Does God hate? | GotQuestions.org

Hi there. Many others like you have asked, does God hate? Let's find out, shall we? You can find this answer and discover more on GotQuestions .org. It might seem a contradiction that a God who is love can also hate, yet that's exactly what the Bible says is true.

God’s Love and Hatred Are Not a Contradiction

God is love and God hates. God's nature is love and He hates what is contrary to that nature. No one should be surprised to learn that God does hate some things. He created us with the capacity to both love and hate, and we acknowledge that hatred is sometimes justified.

We naturally hate things that destroy what we love. This is part of our being created in the image of God. As humans, our love and hatred are sometimes misplaced, but our sin nature does not negate our God-given ability to love and hate.

In this, there is no contradiction. The Bible notes the object of God's hatred is sin and wickedness. Among the things God hates are idolatry, child sacrifice, sexual perversion, and those who do evil.

What Proverbs Says the Lord Hates

Proverbs lists seven things the Lord hates—pride, lying, murder, evil plots, those who love evil, false witnesses, and troublemakers. Notice that this passage includes people as well. The reason is simple.

Sin cannot be separated from the sinner except by the forgiveness available in Christ alone. God cannot judge the lie without also judging the liar. The Bible clearly teaches that God loves the people of the world.

God’s Mercy Toward the Wicked and His Hatred of Evil

God spared wicked Nineveh, bringing them to repentance. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He is patient to an extreme. This is all proof of love. God wants what is best for his creation.

At the same time, Psalms says you hate all evildoers, and the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. Before a person repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the enemy of God.

Yet, even before he is saved, he is loved by God. The question then becomes, what happens to someone who spurns God's love, refuses to repent, and stubbornly clings to his sin? Answer, God must judge sin, and that means judging the sinner.

Judgment, Repentance, and Refuge in Christ

These are the wicked whom God hates, those who persist in their sin and rebellion even in the face of the grace and mercy of Christ. David contrasts, you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you, but those who take refuge in God will be glad and ever sing for joy.

The righteous will see the ultimate expression of God's love, and the wicked will know the ultimate expression of God's hatred. We cannot love with a perfect love, nor can we hate with a perfect hatred, but God can both love and hate perfectly because he is God.

God can hate without sinful intent. He can hate the sinner in a perfectly holy way and still lovingly forgive the sinner at the moment of repentance and faith. In conclusion, in his love for all, God has sent his Son to be the Savior.

God desires that the wicked repent of their sin and find refuge in Christ. At the moment of saving faith, the wicked sinner is transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of love. All enmity is dissolved, all sin is removed, and all things are made new.

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