Does God Hate Sinners? Part 1 Series

Part 1

INTRODUCTION

It is the amazing and profound love of God that is the most powerful force in the Cosmos and the reason people exist. The Bible declares that God is love and is infinitely loving and just (1 John 4:8-10). It is because of His love He must deal with sin, which is the breaking of His pure and perfect Law and is an affront to His character and a challenge through active rebellion against His authority.

Most religions teach, along with the Bible, that God hates and despises the iniquity of sin and holds every individual responsible for their sin (Jeremiah 44:4; Proverbs 6:16-19; Zechariah 8:17; Revelation 2:6). The Ten Commandments reflect God's holiness and justice, and when broken, have severe consequences (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:4-21). God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:10). He must, and will, judge sinners, which includes everyone since all have sinned, for either accepting or rejecting Jesus as Lord and Savior.

The sacrificial death of Jesus was not to appease an angry, wrathful, distant deity somewhere way up there in the sky who uses pain, sorrow, suffering, or sickness to punish people. The Bible tells us that God doesn't want or need sacrifices (Jeremiah 22:23). It is fallen human beings who need them.

The Cross is the plan of God from before the foundation of the world to bring reconciliation of the universe, making peace with all things and redeeming humanity from being lost and remaining in the grip of the enemy and their sinfulness by casting down the principalities and powers that enslave and oppress them (Colossians 1:9).

The Bible says that those who do not abide by the law are under a curse. However, on the Cross, Jesus took upon Himself all curses by “becoming a curse” and offered “redemption from the curse of the law” to those who repent of sin and place their trusting-faith in Him (Galatians 3:10-14).

It is absolutely true that God is love (1 John 4:8). He is also holy and righteous, but does that mean He hates the sinner? (Psalm 5:5; Leviticus. 20:23; Proverbs 6:16-19; Hosea 9:15). Since God so loved the World (Gk: ‘cosmos’), He sent Jesus (John 3:16). Yet, at the same time, we are told that God hates sinners (all those in the world), so is He sick of some people and hates them? Isn’t that a dichotomy, or is God bipolar and untrustworthy?

Some believe that God takes His hatred of sin to actually hating, despising, and abhorring the person who disobeys and commits sin against Him. They will often quote “proof” texts that say ‘God hates sinners’ (See Leviticus 20:23; Psalm 5:5,11:5; Hosea 9:15; Romans 9:13).

When taking a look at the verses referenced, it seems a legitimate claim, but viewed from the whole perspective of Scripture, it also seems contradictory and appears to present God as a vindictive, bi-polar arrogant, and angry, psychotic entity bent on annihilating those who oppose Him by violating His law. And since “all have sinned,” God must hate everyone, including Christians, yet He is also a loving Creator who wants only the best for His children. A paradox emerges. Would God send Himself to die for people He hates or for people He loves? He commands Christians to love their neighbor in the same way they are to love Him (Mark 12:29-31). God wants every Christian to be a partaker of His Divine Nature (1 Peter 2:21). If God hates sinners, does this mean that every Christian should also hate sinners? It is no wonder that much of the world views Christians as crazy and judgmental. God says, "I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). So, which is it - does God hate or love the sinner?

Did Jesus say, “For God so hated the world” or “For God so loved the world?” (See John 3:16) The facts are that God loves lost sinners and showed His love before they believed in Jesus.

What I have been seeing and hearing in the church lately is a rising belief that God doesn’t love the sinner but actually hates them and not just their sin, which infers there is no point in asking Him for forgiveness because they are doomed. Did the Triune God send Jesus, the Son, to die for sinners because of His love for the world, but at the same time, He also hated the world?

God is not a puppet of human emotion, motivated by hurt or controlled by anger. It has been said that the God of the Old Testament was angry and mad, but the God of the New Testament is madly in love. Yet, the Bible tells us that God does not “change" (Malachi 3:6). Which is it? Does God hate the world and love the world? Isn’t that a paradox?