I have always heard in churches that God hates the sin but loves the sinner. However, I was reading in the Psalms this morning and I read this: "For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest." Psalm 5:4-6. In another Psalm we read, "The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion." Psalm 11:5
So what does this mean and what are the implications for us? We need to remember that we are not God and we cannot make judgments as if we were God. We cannot assume that everyone who is not a believer is hated by God as He has also said that He is not willing that any should perish but that all should be saved. Here is where we hear the Gospel call. The God who hates sin reaches out to the sinner because of the atoning work of His Son. The Gospel is for all but we are all under condemnation and without the Gospel we are condemned. We deserve death and destruction but God took it upon Himself in His Son.
1 comment:
We're singing out of the same hymnbook in this blog, and it affirms what the Lord is preparing my heart to speak on this coming Sunday from Romans 3!
I appreciate your blogs Joe!
Pastor Gord
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