Does God Hate Sinners?

Does God actually hate sinners or is it just the sin? What does the Bible say about this?

Separated from God

After the fall of mankind they were banned from the Garden of Eden and they had lost their chance of eternal life and fellowship with God. There is no evidence that Adam and Eve ever repented so we don’t know for sure if they did or didn’t. Since we know that God is purely holy and mankind is utterly sinful, we are separated from God at the present time. Isaiah wrote “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Most people would consider themselves “good people” and by the world’s standards they probably are but God says “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10) and “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom 3:12). We might all rate pretty high in the eyes of the world but every single one of us “fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Comparing ourselves to others we look good but compared to God, we are utterly deprived of any good, so how can we restore this relationship with God that our sins had caused?

God hates Sin

Habakkuk states that God is so holy, He can’t even look at sin, and writes, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Hab 1:13). If you want to know just how much God hates sin, look at the cross; look at what Jesus had to go through. If sin weren’t so bad, the cross wouldn’t have been either or it wouldn’t have even been necessary, but since nothing unclean can ever enter the kingdom (Rev 21:27), we are all in big trouble because of the wages of sin that we’ve earned and that is eternal death (Rom 6:23a) or eternal separation from God. We know from Scripture that “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day” (Psalm 7:11) against sin and the sinner, “for the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face” (Psalm 11:7) but “The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth” (Psalm 34:16). Peter also wrote that “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1st Pet 3:12) and in Peter’s writing this, he quotes Psalm 34:15 and paraphrases Psalm 34:16. The exact phrase “God hates sin” or “God hates the sinner” is not found in the Bible but the concept is found throughout Scripture that God hates sin and His face is against all who do sin and they are under His judgment unless they repent and put their faith in Christ (John 3:36).

Dying for the Ungodly

I know of no one that would die for someone that they considered their enemy or who were wicked by nature, except for God that “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom 5:10) even though we were wicked (Rom 5:8). It is only by the death of Christ that “we have been justified by faith [and now] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1) and this “one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men” (Rom 5:18); at least those men and women who repent and belief in Christ (Mark 1:15). This is not teaching universalism because the way is hard and narrow and only a few will find it (Matt 7:14) and there is only one, single Person you can go through to enter the kingdom (Acts 4:12). On the day of Jesus’ return to earth, there will be many who believe they’re in the kingdom (Matt 7:21-22) but to this same many Jesus will say, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:23).

Hating even a Blemish

As faithful witnesses, Jude admonishes us to “have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 1:22-23). I talk to a lot of people who doubt their salvation so maybe some in the early church also doubted their salvation and so Jude wants us to show a little mercy (and patience) with them who doubt but those who reject Christ, we must tell them of the judgment of God that is surely coming upon all who refuse to repent and believe (Rev 20:12-15). Jude might want his readers to participate in rescuing the perishing from the fires of hell. I am not suggesting we make “fear-filled converts” but rather “tear-filled converts” who are broken over their sin before God and serve Him, not out of fear, but out of love and gratitude.

Conclusion

God has given us all a conscience and we are all responsible for our actions but the most grievous thing you and I could ever do wrong is by not doing something! What I mean is that for all who reject Jesus Christ, they really reject the Father. Jesus said that “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matt 12:30). There is no neutrality with Jesus. Those on the fence and all the others will be cast into the fire (John 3:18, 36b) but God’s love is displayed on the cross and right now, at this very moment, a time of salvation is open for all who would believe and for all who believe, they have their sins taken away (2nd Cor 5:21) and they have received eternal life (John 3:16).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.