Introduction:
A common expression says that we should "Hate the sin, but love the sinner." The purpose of this study is to see what the Bible says about this concept.
Ecclesiastes 3:8 - There is "a time to love and a time to hate." Many people think the Bible advocates loving everything, never hating anything. If Christians speak against any form of sin, some people seem to think this is a violation of the Bible teaching about love:
"God is too loving to send people to hell."
"If you had more love, you wouldn't speak against people who (insert the name of some sin here) or against people who are members of (insert the name of some religious group here)."
"The Bible says, 'Judge not!'"
"Such preaching will drive people away. What you need is more of the love of Christ."
"You need to be more positive instead of negative."
But the Bible teaches there is "a time to hate." Hatred is not always contrary to the Bible. In fact there are things we are commanded to hate, and some things are sinful to love - see 1 Timothy 6:10. Whether love is right or hate is right depends on the object of the love/hate. What do we love and what do we hate?
Specifically, we are studying the concept of "hating the sin, but loving the sinner." Is this a Biblically valid distinction? Should a Christian oppose sin and religious error? Should we speak out and reprove and rebuke those who disobey God's word, even in the name of religion?
"Love" here refers to concern for the well-being of others. We should not want to harm or destroy them, but see them receive what is best for them [Cf. Rom. 13:8-10; Psa. 41:7; I John 3:15-18; Luke 10:29-37; 1 Cor. 10:24; Phil. 2:1-5]
Ephesians 5:25-29 - Husbands should love their wives as Jesus loved the church.
Titus 2:4 - Young women should be taught to love their husbands and love their children.
1 John 3:11,12 - Yet in the very first family, between the first brothers, lack of love arose. As a result, Cain became angry and killed Abel.
We know there should be love in our families, but sometimes this is where the greatest hatred and animosity occur.
John 13:34,35 - We should love one another as Jesus loves us. This is how people know we are His disciples.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 - May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all…
2 Corinthians 12:20 - But sometimes among God's people there are strifes, jealousy, wrath, factions, etc.
Again, we know there should be love among Christians, but as in families, sometimes the greatest hatred occurs where there ought to be the greatest love.
Matthew 22:36-39 - The second greatest command is to love your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 10:25-37 - When asked who the "neighbor" is that we are supposed to love, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. He met a stranger in need and helped him. The lesson is that all people are our neighbors, and if any one needs help, we should love them enough to give what we can.
Love for others requires love for all people, not just friends, family members, and people who obey the truth. Especially when people have needs, we are to have compassion to help with their needs.
Sometimes we care for people close to us, with whom we share much in common, but we are suspicious, indifferent, or even cruel and antagonistic to people from different backgrounds.
John 4:9 - The conflict between Jews and Gentiles is a common Bible theme. Jews in Jesus' day were highly racist. Because they had received national blessings from God, they thought they were more important to God than other nations. So they refused to associate or show common kindness to others. Gentiles likewise resented Jews.
Jesus did not share this racial hatred. He was interested in teaching anyone who was interested in truth, regardless of race or nationality.
Acts 10:28,34,35 - When the gospel was being preached, Jewish Christians still did not realize God's love for Gentiles. God sent revelations to teach Peter that he should call no man common or unclean. God is no respecter of persons, but people of all nations can be saved if they fear and obey Him. [11:17,18]
Luke 10:25-37 - The Good Samaritan cared for the needy man, presumably a Jew, despite the racial animosity between Jews and Samaritans. This was Jesus' example of loving our neighbor.
Many people still today hate Jews. But nearly all major Bible characters were Jews or ancestors of Jews: Abraham, Moses, David, Esther, Paul, Mary, Peter, and Jesus Himself. People who join in racial bigotry would have hated the Son of God Himself.
Luke 6:27,28,31-33 - Love your enemies, do good to them who hate you, pray for those who mistreat you. Evil people love only the people who love them. We must do better. We must love those who hate us.
Romans 5:6-9 - God's love led Him to send Jesus to die for sinners. Note that God loves sinful, ungodly people. But His love does not mean He approves or even overlooks their sins. He considers them to be ungodly sinners, but He cares for their well-being in that He wants them to be saved. This is Biblical love for sinners. [John 3:16]
Luke 23:34 - When Jesus was being killed, He prayed for the forgiveness of the very people killing Him. In Acts 2:14-41 we learn that these very people, to be forgiven, had to be told they were sinners, and had to repent and be obedient to Jesus' gospel in baptism.
This is the proper love for sinners. Note again that it did not ignore the fact the people were sinners. On the contrary, it required them to be plainly told of their sin so they could repent and be forgiven. [Cf. Acts 7:54-60; I Tim. 1:12-16]
So "love the sinner" is a valid Bible principle, but it does not mean, as some believe, that we must approve their sinful conduct. It means we do not want to destroy them or harm them, but we want them to receive what is best. Especially we want them to repent and be saved.
We do not seek the destruction of the sinner, but we do seek the destruction and elimination of all sin.
Proverbs 6:16-19 - God hates six things; seven are to Him an abomination (something strongly detested). Other passages list dozens of other things God hates (abominations).
Proverbs 11:20 - Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord, But the blameless in their ways are His delight.
Proverbs 15:9 - The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But He loves him who follows righteousness.
Hebrews 1:9 - You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. This was a prophecy of Jesus quoted from Psalm 45:7.
The idea that God loves everything, so we should love everything, is simply false. It is extremely dangerous because it leads people to think God will ignore sin, so people can continue to sin without suffering eternal consequences. If this is true, everyone will be saved, because God loves everyone. But the truth is that most people will be lost eternally (Matt. 7:13,14).
The idea that God loves everything is fundamentally false because, although God loves all people, He still hates sinful conduct so much that He will punish those who sin and do not repent. He loves us so much He sent His Son to die so we can be forgiven. But if we refuse to meet the conditions of forgiveness, we will be lost eternally.
Psalms 97:10 - You who love the Lord, hate evil!
Proverbs 8:13 - The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.
Deuteronomy 7:25-27 - Graven images were an abomination to God, therefore His people were to detest and utterly abhor them. What God hates, we are to hate because we love Him and fear Him.
1 John 2:15-17 - Do not love the world or the things of the world, including lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. If we love these things, the love of the Father is not in us! Again, if we love God, we are forbidden to love the things which oppose Him. In fact it is impossible to love both God and evil.
Matthew 6:24 - You cannot have two masters. You love one and despise the other.
The issue is not whether we love or hate, but what we love and what we hate. Because of the things we love, there are things we must hate. It is impossible to love everything, because some things are direct opposites. If you love one, you must hate its opposite. The more you love one, the more you hate its opposite.
The more you love God, the more you hate evil, because God and evil are opposites. The less you hate evil, the less you love God. When your hatred and opposition to evil grows weak, you need to realize that this is because your love for God has grown weak!
Psalms 119:104 - Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
Psalms 119:127,128 - Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.
Psalms 119:163 - I hate and abhor lying, but I love Your law.
Romans 12:9 - Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Note that proper love requires us to abhor evil. [Amos 5:15]
Psalm 36:1-4 - One of the characteristics for which God rebukes wicked people is that they fail to abhor evil. Instead, they devise evil and think their evil will not be discovered and hated. It is not wrong for us to hate evil. The people who are wrong are the ones who do not hate evil and who criticize us because we do hate it!
Note further: When people don't want God and His people to oppose evil, often it is because those people themselves are practicing evil (v2). They cannot prove by Scripture that it is wrong to speak out against evil; instead, the real problem is that they themselves practice evil and they don't want their evil to be rebuked. They want to be free to continue to practice it! (See John 3:19-21.)
Righteous people, who understand God's will, do not object to sin being hated. Sometimes people object because they simply do not understand God's will. Other times people object because they themselves are practicing evil. But people who know God's will and who love righteousness, will hate sin and evil.
Again, a Christian is not supposed to love everything. It is a question of what you love and what you hate. It is impossible to love two things that are complete opposites. The more you love truth and righteousness, the more you hate falsehood and evil. If your hatred for evil is growing weak, it must be because you love for truth and right is growing weak.
[Heb. 1:9 cf. with I Pet. 2:21 and Matt. 10:34ff; Job 42:6; Psa. 26:5; 101:3; 119:113; Prov. 13:5; 8:7; 29:27; Mic. 3:2]
Love for sinners is not reason to keep quiet about sin. Instead it is a reason we should speak out against it!
Leviticus 19:17,18 - Love your neighbor as yourself, do not hate him. But this does not mean to keep quiet about his sins. It means rebuke him without seeking personal vengeance. We are not seeking to hurt the person, but to help him. Hate the sin, but love the sinner.
Proverbs 17:15 - He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. People want us to justify the wicked, but if we do, we are an abomination to the Lord! We must hate what God hates.
Mark 10:21,22 - Jesus told the rich young ruler something was lacking in his life, and he needed to make changes if he wanted eternal life (v17). This is the very thing that people tell us, if we have the love of Christ, we will not do. But Christ did it, and the reason why He did this is that He loved the man!
Ephesians 4:15; 5:11 - We should speak the truth in love. This includes rebuking sin. What if we keep quiet about sin? That would be a failure to speak the truth! Instead of participating in error, we must reprove it.
Revelation 3:19 - As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. This is Jesus' statement. But the Bible tells us to imitate Jesus' example (1 Peter 2:21,22).
Luke 17:3 — If your brother sins, rebuke him (cf. Matthew 18:15).
2 Timothy 2:24-26 — The Lord’s servant must correct those who have been taken captive by the Devil.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 — Preaching the word requires us to “reprove and rebuke” — this means to tell people when they are wrong.
Titus 1:9-14 — Elders must sharply reprove people who teach things they ought not.
James 5:19,20 — We should seek to convert those who go into sin and error.
Proverbs 28:4 — Those who keep the law, will contend with the wicked. (Cf. Proverbs 28:23; 24:24,25.)
We speak out against sin, not because we are mean and hateful, but because God gives us no choice! If we keep quiet, God will condemn us!
If you doubt that Jesus believed in rebuking sin, I challenge you to actually read the gospel accounts of His life. Count how many times you find Him telling people they are wrong. Then read the book of Acts and see how often His faithful followers told people they were wrong. You will not go far till you have found more instances than you care to count. And note that most of these examples were cases in which religious people were rebuked, including people who thought they were faithful servants of God!
Indeed, we do need to have the love of Jesus. If we do, we will not keep quiet about sin, but we will rebuke it in love like He did.
[Study also 1 Timothy 5:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; Titus 3:10; 2:15; Galatians 6:1; Proverbs 19:25; 25:12; Jude 3.]
Our liberal society rebels against all forms of opposition to evil. They try to make Christians appear to be wrong if we speak against sin. The call us "hatemongers" and "antis" and "bashers." This is nothing new. People have always said these things.
1 Kings 22:8 - The prophet Micaiah prophesied evil against Ahab, so Ahab hated him. Was the prophet wrong? No, God had sent him. The problem was that the king did not like to be told he was wrong!
Proverbs 9:8 - Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Reproof based on God's word is good for people, so a wise man appreciates it. People who don't appreciate it are the ones who have an attitude problem.
Amos 5:15,10 - Again God says to hate evil and love good. If we do we will speak against evil, and sinners will often hate us. The real problem is not that it is wrong to rebuke error. It's that people in sin don't want to admit their error and change, so they speak against those who rebuke them, hoping they can make it appear that we did the wrong. This is a classic case of "blame-shifting."
John 7:7 - The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. If like Jesus' brothers we don't stand for truth (v5), the world has no problem with us. If like Jesus, we testify against evil, then people object. But Jesus did it. That's why they killed Him. If we are truly like Him, we will not keep quiet but will oppose sin.
Galatians 4:16 - Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
Truly the issue is a matter of love. If people accuse us of lacking love, we should not avoid the issue of love. Instead we should show that the real issue is what we should love and what constitutes a proper love. When sin is rebuked because we love truth and love the souls of those who sin, we have proper love. The person who objects is the one who has misplaced love.
Jude 20-23 - We should always act out of love according to God's word. If we fail then truly God is not pleased (I Cor 13:1-3).
But when we love the sinner and we love truth, we will have mercy on the lost and try to snatch them from the fire, hating the stains of the flesh. This is what it means to "hate the sin, but love the sinner." We have so much love for the soul of the one who did wrong that we want him to repent and do right, so we must oppose his sin.
When we do this, there will always be people who object. There always have been. But the reason they object is either because they have misunderstood the Bible teaching or because they themselves are sinners who want to continue their sins without the embarrassment of being reproved. In either case, they are the ones who do not have a proper concept of Bible love.
(C)
Copyright 1998, David E. Pratte
Local churches and individuals may, within limits,
distribute this Bible study guide for free, but not for sale. Web sites
may link to this page but not reproduce it. For details click
here for our copyright guidelines.
The Bible vs. Denominational Creeds
Why So Much Religious Confusion and Disagreement?
The Importance of Bible Knowledge
How Many True Churches Are There?
What Does God Think about Denominationalism?
To enroll in a free online Bible course or to receive free Bible study materials by e-mail or to read other online Bible studies, click on the links below.
Use your "back" button to return to the previous page.
Go to the Bible
Study Online Library (the Gospel Way)
|Gospel Way|Commentaries|Bible Courses|Request Form|Site Map|Illinois site|
| Salvation | Bible
| Creation |
Morality
| Church | World
Religions | Spiritual
Guidance | Topics |
| Second Coming
| Holy Spirit | Bible
References |
Instruction | Bible Test |
Chicago
| Publications |
