“When Sin Becomes You”

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

     I have a question that is somewhat troubling to me.  Two friends of mine were having a debate about politics and religion, and one of them said that God hates the unrighteous.  Put so point blank, it really made me think, and I did some reading online, searching Christian sites to see what people have to say about it and received further conflicting messages.

I know God hates sin, but God sent out His word to everyone in the world.  The unsaved reject it, but it was sent to them.  So how can He have tried to save people He hated?  Does He hate them?  If He does hate sinners, how does that go together with Jesus’ admonitions to love thy enemy and what He says about a doctor not coming for those already healthy but rather for those who are sick? Jesus and God are one, so clearly, if God hating the sinner is true, it goes to together somehow, but I don’t understand how.

I read someone’s comment that said, “A man who steals is a thief. God hates the thief who steals”, and yet, Jesus sought out thieves to save them.

This question is very troubling to me.  I know everything God does is right, but somehow it is very hard to accept the plain statement ‘God hates the unsaved’.  I know the unsaved will go to hell, and I know justice is very important to God, but again, Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost are one, and there so many instances of compassion in the Bible that it’s hard to believe He just hates them, and that’s it.  Or am I just having troubling believing this because I don’t want to believe it?

Sincerely,
Not A Hater

Dear Not A Hater,

The Lord loves people but hates sin.  God tells us it is appropriate to be happy when evil is destroyed because it means righteousness is prevailing (Pr 28:28), but God also says that it pains Him when the wicked perish (Ezek 18:23).  Here is the problem – when a person's life becomes so intertwined with sin that the sin has become the essence of who they are, God hates that.  Ps 5:5, Ps 11:5, Lev 20:23, and Pr 6:16-19 makes that clear.

Think of it this way, if you saw someone push a small child, would you be upset at the action or upset at the person?  The answer is both.  The action came from the person and originated from their character.  All sin is that way.  God doesn't inherently hate people, but when someone consistently rebels against God, hurts others, spreads lies, and harms God's work here on Earth... God's anger extends to both the sins and the people who flagrantly commit them.  They have chosen to put their lives in opposition to Him, and as much as it pains Him, He must consider them enemies.

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