"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy'. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. That you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." [Matthew 5:38-48].
Christ clearly demonstrates that whatever may have been said in the past, He is now teaching something new. The Incarnation changed everything. Among other things, now mankind had a "mind" with which to better understand God. If we are to become like God, to be His sons, we are to emulate Him as Christ tells us He really is and we shall be perfect and it would appear that what the perfect person displays, bb, is nothing more or less than love...and so that person has fulfilled his or her created purpose, to be not only the image of God, but also His likeness.
No problem with any of that at all. Totally agree, but our disagreement has not been about this ideal. It is simply the idea of God "hating". If you think for one minute that Jesus countermanded God in his statements, you are not correct. Jesus did not overrule God's laws he personalized them. The "eye for an eye" command dealt with civil law. It said basically that if someone wrongly poked your eye out, his eye got poked out (not BY you, but by the authorities in charge of carrying out legal judgments). There was not a lot of eye-poking-outing because of that. BTW...I think it would be a good idea to put some negative consequences back into our judicial system today. Criminals get away with far to much and literally laugh at how little they are deterred from crime.
Jesus was speaking about the "personal" aspect of vengeance. He said if someone smote (slapped) you on the cheek - an insulting act that was a challenge - you should turn the other cheek to him. He was trying to communicate that we should deal with each other in love and forgiveness. However, Jesus was not saying that civil law should be abolished. He in no way ever said that the legal system of society should cease to work. I would LOVE for all of society to live according to the ways Christ commanded - it would literally change the world - but we know that there are still people out there who will rebel and go against God's commands for holiness.
Getting back to the original issue which was whether or not God hated anything, we know that he most certainly says he does and it is important to acknowledge that he detests, abhors, despises, and hates sin. He doesn't just "love it less" than good, he HATES it. The major reason, of course, is that sin separates us from God, it causes misery, sickness, unhappiness, death and ultimately separation from him for all eternity. That was my point.
That's obvious to anyone except the Protestants. That's why the Church is the Church of the Gospels, of Christ, not of Paul and not of the Old Testament.
The Prots are only interested in Christ because he is the one who can "wash" them clean. They even insist the Gospels are written for the Jews and not Gentiles. To them the New Testament begins with the book of Acts!
The Incarnation changed everything. Among other things, now mankind had a "mind" with which to better understand God.
Yeah, but see Paul says it differently: he says the believers have the mind of Christ! (talk about Gnostic...Christ never said anything like that!)
and so that person has fulfilled his or her created purpose, to be not only the image of God, but also His likeness.
Well, the shaked and the baked (you know, the "we are jusitfied-santctified" crowd) are already "dead to sin," according to Apostle Paul, so what's left but to wait for the limo ride to heaven?