"God is Love, but He Hates Sin"

Is it wrong to hate? According to the Bible, love is an essential characteristic of a Christian. But should we not hate what God hates? As a father hates a rattlesnake which threatens the safety and life of His child, so God hates sin -- every sin, and He hates nothing but sin. God can never be reconciled to sin.

According to Proverbs 6:16 - 19, there are seven things that are especially odious to God. This is not an exhaustive list, there are other things God hates, but let us look at these seven sins.

1. “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: HAUGHTY EYES...” The King James Version has “a proud look.”

Pride is the first sin listed, because it is at the bottom of much evil in our world. Self-centeredness is the opposite of God-centeredness. We over value ourself, and undervalue others. God sees such conceit and contempt in our heart. It was pride that caused the fall of Lucifer. Isaiah 14:l2-15 (Note the five “I Will...” which satan said.) The only way to be saved of our sins is to fall down in humility at the Cross. Isaiah 66:2b “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My Word.” Do many people today tremble at God’s Word?

2. “A LYING TONGUE,” is the second thing that God hates.

Next to the rebellion of pride and self-centeredness, nothing is more an abomination to God than a lying tongue. That is, because nothing is more sacred than the truth. God is the author of truth. John 14:6. Recently our economy has been shaken because CEOs in some companies have not told the truth to their employees and stockholders. Falsehood and fraud is in the devil’s image. Can you imagine the reaction of the listeners when Jesus said “You belong to your father, the devil...He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 NIV.

3. “HANDS THAT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD.”

Obviously this refers to mugging and murder, which God hates. Those who do such things are following in the footsteps of the devil. God mentioned this evil in the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13) “Thou shalt not kill.” Human life is sacred. Murder is taking away what God has given, precious life. Let’s also be careful about our temper and anger for I John 3:15 NIV states “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer (in his heart), and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.”

4. “A HEART THAT DEVISES WICKED SCHEMES" is similar to verse 14a “who plots evil with deceit in his heart.”

The Mafia and criminals are deceitful planners of evil. That’s why God sent the flood. In Genesis 6:5 we read “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” God is love, but He hates sin. Jesus said in Matthew 15:19 NIV “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” We often think that education will cure the ills of mankind. But Jesus has come to give us a new heart of love and devotion to God and His will.

5. “FEET THAT ARE QUICK TO RUSH INTO EVIL” is also what God hates.

This refers to an eagerness to do wrong things. Impatient of delay. Isaiah 59:7 “Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.” NIV. The other night I watched a TV news program which had a segment on the high school boys in Vermont who murdered a Dartmouth College professor and his wife in cold blood. It was so foreign to the way I think, that I wondered why young teenagers would do such awful crimes. It wasn’t mentioned, but I could sense that they had no sense of right and wrong. The boys had the murders well planned. The professor let them in his house because they said they were conducting an environmental survey and wanted to ask some questions. Why did they do it? Another young man in prison for murdering his mother said, it was a thrill. He received a “high” by pushing the ultimate taboo, which is “do not kill.”

So this awful crime applies to numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the things God hates. You probably have noticed that five different parts of our body are mentioned in verses 17 and 18 -- eyes, tongue, hands, heart, and feet. No wonder that God wants us to yield our lives to His control. “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life: and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.” Romans 6:12, 13 NIV.

6.”A FALSE WITNESS WHO POURS OUT LIES” refers to lying, again.

Lying doesn’t bother some people. A. little lie here and there is o.k. with them. Lying involes two of the seven things God hates. God doubly hates it. The ninth commandment (Exodus 20:16) refers to this evil. Obviously it refers to a court of law. One witness will say one thing; another person will say just the opposite, and the jury has to decide who is lying and who is telling the truth.

7. “A MAN WHO STIRS UP DISSENSION AMONG BROTHERS” is also mentioned in v.l4b.

In Hebrew poetry, the last item is emphasized. This might be the end result of the above six sins. God hates whose who gossip and slander, suggesting evil motives to others and thus fan the coals of contention. We see this among politicians some times. Personal sins are bad enough, but this is worse. God hates sins which are injurious to our neighbor. God places great value on unity in families, in churches, at work, etc. Always remember the devil is behind divisions and discord. God loves peace and delights in concord. If you find yourself in a quarrel, just walk away and get on with the job God wants you to do. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.” Psalm 133:1 NIV. God wants believers to honor and respect one another, and live in peace.

As a Christian, one of our great desires is to know more and more about God. Here we are reminded that “God is love, but He hates sin” and the kinds of sins which He especially hates. We should put these seven things on our hate list, too. They reveal the total depravity of man, or as the Apostle Paul would say, “They are the works of the flesh.” It probably will dawn on you that this passage is a description of the devil himself.

The beauty of the Gospel is that God hates sin, but He reaches out to “whosoever will” and desires to see us repent of our sin and ask Jesus to save us and give us a clean heart and mind. “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” That’s why Jesus died on the Cross. Sin is a serious issue in the sight of God, so He gave His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for our sin. Then God can offer forgiveness and cleansing if we ask Jesus to be our Savior.

A. Theodore Ekholm, July 21, 2002