The Lord hates sin but still loves sinner

The Rev. Gary Teske, senior pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church, 1245 N.H.:

According to the dictionary I consulted, the definition of hate is, “To dislike intensely or passionately, feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.” The Bible has at least one Hebrew word and two Greek words that are translated as “hate,” and they do sometimes have God as their subject. For instance, in Psalm 45:7 the Psalmist prays, “You love righteousness and hate wickedness,” and in Isaiah 61:8 we read, “I hate robbery and wrongdoing.”

The old adage that God hates the sin but loves the sinner seems to find a lot of support in Scripture, although in Psalm 5:5 the Psalmist states, “You hate all evildoers.”

Some of the stories, especially in the first half of the Old Testament, seem to depict a God who has an “intense aversion and hostility” toward certain people. Is God displaying hate for the people washed away in the flood? Or for the firstborn among the Egyptians killed during the Passover?

The words that ring out over all the rest for me, however, are the words of Jesus found in Matthew 5:43; “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” I suspect that if God hates, God hates the way we hate one another. I contend that God’s hatred, if you want to call it that, is stirred by our intense dislike of people that God loves intensely and passionately. And I am convinced that even if and when God hates, God never stops loving, as paradoxical and impossible as that may seem.

– Send e-mail to Gary Teske at gteske@tlclawrence.org.

God tells us what is hateful behavior

The Rev. Marshall Lackrone, pastor, Calvary Temple Assembly of God, 606 W. 29th St. Terrace:

Webster’s definition of hate : 1 a: intense hostility and aversion, usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury; b: extreme dislike or antipathy.

The verse that James writes in 4:2 from the Amplified Bible equates hate with “murder.” Even though God had many occasions in the Old Testament that he lead his believers into battle and war, he does not practice “murder.” In fact, in the giving of the Ten Commandments, the sixth one is “thou shalt not kill.” The Hebrew word in this commandment is more properly “murder.” Old Testament Law makes distinctions between justifiable homicides and unjustifiable murder.

Is God “capable”? When we look just at this word it means that one would have traits, is susceptible to, shows signs and is given to such actions. Since we have the verse: 1 John 4:8 (King James Version), “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” We can conclude that God is not capable of hate. There are even some exceptions to this: The Bible says: Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV), “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief; a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

After looking at the things that Scripture defines as things that God hates, they are given to men to make sure that they never fall prey to these things in their lives.

– Send e-mail to Marshall Lackrone at lackrone@sunflower.com