Psalms 5:5-7, “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.”
I've heard some people quote Psalm 5:5 as evidence that God hates some people. This would contradict John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The answer is very simple, there are different Greek words for love used in the Bible. I have heard a few Baptist pastors make fun on these differences, but they are showing their nativity and unlearned ignorance of the Scriptures in so doing.
The Ancient Greeks' 6 Words for Love (And Why Knowing Them Can Change Your Life)
- Eros, or sexual passion. ...
- Philia, or deep friendship. ...
- Ludus, or playful love. ...
- Agape, or love for everyone. ...
- Pragma, or longstanding love. ...
- Philautia, or love of the self.
SOURCE: The Ancient Greek's 6 Words For LoveIn John 3:16, the word “loved” means agape, or love for everyone. When Jesus asked the Apostle Peter in John 21:16 if He loved Him, Jesus meant agape. But Peter responded by using the word fileho (friend) for love. Jesus was asking Peter if he loved him unconditionally, but Peter replied by saying he was fond of the Lord. You see, when you are only fond of somebody, when circumstances change you are no longer fond of them. We call those “fair weather friends.” Jesus was about to be crucified and leave. Peter's friend would be gone. Jesus was teaching Peter that if he truly loved him, then he would keep His commandments after He was gone (John 14:15). Jesus commanded Peter to “FEED MY SHEEP” (believers), when He was gone.
Only a naive and foolish preacher would make fun of these Greek differences, and scold Christians for consulting the source languages. I am a firm believer that Christians today don't need anything more than our English King Jame Bible, but it certainly doesn't hurt to study the Masoretic Hebrew and Textus Receptus from which our beloved King James Bible was translated. We are commanded to “study” (2nd Timothy 2:15). Sometimes know-it-all religious people want to argue over Bible version discrepancies, but I refuse to lower myself to their ignorant level. If you don't see a big problem in having hundreds of English Bible revisions today, you have a big fool! Bob Jones University are damned fools!!! They sanction and use multiple Bible revisions from multiple ancient texts, which woefully contradict each other.
A simple Bible study reveals that God loves all humanity unconditionally. Some preachers are ignorant of God's love, teaching that God would never send someone to Hell that He loves. That is like saying that an earthly judge would never sentence someone to capital punishment if they loved them. Such unlearned preachers fail to understand that God's holiness demands justice, but that does not cancel God's unconditional love. Beware of any preacher who endorses hating people! God does not hate homosexuals, He loves them so much that He sacrificed His only begotten Son on the cross to pay for their sins (Romans 5:6-8). How can anyone hate any sinner, for whom Christ died? I don't care how popular or successful a pastor may become, he will always be a failure in Heaven's sight until he learns to love everyone with God's unconditional love.
We must never accept the sin with the sinner, nor reject the sinner with the sin. The psalmist David often spoke imprecatory prayers, wanting to see his enemies get what they had coming to them. Psalms 58:6, “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.” Like David, there are many wicked people whom I desire to see punished. There are many people who have hurt me throughout my life, who got away with it, and there was nothing I could do. God promises in Romans 12:19-21 to avenge me of all evil against me, and vise versa if I've ever hurt anyone and failed to make reconciliation and restitution. This law of God applies to all humanity! But I do not hate anyone. I have forgiven everyone. I do not believe King David hated his enemies. What saith the Scripture? Psalms 109:4, “For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.” David didn't say that he returnee evil for evil, but he prayed.
Forgiveness isn't letting a matter go, it is releasing an offence into God's hands for judgment, so we can move on in life and serve Christ. Forgiveness is a matter of faith, trusting that God will hold all humanity accountable as the Bible teaches (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; 1st Thessalonians 4:6; Romans 14:10-12). I refuse to hate anyone. I may hate everything about them. I may hate their sinful behavior. I may hate their sinful attitude. I may hate their abusive ways. But I choose to unconditionally love them with God's love, which the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in my soul as God's redeemed child. Jesus is precious!
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