GOD does hate not just sin but the sinner. The wrath of God remains on you if you don't believe Jesus, says John 3.36. God "hates those who work iniquities," says Psalm 5.5 and the word used is "neta" in Hebrew which is "You hate," referring to God's hatred. Another passage goes:
The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. [Psalm 11.5]
Photo above by Eric Ward on Unsplash.
If God hates the wicked, it explains why we also feel the same way if God lives in us through Jesus. But wrong guilt makes us pretend we don't because we think any feeling of hatred--or even anger--is sin. If hating is sin, what does that make of God given the passages above? God also killed sinners, presumably out of hatred, so does that make God a sinner, and does that justify killing sinners for their sins?
The Word allows us to imitate God as His children [Ephesians 5], but not punish sinners as God does. There are things God allows us and things that exclusively belong to him. Having his character is among things he allows us. If He hates the wicked, so should we. But understand, as well, that God's hatred is his love (he loves those he hates--there's nothing impossible to him) and his "hatred" is really a form of repression for a chance to redirect us back to HIM), like how his judgment is his love.
But what kind of hatred is this?
For sure, it's NOT the hatred of the world. The world hates anything about the real Jesus (especially the genuine Jesus in true believers) and God hates anything He does not see Jesus is in. A worldly church will embrace every good ministry possible as long as it does not see Jesus in it. But the moment it sees Jesus, the worldly church will hate it to the bones.
If you feel "hating" a church activity because it has nothing of what Jesus or his apostles did in the bible---all you see are man's efforts, plans, ability and accomplishments (and especially man's pride)---then the hatred is appropriate because that's how God feels about it, too. You feel God's emotion because he lives in you. Even "hating" church folks stubbornly using man's ways (or the world's ways) to "serve" God is also appropriate, more so if you see how they detest God's supernatural ways seen in Jesus' ministry, preferring their own ways.
For instance, church people have lost the virtue of waiting on God. They go ahead planning, sizing up their situations, thinking up ideas they think would suit them and would work for them, making things happen. Waiting is a waste of time to them. But in God's eyes it's "soaring with wings like eagles, renewing our strength." Waiting is among God's ways, but man hates it. However, Jesus "can do nothing" (nothing!) except what he sees the Father doing [John 5.19]. He waited for the Father and dared not do things himself.
But isn't hating your brother "murder," says John? Hating as the world hates is murder. But sometimes God will make you feel his "hatred" for a person in sin, and that hatred is really love. God's hatred or wrath really serves initially as a deterrent more than eternal damnation---to arouse fear of God and repentance---unless a person persists in the wickedness to the end. Moses felt God's anger against Korah, Dathan and Abiram when they rebelled. And the anger was really hatred because God was willing to kill them and their families (even their innocent kids) in the end, and Moses agreed. If that's not hatred, I don't know what is.
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.” [Numbers 16]
Paul also was so pissed off by the church goer who claimed to be a believer but was having illicit affair with his step-mom that the apostle handed the guy over to Satan. That's scary and can only be triggered by hatred, God's hatred. But we see how Paul's disciplinary measure was meant only "for the destruction of the flesh," and preserve the offender's spirit. We see that the motive behind the hatred is really love, for restoration.
God sometimes hates to give chance for restoration. True believers have the same at heart.
When the worldly church loves, it loves with the world's love. When it hates (which it keeps denying, claiming never to hate) it hates with the world's hatred. The worldly church may seem very caring and concerned and offer to pray and help (and pray in tears)--and it may all look and sound spiritual--but all it has is worldly love, the kind of love that has hidden agendas and ulterior motives. A trap.
When true believers hate, however, they hate with God's hatred which is really love.
To avoid God's hatred and wrath, remember that the Father is pleased only with Jesus, and His delight in us is only possible if He sees Jesus in us and in what we do. Of ourselves and own deeds, we can never please the Father (especially if we serve Him with our ego intact). If we do not believe in the Son (because we do ministry in other ways than how he did it), the wrath of God remains on us.
