Results 1 - 6 of 6
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Does God hate some people? | Ps 5:5 | TKBjork | 124834 | ||
Psalm 5:5 "for you hate all who do evil". My youth group and I are struggling with this one. They're not understanding how God can hate anyone if he's supposed to be a God of love. Can someone give me a way to explain it well? | ||||||
2 | Does God hate some people? | Ps 5:5 | JCrichton | 124844 | ||
Hi TKBjork! Some Biblical passages are confusing... we must attempt not to assimilate them as individual values but in light of the rest of the Bible! True, God Hates Sin, but He Loves His Creation (and He saw that it was Good...). Unlike us, Yahweh is able to separate sin from sinner: When we wre still helpless, at the apointed time, Christ died for the godless. You could hardly find anyone ready to die even for someone upright; though it is just possible that, for a really good person, someone might undertake to die. So it is proof of God's own love for us, that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:6-8) What a wonderful testament of God's Love! Jesus came to rescue us, to deliver us from imminent death while we still wallowed in our sinful lives! The Old Testament spoke mostly of corporal values even when refering to spiritual standing (eye for an eye; sins of the fathers visited upon the 4th generation; sacrificial offerings for sins/thanks-giving/devotions...). In the mind of Israel, Yahweh demanded a pure heart and mind, hence the abhorrence of evil and men who chose to dwell in evil! Look at it as a deterrent. It is as part of Romans 6:23: For the wage paid by sin is death; How many times have you heard people quote this... I remember that when it was still new to me I thought that that was the complete verse... I could never have imagined that there was more to this passage: the gift freely given by God is eternal life in Chirst Jesus our Lord! I liken this to the passage in the old testament that speaks on Yahweh's wrath being maintained to the 4th generation... till I acquainted myself with that passage I did not know that His Mercy is profoundly more abundant than His Wrath: ...For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God and I punish a parent's fault in the children, the grandchildren and the greatgrandchildren among those who hate me; but I act with faithful love towards thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:5-6) Clearly, Yahweh's faithful love to the thousands generations of those who love Him (obediet servants) extremely outweighs his wrath to those who hate Him (rebellious creatures)! Be assured that God loves us though not as we want to be but as He will us to be! God Bless! Angel |
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3 | Does God hate some people? | Ps 5:5 | Hank | 124846 | ||
Angel: My dear, separating "sin from sinner" is NOT an attribute David ascribed to God in Psalm 5. Read the Psalm and notice in particular the wording in verse 5: "You (God) hate all who do iniquity." The Psalmist is NOT separating the "sin from the sinner." That's a man-made aphorism, and an inaccurate one at that, that states a human opinion, not a biblical truth. --Hank | ||||||
4 | Does God hate some people? | Ps 5:5 | JCrichton | 124914 | ||
"Unlike us, Yahweh is able to separate sin from sinner: When we wre still helpless, at the apointed time, Christ died for the godless. You could hardly find anyone ready to die even for someone upright; though it is just possible that, for a really good person, someone might undertake to die. So it is proof of God's own love for us, that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:6-8)" Hi, Hank! If you read the complete text and follow the thought being expressed, you can see the evidence that God did not destroy humanity in order to eradicate sin nor did He forsake man due to his wicked nature! God so loved man--aside from his sin--that He provided the Sacrificial Lamb (Christ Jesus) that would cleanse man of all sin! As oppose to humanity, God does not throw out the baby along with the bath water! Further, I never suggested that Psalm 5 was presenting such argument. The question posed was the reconciliation of God hating those who work iniquity while still professing being a merciful and loving God. If God does not make a distiction from man and sin are you then suggesting that in Isaiah 1:18-20 God is simply calling His devoted servants who are keeping His Laws and Commandments? Surely God is calling the sinner to repent, to give up the fallacies of their rebellious lives, and to return to Him and abide in Him! If God were to pass judgment, as humans do, truly none would be saved for we are all sinners (Psalm 53:3). Yet, Salvation did not come to a select few; it came to all, as Christ took upon the Cross all of humanity's iniquity (past--prior to His incarnation, present--during His contemporary's existence, future--the rest of humanity's existence till the end of Times): When we wre still helpless, at the apointed time, Christ died for the godless. (Romans 5:6) Had God not made a distinction between man and his carnal state why would Jesus surrender His Life for us? Why would He come to the godless (sinners)? It is no human maxim: the Word became flesh to wrench us from the venomous grasp of sin! But it is evident that not all accepted (or will accept) God's redemptive Gift: He came to his own and his own people did not accept him. (John 1:11) And the judgement is this: though the light has come into the world people have preferred darkeness to the light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19) The fifth angel emptied his bowl over the throne of the beast and its whole empire was plunged into darkness. People were biting their tongues for pain, but instead of repenting for what they had done, they cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and sores. (Revelation 16:10-11) In other words, since they would not consent to acknowledge God, God abandoned them to their unacceptable thoughts and indecent behaviour. and so now they are steeped in all sorts of injustice, rottenness, greed and malice; full of envy, murder, wrangling, treachery and spite, libellers, slanderers, enemies of God, rude, arrogant and boastful, enterprising in evil, rebellious to parents, without brains, honour, love or pity. They are well aware of God's ordinance: that those who behave like this deserve to die--yet they not only do it, but even applaud others who do the same. (Romans 1:28-32) Jesus did not say that He came to give His life as ransom for all; He said that He came to give His life as ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). But this has never been God's choice; this is our choice! It is not that God's Love and Mercy is limited to a few; rather, it is that we incur His wrath because we refuse to allow Him to rescue us from ourselves! God's Mercy is always abundant; God's Love is always constant... but there are so many of us who will choose to face His Wrath rather than submit in humble obedience! The Love is always there. The Mercy is always there. The Wrath will last till judgment: Shake off all the crimes you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why die, House of Israel? I take no pleasure in the death of anyone--declares the Lord Yahweh--so repent and live!' (Ezekiel 18:31-32) God refuses to fuse man to his sins. It is God's Will and Pleasure that we repent, change our wicked lives, and submit to His Love and Mercy, rather than be consumed by His Wrath, which will be revealed at the apointed time! God Bless! Angel |
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5 | Does God hate some people? | Ps 5:5 | Hank | 124917 | ||
Angel, First of all, perhaps we could approach this paradox of God's hate/love attributes a little better if we consider semantics for a moment. Let's try using the word "abhor" in place of "hate." They mean essentially the same thing, but we are conditioned to think of "hate" as being the total absence of love, whereas "abhor," while it is still a very strong word, may allow in our thinking the concept that there is some possibility that love can coexist with abhorrence, even in the human mind. ..... Secondly, let's consider that God is transcendent, that His ways are not our ways nor His thoughts our thoughts. It is, as we've established, virtually impossible for us to imagine that a person can be hated, detested, loathed and yet be loved at the same time. I submit that human beings can't do it. But I am not foolish enough to presume that God can't. Yes, Angel, it's a knotty problem, that of trying to stretch our mind to the end of its tether in an effort to understand the mind of God. We can go so far and no farther. The Bible clearly talks about God's hatred of sin and sinners in, for example, Psalm 5. It clearly talks about the extent of His love in, for example, John 3:16. God in His holiness hates sin and sinner. God in His unfathomable mercy loves this fallen world so much that He gave His one and only Son that sinful man, believing in His Son, should not perish but have eternal life. It's a paradox that defies human comprehension. Words and our understanding of words are such inadequate things, such human and finite things, that they fall woefully short of serving us adequately in our efforts to understand each other and the world around us. How much more so in our efforts fully to comprehend the nature and the mind of Almighty God. This admittedly is a pale and paltry stab at trying to respond to your post in a meaningful way, but it is the best I can do. My mother, God rest her soul, was so very fond of saying when faced with tough questions about God and other spiritual matters she could not understand, "We'll understand it better by and by." Her son who, like her and like all mankind, sees in a mirror dimly. But like my mother, I too believe we'll understand it better by and by. --Hank | ||||||
6 | Does God hate some people? | Ps 5:5 | JCrichton | 124992 | ||
"paradox" Hi, Hank! You've hit center bull's eye! We (humanity) attempt to understand God with our finite abilities and we run into problems when we seek to express our thoughts... I've found that many times we (Christians) engage in squabbles that seem to go on forever... if only we wouldallow for a moment of reflection we would find that opposite parties have been engaged in a one-sided discourse... the rudimentary problem lies in the selection of our vocabulary: what is clear and comprehensible in our mind's eye, is not necessarily so to our audience! I believe that we both think that God can have immeasurable Love and Mercy while still holding sin as an absolute abomination and sinners as His Blood enemies. It is our limitations that forces us to become fixated in reasoning that God can only do one thing or another; in essence, we are divesting God of His Power and Authority. Your Mother, God Bless Her, seemed to be a humble person--she reasoned that she did not need to own all of the answers as God would provide them, in time. God Bless! Angel |
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