Romans 9:13, “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”
Matthew 5:43-46, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?”
I heard Pastor Steven L. Anderson today say in a sermon that God hates some people. (That is a great sermon by the way, I just disagree that God hates homosexuals) As his text passage, Brother Anderson quotes Romans 9:13, “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” In the sermon he says that as a teenager a girl opened his eyes to this belief, that God doesn't love everyone.
Kindly said, I totally disagree with Pastor Anderson's thinking and teaching. First let me say, I love and support Pastor Anderson for his aggressive soulwinning ministry. I truly do love the guy! Albeit, my foremost loyalty is to God. I must preach the Word! I am writing this blog for your benefit dear reader, because I don't want you to ever think that it is okay to hate anybody.
It saddens me that Pastor Anderson takes one single passage out of context, to base his false belief that we should hate unrepentant sinners. What saith the Scripture? ...
Matthew 5:43-46, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?”
Why would God tell us to hate our enemies, when God Himself loves His enemies? Are sodomites God's enemies? Yes, they are! Yet as we just read, God still blesses them with rain and is kind to them. Does that sound like hatred to you? It is God's unconditional love, which every born-again believer who walks with God possesses, just as our heavenly Father. Jesus rebuked the unbelieving Jews in John 5:42, “But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.”
Did God really hate Esau as a human being? No, God loves everyone. 2nd Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The Bible says that God is not willing that “ANY” should perish (this must includes all sodomites too). The Bible says that God is willing that “ALL” should come to repentance (i.e., change their mind from unbelief to believing the Gospel to be saved). Dear reader, ALL means ALL (so this must also includes the homosexual community). Yes, God desires for all homosexuals to repent (think differently) to be saved.
I cannot find a single passage of Scripture that teaches us as God's children to hate anyone. In sharp contrast, I do find numerous passages of Scripture that teach us to love everyone. Jude 1:22, “And of some have compassion, making a difference:”
Now, I love that Pastor Anderson preaches hard against sin. We ought to expose sin, falsehoods and evil. Preaching against sin is not hatred, it is love. The truth is only HATE to those that hate THE TRUTH! I am all for hard preaching against sin. But there must be a balance between truth and love, because truth without love kills! 2nd Corinthians 3:6, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” We must never accept the sin with the sinner, nor reject the sinner with the sin.
What about Psalms 139:21-22, “Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.” This is what we call in theology “Imprecatory Praying.” It is important that you understand you can hate everything about a person, but still love that person as a human being for whom Jesus Christ died on the cross. God hated Esau's for his carnality and sin, but God loved Esau as a person. I know that for a fact, because as a child of God I have God's Holy Spirit living inside me, and I love people even though I hate things about them.
We should never hate anyone. Hateful thoughts can lead to hateful behavior! There is a fine line between faith and foolishness friend. God is love. 1st John 4:8, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” The Bible says you don't know God if you don't love people. I am so disappointed in most pastor I meet today, who woefully lack God's love and compassion for divorced people, sinners and hurting souls. It is tragic that the pastorate has been reduced to a mere occupation nowadays, instead of a divine calling from God.
Dear friend, the ONLY thing that can win the hardest of unsaved people to Christ is LOVE. Love makes a difference! People don't care what you know, until they know that you care! That is one reason why I refuse to ever accept any money for my internet ministry. I have had umpteen people offer to send me donations, and I could make tons of money if I wanted to online; but this is a labor of love for Jesus Christ and people. I want everyone to know where my heart is at. My heart is in YOU dear friend. 2nd Corinthians 3:2, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
May we all love everyone in our life. I decided long ago that I am going to unconditionally love everyone on the planet, even the vilest of evil guilty criminals. That doesn't mean I want them to be spared the death penalty. I am all for Capital Punishment for murderers, rapists and pedophiles (and so is the Holy Bible). Ecclesiastes 8:11, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Locking a human being in a cage is human cruelty. Wicked men lock people in cages! God's way is Capital Punishment!!! One evil begets another evil. Our nation is in a mess today because we are leaning upon our own sinful understanding, instead of obeying the Holy Bible to trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-7).
I heard Pastor Anderson at the end of his sermon say that he has a queer uncle, and he hates him. Pastor Anderson says that everybody has a queer uncle, and he wants to spit on his grave. What saith the Scripture? Ezekiel 33:11, “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” I also had a queer uncle (go figure), on my father's side of the family. He died many years ago of A.I.D.S. I never met anybody from my father's side of the family, all from the state of Michigan. But I saw a photo of my uncle, while holding a cat, sitting on a couch. My father told me the sad story. My father's family was consumed with wickedness, all unbelievers. My father said he broke the chain of wickedness, being the first Christian in his family, and a Bible preacher. I am glad that my Dad broke his family's chain of wickedness, instead of continuing it! Amen. But I never felt hatred for my uncle, whom I never met. I humbly believe that we ought never hate anybody.
If someone has hurt you, place them into God's hand for judgment. That way you can forgive them and move on. The hardest thing to do is forgive someone who has hurt you, or hurt one of your loved ones. But you can forgive others, knowing that God for Christ's sake forgave you of your wickedness. Ephesians 4:31-32, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
Even defiant homosexuals still need to know that God hasn't given up on them ever getting saved. It is silly, unbiblical and wrong to ostracize one particular group of sinners (homosexuals), while still offering hope and love to adulterers, murderers and thieves. If there is still hope for any lost sinner to come to Jesus Christ, then there is still hope for YOU too!
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