A few days ago, a friend of mine came under a lot of heat from other Christians on his Tumblr page. The basis for the heat was his opposition of the phrase that Christians use: “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner.” 

A problem that I have with the phrase is the lack of Biblical backing of the latter part of the phrase. Sure, we all know that God hates sin, as it is evident throughout the Bible. But what people can’t seem to wrap their minds about is that God also hates SINNERS. That’s us! Now I’m not trying to say that God doesn’t also love us, because he absolutely does.

Let’s look at a few verses regarding God’s hatred of sinners:

• Psalm 5:5 - “The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all evildoers.”
• Psalm 11:5 - “The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.”
• Leviticus 20:23 - “And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.”
• Hosea 9:15 - All their wickedness is in Gilgal, For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious.

These verses obviously show that the God we worship hates sin and those who sin. In Hosea 9, god says that he will drive them from his house and that he will love them no more. Psalm 5 says that He hates ALL evildoers. Not just the big ones like murderers, rapists, child molesters.

He hates all evildoers, me, you, Barack Obama, the mailman, your neighbor who lives down the road. Everyone.

But it also says that God is love. (1 John 4:8) The Bible also says that God sent his innocent Son to die for us while we were still dead in sin, so that we might become dead to sin and live for what is righteous. (Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24)

But if God is so loving, how can he also hate us, his own creation?

See, what we try to do is try to compare God’s hate to our own brand of hate. When humans hate, we become enraged and vengeful. Does God do this? The answer is no, he hates with a different style, if you will. God’s hate is a righteous hate. Just imagine for a moment as God. Your own creation, whom you died, bled, and suffered for are living lives of sin.

It’s a hard concept to grasp, a loving and hating God at the same time. It’s literally mind-boggling, a God who loves and hates. See, God loves us through his Son, Jesus Christ, who he sent to die for all of our sins. Without Christ to cover up our sins, God would see us as we really are: worthless, sinful, and undeserving of his grace and mercy. 

As great as the phrase would be, it can’t possibly be true, in accordance with the holy word of God

If you would like comment on my opinion on the topic, please feel free to, just do it un-anonymously and gently.

“God hates the sin and loves and hates the sinner.”