Someone so filled with love, you could never end up in Hell? Someone with so much hatred for sinners?These are two views from mega-pastors that have appeared on the blogosphere etc. The latter one within the last 24 hours!
I am now sure that God is filled with love for us, I feel His love for me. Someone asked last night "could God really forgive every sin he's ever done?" The answer was a resounding "YES!" God loves and will forgive each one of us, if we only ask Him.
What if we don't ask Him for forgiveness? What if we simply don't believe He can do anything for us? What if we decide to take our chances and live our lives for ourselves? Well, I don't think we will be spared an eternity in Hell, no matter how loving He is. There will be a price to pay and the Bible says the wages of sin is death.
But does God really hate us because we have all let Him down and fallen short of His glory? I don't think so. When you hate someone, you lose interest in them, you give up on them, you don't want to spend time with them. God will never give up on us. We can anger Him and do things that dis-please Him, but cause Him to hate us? I don't buy that.
So, what is God like?
I agree that God loves everyone. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But at the same time, I'm not prepared to throw all the rest of the scriptures out that say God hates "all" who do iniquity (they are included at the end of this comment). I think we have to accept that He does hate, and He does love. Those emotions are not mutually exclusive, and to make them so lessens God's love significantly.
ReplyDeleteConsider these examples, my mother, a wiccan, severely abused me as a child. Despite that I still loved her unconditionally, but I hated her at the same time. Later my ex-wife left me for another man. I loved her, but I hated her. When I came to Christ, I forgave them both and asked God to forgive them too, but I totally understand the love/hate dichotomy when it comes to God.
He loves us so much that the evil we do against Him causes Him to hate us while we're sinners. He longs to be near us but can't stand to be around us. He says it several times in the bridegroom paradigm. He calls those who turn from Him and refuse to follow Him, unfaithful wives, harlots, whores.
But that same love that causes Him to have such a strong reaction against the unfaithful sinner is also the love that causes Him to go to such great distances through Christ to turn us back to Him and to forgive unconditionally. He'll even help us to change and learn to love Him like He loves us when we choose Him. We can't even begin to understand the heights and depths of this kind of love, but it's that same love that fuels the anger and hate of those who continually deny Him for other lovers.
Blessed are those who are not offended by Him. (Luke 7:23)
Hopefully that all comes across clearly and not too argumentatively.
With much love in Christ, Stephen Manifest Blog
Hate scriptures:
Psalm 5:5, "The boastful shall not stand before Thine eyes; Thou dost hate all who do iniquity,"
Psalm 11:5, "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates."
Lev. 20:23, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them."
Prov. 6:16-19, "There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers."
Hosea 9:15, "All their evil is at Gilgal; indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; All their princes are rebels."
I think that God likes the hard questions. Christians are often afraid of what we cannot fully explain but God is not afraid of our honest and sincere questions. The Bible is full of people asking Him stuff and he answered usually in unexpected ways. Maybe He answers us but because we have a preconceived idea of what form the answer should come in that we do not recognize it.
ReplyDeletegood stuff here, I like your blog muchly!
Thanks both for your comments.
ReplyDeleteStephen, I grew up hearing about God's wrath and judgement, but was never told He hated me, even so I struggled to accept His love. Nothing now will convince me God can hate. Judge and punish, yes. But not hate.