11:5
The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.
if you don't bring some common sense to the Bible, you will have to conclude that Jesus is a lamb
Let me regress to an event in my life as a teen for a moment. There was a preacher in town (well known today) who through our church was leading a revival. One evening, he was preaching vehemently on the evils of various sins, including homosexuality. He was literally screaming and yelling at the audience and shaking his fist. I remember wondering as a kid, "Why is he so angry at us?". I felt afraid of him and God- to me, he represented God and his anger was all I could see.
Then, during the sermon where he was raging about homosexuals, a couple of my friends got up and walked out - they had another event they were supposed to go to. Their parents sent them to this other event as it had been planned in advance. When this pastor saw them leave, he immediately pointed them out and called them homosexuals and said they were leaving because they were evil and would not listen to the truth. The audience was horrified! We all knew these girls! Nothing could be further from the truth! The pastor went too far because he allowed his own feelings get in the way of his preaching. By his angry speech and actions he painted a picture of God as a big cosmic angry, fire-breathing, unforgiving God.
Later in his life, this pastor changed. He had some deeper experience with God and his preaching and focus changed. He was not angry anymore. He is gentle and loving and has a wonderful ministry feeding hungry children in Africa. He did not change his mind about the evils of sin and homosexuality. He just finally realized that anger in the heart, even towards sinners, will eat you up.
My point is, I think we have to be very careful with hatred. It can be a feeling and an action. It can lead to us acting in ways that are contrary to scripture.
Isn't it natural to hate?
and shouldn't it be the way that someone expresses it, that should be judged
Someone needs to give this a POTD :first:I have three words for this post: Hollywood psycho babble.
I'm retired law enforcement. Hollywood tells us "if you don't forgive, it will eat you up inside." What eats at a Christian is when he or she is taught the false doctrine that they are to forgive everyone and they are not to hate anyone. When they are unable to follow these false teachings, they feel condemned. I was teaching a Bible class one night in Denver on "Forgiveness." A young man came up to me after the class. (A business partner of his had stolen $10,000 from him.) He asked, "You mean I don't have to forgive him or love him?" I told him that when his partner repented and paid back the money, then he had to forgive and love him. He was so relieved. He told me that he had tried to forgive him but could not, and it condemned him because he was under the false teaching that he had to forgive and love the unrepentant.
Jesus said that if your brother sins against you, REBUKE him. Don't forgive him. Jesus then said, "And IF, IF, IF, he repents, forgive him. Now listen carefully: Jesus did not command us to forgive so that it will make us feel good. Phoney, self-righteous love is what makes you feel good. Phoney, self-righteous forgiveness is what makes you feel good. Forgiveness is not to make the forgiver feel good; its to get the unrepentant sinner to repent. This is why Jesus said to rebuke and forgive only the repentant.
I had a partner who worked for the Dade County PD in Flordia. He had to shoot an armed criminal who was trying to shoot him. My friend got off the first shot. He related to me that it did not eat at his heart for a moment. He was elated that he had gotten to go home to his wife and kids that night. But they still made him see a shrink. Not forgiving the wicked, hating the unrepentant wicked WILL NOT EAT YOU UP unless you've watched too many Hollywood movies.
Read some of King David's paslms and writings. He sure had a lot of hatred for the wicked. And God said that he was a man after God's own heart. Paul should have been eaten up. Why? Because at the end of his ministry, he warned Timothy of Alexander the Coppersmith. While the Bible does not reveal what Alexander did to Paul, Paul did not love Alexander nor did he ever forgave him.
Loving everyone and forgiving everyone is self-righteousness--pure and simple. I can relate a story to show this: Cathy Sanders worked in the federal building in Oklahoma that Timothy McVeigh blew up. In the bombing, her two grandchildren were killed. I watched her on a Christian TV show relate how she visited Timothy McVeigh shortly before he was executed. She boasted how she had told Timothy McVeigh that she forgave him.
First, while my heart goes out to her for her loss, self-righteousness was oozng from her pores. "Just look at how good I am. I even forgave the man who killed my grandchildren." First, she had no standing to forgive him. The two grandchildren, whom he killed, had standing to forgive him, but they're not here. Cathy Sanders can forgive Timothy only for the hurt that was caused to her. And Timothy can't be forgiven by Cathy, her grandchildren, or God UNLESS HE REPENTED. Timothy McVeigh went to his execution muttering some nonsence: "If I go to hell, so be it. I will adapt and survive."
This is what you get from false Bible teachers. Now if Cathy went on Oprah, she would get a standing O. Be suspicious of any Bible teaching that will get you a standing O on Oprah.
God bless, Tom from Mabank, TX
I agree with all you said - my earlier post says the same thing in that Love is not an emotion, it is action. When you protect the innocent by putting a rapist (etc) in jail or someone is executed for murder, it is not based on hatred of the person, it is based on protection of society. I totally agree that part of the problem with society today is people have the idea that all men are basically good instead of the truth that all men are basically depraved. When I was a teacher, I was told I should not use a red pen to grade or tell the kids that an answer was "wrong" as that might hurt the kids self-esteem. Baloney! If you never tell someone what they are doing is wrong, they will not learn. We have a whole generation of adults who think of themselves as "good" and who blame others for anything that goes wrong in their lives and who are incredibly narcissistic because of this philosophy.
My contention with the word "hate" does not mean I do not believe in capital punishment for murderers and life imprisonment for pedophiles who hurt children. It does not mean I do not abhor these crimes or the individuals that commit them. It does mean I don't think Christians should let hate seethe in their hearts towards others or when talking to people about Christ who are lost and involved in open sin that our emphasis is on hatred of the person himself and our contempt for what he/she is doing. I think we actually agree with each other! I just do not like the word "hate" in connection with Christian speech - it is too close to the rhetoric of "skin heads" and bigots.
God does not hate
Knight quotes:
A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. - Ecclesiastes 3:8
Thank you, SOZO. I'm glad someone is listening. I feel like a voice crying in the wilderness.
God bless, Tom from Mabank, TX
You wrote, "...God by way of Christ..." Jesus Christ is God. And God hates the wicked. His word says so.
God bless, Tom from Mabank, TX
It can be. Though someone might see your posture, specifically as you illustrate it in dealing with Cathy Sanders and her loss, as a little self righteous, don't you think?Loving everyone and forgiving everyone is self-righteousness--pure and simple.
That you call her sharing of forgiveness a boast goes a long way toward my not finding your next statement particularly credible.I can relate a story to show this: Cathy Sanders worked in the federal building in Oklahoma that Timothy McVeigh blew up. In the bombing, her two grandchildren were killed. I watched her on a Christian TV show relate how she visited Timothy McVeigh shortly before he was executed. She boasted how she had told Timothy McVeigh that she forgave him.
I think you're right there, except in your aim. On the upside, she'd probably forgive you for it. lain:First, while my heart goes out to her for her loss, self-righteousness was oozng from her pores.
Way to look into her heart and find it wanting. Shame on you. Literally, shame on you."Just look at how good I am. I even forgave the man who killed my grandchildren."
I don't believe she intoned that because of her action he was free of sin. Else, it's her business how she approaches him, be it in understandable anger or in the spirit of one hopeful for the fate of his soul. I think we all know which is harder to do.First, she had no standing to forgive him.
You seem so interested in making your larger point (which isn't without merit) that you're using the wrong illustration and methodology in the attempt, forcing your preconception on it and us as though it were gospelThe two grandchildren, whom he killed, had standing to forgive him, but they're not here.
What did she actually say that led you to believe she was doing more than exactly that?Cathy Sanders can forgive Timothy only for the hurt that was caused to her.
Nope. That's not scriptural. You are to forgive someone if they ask, but there's no verse forbidding you to do so unless they ask.And Timothy can't be forgiven by Cathy, her grandchildren, or God UNLESS HE REPENTED.
Then he missed his opportunity. She didn't.Timothy McVeigh went to his execution muttering some nonsence: "If I go to hell, so be it. I will adapt and survive."
:thumb:The opposite of love is not hate, it is apathy. We are commanded to even hate our own flesh. Sin and sinner are one. You cannot hate sin, without hating the sinner.
:BRAVO:You could not be more wrong if you were a Mormon. Jesus said, "Bring those enemies of Mine before Me who would not serve Me, and slay them with the sword." A sword is not for flogging; it's for beheading. Here Jesus is not lopping off sin; He's lopping of heads.
On Judgment Day, Jesus will not send the sin to hell. He will send the SINNER to hell. "Love he sinner but hate the sin" is a cliche that is not in the Bible. It's a cute cliche first uttered by Gandhi who is a Hindu. While it sounds good, it is 180 degrees opposite of God's word.
You argument about judging is also wrong. Jesus was talking to hypocritical Pharisees who were judging a widow for not tithing while they had mistresses on the side. Jesus said that they should get the log out of their own eyes and then they could judge the widow. Jesus did not tell them NOT TO JUDGE, for He admonished that after they got their act cleaned up, they were not to leave the speck in their brother's eye.
If you don't judge, you can't rebuke, witness, or forgive.
God bless, Tom from Mabank, TX
God bless, Tom from Mabank, TX
You're a moron. For you to speak of common sense is the perfect illustration of irony.if you don't bring some common sense to the Bible, you will have to conclude that Jesus is a lamb
This is nothing but lawyerspeak. The command of God on forgiveness states that we forgive if they repent. This does not give us the freedom to forgive otherwise simply because it doesn't state that we can't. To say we can is circular logic that is not logical at all.Nope. That's not scriptural. You are to forgive someone if they ask, but there's no verse forbidding you to do so unless they ask.
You wrote, "...God by way of Christ..." Jesus Christ is God.