God hates the sin, but loves the Sinner

Below is a post recently submitted to my Old Testament class in a collaboration this past week. Here is the question as posed by the professor (in red) and then my response (in black):

The obvious theme of Psalm 2 is Yahweh’s use of “his anointed” (v. 2) to control rebellious nations. However, not all mentioned in this Psalm are pictured as rebellious and thus as objects of divine wrath. The Psalm closes on a positive note: “How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
Clearly, the Psalmist believes that the wicked will experience God’s wrath, not his grace. On the other hand, those who bow before him will experience blessing. In light of the Psalmist’s presentation, evaluate the statement: “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner.”

I believe that we talked about this somewhat in an earlier collaboration for Old Testament II, but I am glad to see singular treatment using the 2nd Psalm as the context. I think the previous collaboration discussion was on the equality of God's love - the thought that God loves the entirety of humanity in the same way, equally. There is a sense that in an individualistic and largely democratic society that we live in today, that the thought of equality is certainly a major factor in our idea of freedom. The Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal. This has been the clarion call for all disenfranchised persons in the American tradition and it has also had somewhat of an impact on our view of God's approach to the sinner and sin. We run to John 3:16 and read, "For God so loved the world..." or I John 2:2, "He is the propitiation of our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world", and then say that God LOVES the world and LOVES the sinner. God LOVES you and me. When HE was on the cross YOU were on his mind (and in our minds, there is no qualification to that thought - no limitation). Therefore, God even LOVES the unregenerate sinner. But I cannot go that far. Ephesians 2:3 states that we are by nature children of wrath - all humanity. By nature, all humanity is subject to the wrath of God. This is a holy stance against the sinner! Yes, there is an effacacious condescendence by God through Christ to the world because of God's love for the world so that he might save the elect, but God still must stand in holiness against sin and thus the sinner. God hates sin - with wrath and judgment - and the nature of the sinner is SIN. Therefore, God hates the very nature of the sinner. But this is not an EMOTIONAL hatred that we usually attach to the word in human terms. WRATH is not an emotional response from God - it is a response of holiness and according to the sake and glory of HIS NAME. This HATRED is wrought out of the perfection of God's holiness. The only people that the phrase, "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner" would apply to is the regenerate believer - not the unbeliever.

Romans 3:23-25

I apologize for not posting anything new for two weeks. I have been pretty busy lately, but am now at a point to write again. Today, I will be discussing our third week's scripture memory verse: Romans 2:23-25. Disclaimer: this is one of my most favorite verses in all the Bible, plus it is full of so much theological significance, that it is easy for me to get carried away, but I will do my best to hold back.

Everybody knows Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Most of our Bible Drill programs and Gospel tracks stop right there. I understand why they do, because this verse fits well in the first step in salvation - admitting you're a sinner. But in understanding the verse, you must add on verses 24 and 25.

The whole third chapter of Romans deals with the universality of sin. Another famous verse in this chapter (verse 10) quotes Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 stating that there is none who are righteous, no not one. For we have all fallen short of God's glory. There is no one who is alive that can boast saying that they are self-righteous - righteous in their own regard. It does not matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, rich or poor, American or Un-American, if your parents were Christians or not, or if you attend church. Our default position before God is as sinners. Ephesians 2:1-3 states it very clearly: "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

v. 24-25: Without the saving blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no remission of sin. We must all recognize our sinfulness before we can ever come to the Lord properly. But chapter 3 of Romans also introduces us to a glorious truth - that we are justified by the grace of God through faith. Without merit or deserving, I have been justified as a gift of grace. Because of God's gracious call and my decision to have faith in him and repent of my sins, God justifies me in the righteousness of his son Jesus Christ. God no longer looks upon me as a child of wrath but sees me through the righteousness of Christ. He places my sin upon the sinless Savior and places his righteousness upon me. That is the glorious truth of justification. Justification by grace alone through faith alone is THE GREATEST TRUTH in all of Scripture. It is the TRUTH that sets men free from the law of SIN. It is the foundation of the gospel of Christ, for it is wrought by his willingness to sacrifice his life for the sins of the world and his promise of resurrection. It is great because it displays the grandeur and glory of God in that he can justify our sins yet demonstrate his unyielding righteousness against sin. It is THE GREATEST TRUTH because it is the only path that mankind has to get right with God and to have eternal life. There is no other way. For you cannot resolve your sin problem without Christ in your life. I will talk more about this when we get to John 14:6.

There is a word in verse 25 that confuses many people. This is the word propitiation. The word propitiation literally means satisfaction. In other words, Christ's death on the cross satisfied God's wrath against sin, so that his holiness was not compromised in forgiving sinners. Thus, we can see God's wrath being poured out on Christ on the cross. This shows the weight that Christ felt. But only through this act did God answer a very important question: How could God, who is pure Holiness and Righteousness tolerate human sin without inflicting full punishment on human beings immediately? The answer? Jesus. Thus in verse 25, God looked over former sins by looking forward to the cross of Christ where the full payment of the sin guilt would be made, where Christ would die in the place of sinners. Romans 5:8 - "But God shows his love for us in that while we wre still sinners, Christ died for us."

What a sustaining, satisfying, and glorious passage these three verses are!