To Love God Is To Hate Sin
God hates sin; therefore, we must learn to love what He loves and hate what He hates.
Psalm 5:4-6
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
God hates evil. If God hates evil, how can we not? Throughout Scripture, we are commanded to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13; Psalm 97:10; Amos 5:15, etc.). We are not obeying God if we don’t hate sin.
HATING SIN AS A CHRISTIAN
There is no such thing as a Christian who enjoys, supports, or has a peace treaty with sin. Sin is abhorrent to a Christian, even though, sadly, we cannot get rid of it for good before we get to God’s kingdom. In the words of J.C. Ryle, “the true Christian hates sin, flees from it, fights against it, considers it his greatest plague, resents the burden of its presence, mourns when he falls under its influence, and longs to be completely delivered from it. Sin no longer pleases him; it has become a horrible thing which he hates. However, he cannot eliminate its presence within him.1”
Remember His Word: “Hate evil, you who love the Lord.” Don’t make excuses for your sin; hate it—and not just your own, but also the sins of others (Jude 23).
RELATIONSHIPS WITH THOSE IN SIN
We aren’t loving others if we embrace their sins. His Word tells us not to even sit with the wicked (Psalm 26:5; 1 Corinthians 5:11). The apostle Paul couldn’t be more concise when he told us “not to associate with any so-called [Christian] if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”
We are not to be friends with those who live in sin. It’s one thing to make an acquaintance with someone who isn’t a believer so that we may try to win them over; it’s another to be close friends with one. Such a friendship is a direct violation of Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Corinthians 6:14).
Sadly, many of us are unwilling to obey Scripture if it means ceasing communication with a dear friend. We may have a noble goal—staying in that person’s life in hopes they will come to Christ. However, we share the gospel with the unbeliever, or someone who identifies as a Christian but does not live according to their professed faith, and then we move on. We do not keep them in our close circle of friends. Why? Although we hope to influence them, they might be the ones who influence us.
LOVING SINNERS, HATING SIN
It is worth noting that we hate sin, not those who sin. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Our anger must only be against sin; we must never feel angry with the sinner, but only full of sorrow and compassion for him.2” Although we are to lovingly correct those who are lost, we must hate the sin of others (Jude 23).
However, we also acknowledge the reality of the “Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner” expression, which is so commonly used. As R.C. Sproul put it, “It has been said that God hates the sin and loves the sinner. But it’s the sinner God sends to hell not just the sin.3”
CONCLUSION
To live a lifestyle of habitual and willful sin or to support the sins of others is to demonstrate that we have not seen Him and that we have not known Him.
To love God is to hate sin. We must love what He loves, and hate what He hates.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, (Martino Fine Books, 2011), p. 226
J.C. Ryle, The Ryle Anthology, (Chapel Library, 2012), p. 3
https://twitter.com/RCSproul/status/740269117698150400