Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 2: 3-5
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Does God “hate the sin but love the sinner?” It’s the age-old question. Actually, it’s a fairly contemporary question. Well-intentioned Christians without regard to where the quote really comes from often mention this saying,
“Love the sinner, hate the sin” –Mahatma Gandhi
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GANDHI
We need to stop using this quote. Is it true? Yes and no. Gandhi is hardly in any position to speak on behalf of Jesus and Scripture. This is the same man who said “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ”
So why as Christians are we so quick to use a response to God’s love from someone who doesn’t even like you, much less believe in God.
GOD’S HEART TOWARD SINNERS
When Gandhi speaks of Jesus he is referring to a God he has created in his own image not the God of the Bible. This Jesus is plucked from the pages of the Bible to fit his context not Gods. The real heart of God towards sin and sinners is found from the first page of Scripture to the last.
HATE OR ABHORRENCE?
All you need to do is open your Bible to the concordance and look for the word hate or perhaps abhor. Scripture contains many instances of God’s hatred or abhorrence of not only wickedness, but also the wicked themselves
12 VERSES ON GOD’S HATE
1. You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. -Leviticus 20:23
2. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly. -Deuteronomy 25:16
3. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; -Psalm 5:5
4. There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: –Proverbs 6:16-19
5. The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless. -Proverbs 11:20
6. The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. -Proverbs 16:5
7. Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—the Lord detests them both. -Proverbs 17:15
8. My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest. She roars at me; therefore I hate her. -Jeremiah 12:8
9. “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal. I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. -Hosea 9:15
10. Do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord. -Zechariah 8:17
11. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. -Malachi 1:3
WHAT DOES JESUS SAY?
12. “But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”-Revelation 2:6
It is easy to come away with view of Jesus that is influenced by opinions outside of the Bible, like Gandhi, rather than looking to the Bible.
The entire Bible is about Jesus, from the first page, creation, to the last page, consumption.
Remember, Jesus is God and He was and is God since the beginning. His character is God, good and holy. It is completely in His nature as God to love and hate fully and justly. His love is not like our love. His hate is not like our hate. His ways are not like our ways.
We love and hate from a selfish, self-centered and sinful nature. Jesus loves and hates out of holiness, justice and sinless nature.
CONTRASTING LOVE AND HATE
One reason it brings up so many other questions is that there is a problem in the question itself.
First, it attempts to make us answer the question by contrasting love and hate, making them mutually exclusive. It implies that if God hates the sinner then He can’t love them at the same time.
SEPARATE THE SIN FROM SINNER
Secondly, it tries to separate sin from the sinner, as though the person committing sin is not actually a sinner.
We are all sinners separated from God. God hated sin and loved us, His enemies so much that He
sent His only son Jesus to live the life we never could and die the death that we deserve.
THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE
Does God hate the sinner? Yes and no. God is love, however the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Jesus is not indifferent towards us. He was not indifferent towards the cross. In the same way we should not be indifferent towards sinners. We must model the love of Jesus by reaching out in the darkest of places and loving our enemies.
So next time you hear someone quote Gandhi open your Bible and tell them what Jesus really thinks. Tell them that God is love and through sin we have separated ourselves from that love and God hates that. That he loved you so much he couldn’t stand it anymore so he came to make a way when there was none.
REVIVER 