Does God hate sinners

[Openly Curious]

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Psalm 5:5 KJV

We have all heard and probably all said, "God hates the sin and loves the sinner". Well, what do we do with this verse?

The verse is pretty plain to me as God hates all the wicked people who work for Satan doing his bidding instead of being a worker of righteousness in this world. Those that work iniquity or unrighteousness in this earth is foolish and they will not stand in the Lord's sight meaning in His presence.

OC

[OneLight]

How can God hate and love the same person at the same time?

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Psalm 5:5

The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;

You hate all workers of iniquity.

[Ddavid from NC]

How can God hate and love the same person at the same time?

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Psalm 5:5

The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;

You hate all workers of iniquity.

I appreciate your struggling through this with us OneLight. I can hear you thinking...........I want to clarify I have not suggested with my comment that God sends our sins to hell. I was stating there is no separating the sinner from his sins without redemption. I did say there are countless references to God's hate for sinners, yet we always promote, God loves the sinner and hates the sin. How do we sift through this desire to say that with the countless references and actions that suggest differently? I'm working and thinking right along with you on this one.

[OneLight]

How can God hate and love the same person at the same time?

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Psalm 5:5

The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;

You hate all workers of iniquity.

I appreciate your struggling through this with us OneLight. I can hear you thinking...........I want to clarify I have not suggested with my comment that God sends our sins to hell. I was stating there is no separating the sinner from his sins without redemption. I did say there are countless references to God's hate for sinners, yet we always promote, God loves the sinner and hates the sin. How do we sift through this desire to say that with the countless references and actions that suggest differently? I'm working and thinking right along with you on this one.

It all points to the Cross. If we can explain why Jesus died for us, then we should be able to tie in the scriptures of God hating sinners by rightly dividing the sin from the sinner.

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Hope this is on the right track ...

[heresyhunter]

DdavidfromNC,

You raise many good questions, this one being of such question.

My first question upon reading this verse is this...

What/who is a worker of iniquity? What is iniquity? Is it a distinct form of evil? Is it different from sin?

[EricH]

How can God hate and love the same person at the same time?

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Psalm 5:5

The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;

You hate all workers of iniquity.

I appreciate your struggling through this with us OneLight. I can hear you thinking...........I want to clarify I have not suggested with my comment that God sends our sins to hell. I was stating there is no separating the sinner from his sins without redemption. I did say there are countless references to God's hate for sinners, yet we always promote, God loves the sinner and hates the sin. How do we sift through this desire to say that with the countless references and actions that suggest differently? I'm working and thinking right along with you on this one.

Here is my thinking so far. John 3:16 (echoed by Romans 5:8) describes the manner or extend of God's love for the unsaved. John 3:16 could say, "For God loved the world in this manner". So we need to be careful to not extend that love beyond what God describes. That is as far as I have gotten

[Ovedya]

I believe that a "worker of iniquity" is one who habitually practices sin, division, causes contentions, and is actively in opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ. it is not someone who simply lives as a sinner, ignorant of his natural condition.

[EricH]

Here is a link to same thoughts on CARM

http://www.carm.org/diff/Psalm5_5.htm

[OneLight]

I believe that a "worker of iniquity" is one who habitually practices sin, division, causes contentions, and is actively in opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ. it is not someone who simply lives as a sinner, ignorant of his natural condition.

Nice! Thank You!

There is a difference, yet, I wonder how many of those Jesus died for, and accepted His work on the cross for salvation, were workers of iniquity? Now, to ponder on this new bit of information ...

[Ovedya]

I believe that a "worker of iniquity" is one who habitually practices sin, division, causes contentions, and is actively in opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ. it is not someone who simply lives as a sinner, ignorant of his natural condition.

Nice! Thank You!

There is a difference, yet, I wonder how many of those Jesus died for, and accepted His work on the cross for salvation, were workers of iniquity? Now, to ponder on this new bit of information ...

I believe, of course, that Christ died for workers of iniquity as well. However, I think that He knows whether those individuals will receive the work that he has accomplished. It's hard for us to fathom that Jesus shed His blood for the sins of Hitler and John Wayne Gacy, but we don't have the privilege of being able to peer into eternity either.