   >Subject: hate the sin...
   >Date: 12 May 93 08:27:08 GMT

   >"Hate the sin but love the sinner"...I've heard that quite a bit recently,
   >My question is whether that statement is consistent with Christianity. I
   >would think not.  Hate begets more hate, never love.

       If you are questioning whether or not "hating sin" is consistent with
   Christianity; I ask you to consider the following Scripture:

       Romans 12:9 "Let Love be without hypocrisy.  Hate what is evil, cling
                    to what is good."

       What is it that Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is
   calling us to hate?  Would God call us to do something that would
   eventually lead to hating our fellow man; especially when he commands us to
   do the opposite, to love your fellow man?

   >Consider some sin. Now lets apply our "hate the sin..." philosophy and see
   >what happens. If we truly hate the sin, then the more we see it, the
   >stronger our hatred of it will become. Eventually this hate becomes so
   >strong that we become disgusted with the sinner and eventually come to
   >hate the sinner.

       That has not been my experience.  I've not found myself hating anybody
   as a result of hating the sin that may be in their life.  As a sinner
   myself, I find myself having more compassion for the person.  Jesus too,
   since the Bible teaches that he was tempted in every way that we are, is
   able to have compassion on us when we our tempted and fall.  Jesus is our
   very example of HOW to hate the sin but love the sinner.  In the account of
   the woman caught in adultery (John 8), Jesus had compassion on the woman;
   BUT he also called her to leave her life of sin.  This is what it means to
   love sinners but hate their sin; it means loving them unconditionally,
   while at the same time calling them to leave their sin.

   >In addition, our hatred of the sin often causes us to say and do things
   >which are taken personally by the sinner (who often does not even believe
   >what they are doing is a sin).

       The blame for this can not always be laid at the feet of the
   Christian.  I have seen and been guilty of taking offense by someone merely
   pointing out my sin and calling me to repent of it.  It was not unloving
   for the Christian to call me out of sin; in fact, I believe it was the most
   loving thing that that person could have done.  He loved me enough to want
   to spare me the consequence of remaining in my sin.

   >After enough of this, the sinner begins to hate us (they certainly don't
   >love us for our constant criticism of their behavior). Hate builds up and
   >drives people away from God...this certainly cannot be a good way to build
   >love.

       Again, I don't think that you can lay the blame for this at the feet of
   the Christian.  If we have loved them as Jesus loved sinners (exemplified
   in John 8) and the sinner hates us for it, then we have done the best we
   can.  We will have extended to them the most perfect expression of love and
   they will have rejected it.

       Now it we hate the sin but forget to love the sinner, then indeed, we
   will, ourselves, be in sin.

   >In the summary of the law, Christ commands us to love God and to love our
   >neighbors. He doesn't say anything about hate.

       I would like to encourage you to do a word study on HATE in the New
   Testament.  I really think that you will be surprised.

   >In fact, if anything, he commands us to save our criticisms for ourselves.

       Criticism is very different from calling a sinner to repent.

   Hope this helps,
   In Christ,
   Tony Balsamo
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