Don’t you love it when you get thinking about a topic which just goes and blows your mind? This frequently happens when I think about God’s character, particularly in matters of God’s sovereignty and judgement, although I suspect there may be another post brewing on the subject of Guidance after brief discussions with the Vicar and a service coming up at church on Sunday. But anyhow…

It’s often said when explaining God’s judgement (in simple terms) that God “hates the sin, but loves the sinner” - on two occasions recently when this has come up in discussions with Christians, I have suggested that this statement is really just a cliche, which ultimately is theologically wrong, based on how we want to perceive God, rather than how He reveals himself in scripture. The first such occasion led to a rather lively debate and someone walking out of church, the second led to me being accused of being heretical… better than apathy I suppose.The source of this debate in my mind stems from three sources; firstly the nature of God’s judgement in the cross as discussed in the Chalke atonement debate, second a truer understanding of God’s judgement in looking at Heaven and Hell at Sparky 2 in the summer - this might need a post as well, as it has an equally controversial answer to another popular cliche…, third comes specifically from a sermon preached by Mark Driscoll on Propitiation on his series “Christ on the Cross” which I should probably listen to some more of them (there’s 8 of them) - apparently people heckled and walked out of some of his sermons.So essentially what I’m saying (as is Mark Driscoll) is that God hates sinners! To which the immediate response is, after the shock at my apparent hereticalness, is to quote John 3:16 or similar. Sure, there’s lots of verses that apparently contradict what I’ve just said, which for now I’ll ignore and address after… So what does the Bible say to make me say what I say… in talking about ’sinners’:

• “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there” - Hosea 9:15
• “…you hate all who do wrong” - Psalm 5:5
• “but Esau I have hated…” - Malachi 1:3
• “You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” - Rev 2:6

So clearly the expression of ‘hatred’ is part of God’s character. God hates all that is outside of his holiness. But more than that (certainly in the first 3 verses) God specifically hates the individual who goes against his holiness. You simply can’t separate unholiness and an unholy person, you can’t separate the sin and the sinner - because actually what it boils down to is a problem of the human heart, a heart in rebellion against God, not simply acts that God hates, but the heart, the individual who chooses to reject him (Matt 15:18 - Jesus talks about our heart problem).The first concern, might be to say that all the scriptures (1-3, specific to the individual) are from the Old Testament - are we talking about a different God?? Simply I would say; these are the scriptures that Jesus used and referred to (also Paul quotes Malachi 1 in Romans), “all scripture is God breathed and useful for…”, and lastly we often sing “Yesterday, today and forever, you are the same you never change…” - if we’re going to sing it we need to believe it, and believe it consistently, even if it challenges what we think we believe.So how do we reconcile a God who “hates sinners” with John 3:16, with Romans 5:8?? For me the issue is complicated somewhat by my understanding of election. It’s taken on to a new level to say that before time began God chose people that he would send to hell, for his glory (Rom 9:22) - God clearly hates them, his passion for holiness demands it, but did God ever love these people, was love ever offered, can hate and love co-exist? Scripture is clear of the co-existence of both God’s sovereign choice (election) and of human decision and therefore responsibility. So I guess that love most definitely was offered by God, but rejected by man.I suppose if I were to change the phrase I would say - “hate the sin, hate the sinner, love the sinner”. Maybe our feeble minds can’t understand it, maybe the English language isn’t sufficient, or maybe it’s a divine paradox, but I’m feeling that somehow God is able to simultaneously express hatred and love towards the sinner - I believe this all happens in the Cross.

Again another diversion pops into my head, if God’s love is ultimately expressed in the Cross, and I accept Calvin’s understanding of limited atonement (Jesus only died for the sins of those God had chosen - the elect) then does God hate/not love those who aren’t chosen, who Jesus didn’t die for… to which the answer is I don’t know, and it’s possibly not my place to know or even understand how an omni-xyz God works at this level…?
But anyhow, I got sidetracked… the Cross is a demonstration of God’s love and his hatred: his hatred burns against unholiness, this hatred comes in the form of a just and righteous punishment for sin, borne by Christ on the cross. Yes God did punish Jesus on the cross - in our place - it was our unholiness that was being punished as Christ chose to take God’s just anger on himself - click on the atonement post at the top if you disagree. If we understand God’s hatred of our rebellion against him, then surely rather than leading to questioning God’s character, it should lead us to rejoicing in his mercy shown on the cross all the more. Of course the love is obvious…

“Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

In the context of this debate, this is what I think this verse means: “Though God rightly hates everything about us, everything stemming from a corrupted heart, a heart in rebellion against God and his goodness - God shows us in Christ’s death on the cross, that in spite of our rebellion his love for his creation compels him to step in and save us from our rebellion. NOT, because deep down we’re actually good people, not because we can separate sin from the sinner, BUT (Rom 9:23) that the riches of God’s glory may be made known to those he saves (objects of mercy).”

Whatever you think about what I’ve said about this ‘cliché’, whatever you think about atonement, whatever you think about election (and the rest of TULIP) the applications here are clear for us all:

• Understanding that we rightly deserve God’s righteous punishment for our rebellion
• Understanding that we have a ‘heart condition’ that can’t be fixed by doing good things (or not doing bad things)
• Being amazed at the awesomeness of the BIG God we serve
• Loving the Cross, where God demonstrates his mercy to us