Replies

Loves sinners?

ASV Rom 9:11 for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, 12it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. 14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy. 17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth…...

(keep going for two more chapters, it will keep you humble)

Scripture does not say God is Love, Love, Love. It says he is Holy, holy, holy(Isa 6:3). This is the only trait of his raised to this level, and it is for this reason that we shall fear God. We seem never to tire of talking about his love, but we rarely talk of his holiness. It is only from the perspective of his Holiness, can we can just scratch the surface of his amazing grace.

When all else fails, read the instructions (CCEL > Bibles and Commentaries)

Matthew 5:43-45 (43) "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Here we are told to love those we would normally be inclined to hate, our enemies, because of our Father in Heaven. This kind of love does not come from men naturally, It is a divine love. God LOVES those who are His enemies just as He wants us to.

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

Hate does not always mean what we understand it to be. Here, we are told that our love for our loved ones must be hate by comparison to our love for Jesus. It does not mean that we hate them in the normally understood sense.

If you took this literally, we would be being told to love our enemies and hate the ones closest to us. This is not what God was trying to communicate.