International
The Hatred of Sin
We're glad you like it!
Enjoying the content? You can save this to your favorites by logging in to your account.
Psalm 97:10-12 Hate evil, you who love the LORD. He protects his followers and saves them from evil people. Light and happiness shine on those who want to do right. Good people, be happy in the LORD! Praise his holy name!
Listen to the radio broadcast of The Hatred of Sin
Download audio fileWhen it comes to … you know, those sinners out there … perhaps you’ve heard that saying, “hate the sin but love the sinner”. It’s something of a Christian cliché that rolls ever so easily off the tongue.
Clichés all have one thing in common. They’re much easier said than done. And so what happens rather a lot in these days of conflict and strife is that those of us who say we believe in Jesus can all too easily fall into the trap of hating not just the sin, but also the sinner. And in doing so, it’s even easier to misinterpret God’s Word in this regard:
Psalm 97:10-12 Hate evil, you who love the LORD. He protects his followers and saves them from evil people. Light and happiness shine on those who want to do right. Good people, be happy in the LORD! Praise his holy name!
When you read that in context, what the psalmist is talking about there is for us to hate the evil in our own lives; to eschew it; to reject it as a way of life, so that light and happiness will shine upon us.
If only we’d take God’s Word truly to heart. If only we’d hate our own sin as much as we hate everyone else’s.
Charles Spurgeon put it like this: For us to hate those who are in error, or talk of them with contempt, or wish them ill, or do them wrong, is not according to the Spirit of Christ. You cannot cast out Satan by Satan, nor correct error by violence, nor overcome hate by hate. The conquering weapon of the Christian is love.
Absolutely true. But what about those sinners out there who want to do us harm?
God protects his followers and saves them from evil people.
That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Comments