Is It True That God “Loves the Sinner but Hates the Sin”?

Does God really love the sinner and hate the sin? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We pray that you had a wonderful holiday and we are ready to take your calls this morning or this afternoon, depending on where you live. Call us right now with your questions at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. You can watch Adriel right now on YouTube and message us that way through our YouTube channel. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners named Lawrence. So I just had a question. I'm kind of new at this, but there's a girl at church that I would like to approach, and I want to do it biblically, in the manner of, I should say, courtship. I just want to make sure I do it biblically and see what your thoughts are on that.

Thank you. Thanks for that question. Biblical dating advice.

There's a few things to consider. One, I think it's wonderful that you've met this girl at church. Paul makes it absolutely clear in 1 Corinthians 7 that when we want to be with somebody, we're free to be married, but the other person has to be in the Lord.

That's the big prerequisite. Is this person a Christian? And I just mean, do they say, I'm a Christian? Oh yeah, I'm willing to go to church with you, and I'm willing to believe the things that you believe, those kinds of things. I mean, do they have a relationship with the Lord? Are they committed to the Lord? And so finding someone in church, I think, is wonderful. And then in terms of pursuing them, I think you want to be respectful in everything that you do. You want to honor the Lord.

And so, I don't know that this rocket science, you know, you need what the ancients called game. And you can just pray for that, pray that the Lord gives you that. And the cattle on a thousand hills. Yeah, that's right. You know, like in the Old Testament, right, when somebody, when the guy was looking to get married, he would just bring a caravan of all these gifts, you know, rings and jewelry and all that stuff. You can go that route, you know.

That might be coming on a little bit too strong. I would say, invite her to coffee or get together with groups, you know, groups of friends. I think that that's wonderful. When I met my wife, before we were married, I mean, a lot of the time we spent together was just in groups with others in the church. And we would get together, we'd go out to a movie or we'd go out to get coffee or food or something like that. And it was a great opportunity for us to get to know each other a little bit more.

And it was, it was innocent, you know, it was just honoring, I think, to the Lord. And so, you want to be respectful. I think it's important to be honest. I think so often in dating relationships today, people are just sort of playing games, you know, playing hard to get or not being honest, not being real. And so, I think it's good to make your intentions known and say, hey, I'm interested in you.

Would you be willing to grab coffee or something like that? And get to know this person. And ultimately, what you're looking for are those characteristics that God talks about in His word. I mean, that's what you want to cultivate in yourself, the fruit of the Spirit. And you want to see that this person is also committed to the Lord and that you guys can be committed to the Lord together. And so, again, I don't know that it's rocket science per se. I think you just pray and pursue this individual and see how it pans out.

Bill, what do you think? I think it's so great that you mentioned the fruit of the Spirit, because that is so key. I think when we're considering dating somebody, pursuing somebody, we really want to observe, are they manifesting those fruits in their life? When you look up the fruit of the Spirit in the Bible, there's a picture of my wife right next to it there in Galatians.

I mean, she is pretty amazing. But that's one of the things I looked for when I was dating. And man, when I met her, I thought this lady has, she manifests those fruits.

And that's what really, besides being physically attractive, I was really attracted to her character. And I'm so glad that I made that decision. So, I think that's good advice, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and we'd love to get your call if you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, your Christian walk, and maybe how it intersects with what's going on in our culture. Here's the phone number, 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also email us at questions at corechristianity.com. And Adriel, here's a question from Tyler. He says, is it true that God loves the sinner but hates the sin? I'm struggling to see this distinction in Scripture. For example, in the opening verses of Malachi, God says, Esau have I hated, Jacob have I loved.

Would it be more accurate to say that God hates the sinner in their sin? Thanks so much for your help with this question. By the way, thanks for your ministry. I've been listening to the program for a number of years, and I've been greatly blessed by your wisdom. And, he says, I recently heard you had a new baby, added a new baby to your family, so congratulations from Tyler. Hey, thanks, Tyler. Yep, we did.

Baby Monica, she's five weeks old yesterday, and so we're rejoicing for that healthy baby. And I appreciate your question, right? This is sort of a mantra that you hear around Christian circles. God loves the sinner but hates the sin. Is it accurate to say that?

Now, I personally don't have a huge issue with that short, tweetable statement, if you will. Obviously, as we continue to dig deeper into the Scriptures, we can nuance things some more. It is certainly the case that you have examples, like the one you mentioned in Malachi, quoted also by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter nine, where it talks about God's hatred of sinners, even. And one passage that I'm thinking of is in the book of Psalms, in Psalm chapter five. The psalmist said in verse five, the boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies.

The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. And it's right there. I mean, it seems pretty clear. It's not just talking about the things that they do.

It's directed at this person specifically. So how do we make sense of this? Because John 3 16 says God loves the whole world, for God so loved the world. And I think it just means people who are sinless, that kind of thing, who all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And so it's God's love for sinners that caused him to send his son Jesus into the world to redeem the world.

And so how do we make sense of this? Well, I think we can say that in one sense, insofar as everyone is created by God and created good, God's creation is good, we are all loved by God. But in another sense, insofar as we've fallen away from the Lord because of sin, we're falling away from existence itself, if you will, falling away from the true and the living God. In that sense, we're the objects of God's judgment, even God's wrath. And so scripture can speak in this way, and oftentimes it does.

But again, we need to have the balanced perspective. I mean, it's very clear that the Bible says this, but it's also clear that the Bible says that God sent his son into the world to redeem us, even while we were still sinners. Paul says in Romans chapter 5, he makes that clear, God demonstrates his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And so it's really important that we hold those two things together. Again, I don't mind that statement, God loves the sin but hates the sinner, because in one sense we can say God loves sinners, insofar as he sent his son into the world to save sinners. But in another sense, we do have to affirm what the Bible says very clearly in places like Psalm chapter 5, that sinners are the objects of God's judgment and curse, and it's only by his grace that we're drawn to him.

And so, Tyler, appreciate that question, and thanks for saying congratulations about my baby. God bless. This is Core Christianity.

Thanks so much for joining us today. If you're a person who recently started reading the Bible for the very first time, you may have found that some Bible reading plans out there can be complicated and may even seem overwhelming to you. So here at Core Christianity, we have developed a special Bible reading plan just for you.

That's right, Bill. For the reasons that you just mentioned, we wanted to create a Bible reading plan that would do a couple of things. One, help someone who's new to reading through the Bible cultivate, I think, just a joy for reading the Scriptures every day.

It's so important that we build this into the habits of our lives. It's one of the ways we grow in our relationship with the Lord. Also, maybe you've been a Christian for many years and you used to read the Bible, but you don't anymore. I want to help you recover that joy that maybe you once had around the Word of God and studying the Word of God. So that's what the Bible reading plan here at Core Christianity is for.

It's a free resource. It'll take you about 10 minutes every day to complete, and it lasts through the whole year. The Bible reading plan won't take you through the entire Bible in a year, so you're not going to be reading through the whole thing, but it will introduce you to the big narrative and grand themes of the Bible. It was a plan designed to help you develop the habit of reading without requiring a large amount of time, and our prayer is that this is going to be something that you build into your life.

We're so encouraged by how God's Word can really minister to you during 2022. So if you're looking for a Bible reading plan, get ahold of this free one, the Bible reading plan, over at CoreChristianity.com. You can download it right now at CoreChristianity.com forward slash reading plan.

That's forward slash reading plan. You can also call us for that resource or any one of our resources at 833-843-2673. We'd love to get that in your hands and have you start reading the Bible right now at the beginning of the year. Let's go back to the phones. Richard is on the phone from Omaha, Nebraska. Richard, what's your question for Adriel?

Yes, thank you for taking my call. Now, I understand and believe that Christ was sinless, but his mother was born with the original sin, wasn't she? I don't know how that works out. I mean, God can do anything he wants, I understand that and believe that, but how does that work?

Yeah, great question. And there are traditions out there in some churches that say, well, Mary didn't have any sin. It's my view that the only sinless person to ever live to walk the planet was Jesus Christ himself. It's very clear that he was made in all ways as we are in the incarnation, yet without sin. And so the one thing he didn't have was sin. And scripture makes it clear that there isn't anybody who does good and does not sin. There is no righteous man on the earth, we read in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 20, who does good but does not sin. So the question is, did Mary sin? Did she need a savior as well? And I think that the answer is pretty clear. In fact, I think she's the one who gives it to us in the Gospel of Luke, in Luke chapter 1.

You have what was referred to as a Magnificat. Maybe you heard this text just coming out of the Christmas season back in December. In verse 47, she sings to the Lord and she says, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has looked on the humblest state of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. She goes on to just praise the Lord for his deliverance, for his salvation. Well, what does Jesus deliver us from first and foremost? He delivers us from our sins.

He washes away our sins. And so I think Mary would have thought the idea that she was sinless, I think she would have thought that was crazy, that was a wild idea. All of us, right, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and I think that's also true of her.

And Christ redeemed her by faith, washed away her sins. And so I think that's what the Bible teaches, and I appreciate your question. Richard, God bless you.

Thanks, Richard. Appreciate you being one of our listeners here at CORE Christianity. By the way, if you are a regular listener to this program and you believe in this ministry, we would love to ask you for your support. We have a group of people that we call our inner CORE, and they give a regular monthly gift that helps keep us on the air. We don't receive any money from a church or denomination. We don't play commercials on this program. We count on people just like you to make donations to keep us on the air. So if you'd like to learn more about being a member of that inner CORE and some of the extra special resources that go along with that, just go to corechristianity.com forward slash inner CORE. Let's get back to the phones.

Opal is on the line from St. Louis, Missouri. Opal, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Pastor Adriel, I want to know, where in the Bible do you find that God hates jesting and jokes?

First I would say God created us. Laughter, joy, jokes even. I don't think that's necessarily bad in and of themselves. It's interesting, as you read through the scriptures, we just plug the Bible reading plan, there are scenes in the Bible that will make you laugh. You have just about everything in scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit.

I think they bring joy to our hearts and just interesting things that God reveals to us in his word. But there is a particular kind of joking that we're called not to participate in, Opal, and the one who really speaks to this is the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 4, beginning in verse 3 he said, But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Why? He says in verse 5, For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. So what's forbidden in scripture very clearly, what we're told to avoid, is that sort of filthy talk, the crude jesting. Frankly, tragically, the thing that we see all over the place in media and in movies today, we're called to be distinct, to be set apart, to be holy as the followers of Jesus Christ. And so we need to avoid that, but I would say this isn't a condemnation of all joking or laughter, if you will, it's a specific kind of joking that is being rebuked here among the church in Ephesus. Yeah, one of those verses I think that convicts a lot of people, but we need to take what the Apostle Paul said to heart, and this is one of the ways that we can be distinct as Christians in a world that I think oftentimes minimizes and just jokes about things like sexuality.

We can be distinct in how we think about these things, how we talk about these things, how we honor the Lord in our speech, and so God bless you, Opal, thank you for that question. Great advice. Thanks, Opal, for being a regular listener to Core Christianity.

We really do appreciate it. By the way, if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, our phone lines will be open for another five minutes or so. Here's the number to call. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Here's a voicemail we received from one of our listeners named John. Would you explain who each covenant is to, as in a group of people or everyone, and which ones are still in effect? There's a lot to that question. First thing I'll say is everybody who's ever born on planet Earth is born in covenant with God in one sense, in Adam. Adam is the representative of mankind there in the Garden of Eden. He fell, and in Adam, all of us fell, and so we're born under this covenant, if you will. You might refer to it as a covenant of works, where Adam was called to obey the Lord, to serve the Lord, and he was our representative.

He fell, and in him, we all fell. This is what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 5, verses 12 and following. God entered into these other covenants with people to redeem us, to bring us back to him. Not all of them are redemptive covenants, if you will, about administering salvation, for example. Specifically, I think of the covenant that was made with Noah and all creation in Genesis, for example, where God just promised to sustain the world, that he wasn't going to flood the world and destroy everything again, that harvest was going to continue, that seed time was going to continue, that God was essentially going to uphold all things by his providence till the very end. You have covenants like that, and that covenant is made with everyone, with all creation, but we're not saved by the Noahic covenant. You also have the Mosaic covenant that God entered into with the children of Israel, which has been set aside in one sense.

It's no longer under the Mosaic covenant, replaced by, we would say, the new covenant. One passage of scripture that you can go to that makes this absolutely clear is what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3. You can look at that text, 2 Corinthians 3. Paul says, such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. This is verse 4. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Listen to what Paul says. He says, now if the ministry of death carved in letters on stone, it's clear that he's talking about the Mosaic covenant here, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end. Will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.

Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. In other words, this covenant, this Mosaic, it had this sort of built-in obsolescence, meaning it was going to be done away with.

It was there for a time specifically for Israel. And then, essentially, with the coming of the new covenant, Paul talks about this in particular in the book of Galatians. Why was the law given to Moses if it was going to be set aside in one sense, the Mosaic? He says, well, it was our guardian leading us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith. So we're no longer under the law as Christians, as this sort of works covenant that we're trying to earn God's approval, but we're free to obey the law through Jesus Christ and by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And so, under the new covenant, where we receive the free forgiveness of our sins, just on the basis of faith, it really is this wonderful thing. And so it's important for us to distinguish here how God is administering his rule throughout redemptive history, throughout these various covenants, because if you don't get it, you're going to put yourself back under the law. You're going to try to justify yourself on the basis of deeds.

You're going to try to justify yourself on the basis of works. And Paul says, no, don't do that. The author of the Hebrews says, don't do that.

We are not under the law, but under grace through what Jesus has come in establishing a new covenant for us through his body and blood. And so those are just a few of them that I mentioned there. Appreciate that question. Hopefully it helps you to unpack these things as you open up the scriptures. God bless.

Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our prayer for you as we kick off 2022 is that you'll start spending regular time in God's word every day. And we want to make that easy for you. We've actually developed a Core Christianity Bible reading plan. You can get that for free. It's a PDF download and you can find it by going to corechristianity.com forward slash reading plan.

Again, that's corechristianity.com forward slash reading plan to get started on that Bible reading plan today or tomorrow. We'd love to have you do that. Let's go back to the phones. We have Charlie on the phone from Carlock, Illinois. Charlie, what's your question for Adriel?

Yes, Adriel. I was wondering, once we are raptured and we leave this earth and we're hung with the Lord, do the people that are left have an opportunity to receive Christ or are they cut off at that point? I'm thinking, will the Holy Spirit leave? If they can't receive Christ here and now, why the Holy Spirit's among us?

I would think it'd be far harder to accept the Lord after the Holy Spirit leaves, if that's so. And my question is, do my neighbors who I've talked to so many times about the things of the Lord and they don't seem to have any interest, they see that we're gone, I think it'd be a wake-up call. Now, can they receive Christ after that? Charlie, thank you for that question and God bless you for sharing Jesus with your neighbors.

Keep doing that and keep praying for them that the Holy Spirit would indeed open their eyes and open their hearts to receive God's grace. Now, there are different perspectives on the end times. And I don't know if you've heard me before, but one of the things I say is the view that there is this rapture of believers, believers are taken up, caught up in the air to be with the Lord and then there's a period of Great Tribulation and then after that period of Great Tribulation, there's the Second Coming.

And so you have these two distinct comings of Jesus, one prior to a period of Great Tribulation and another one after that period of Tribulation, what we refer to as the Second Coming. And there are some people who hold that view. There are many Christians who actually hold that view in the United States.

It is a newer view. Historically, this is not a view that was really prominent in the church and it's not the view that I have. My view is that there's one coming of Jesus called the Second Coming after a period of Great Tribulation, which in one sense we're participating in even now. We've been in this time of trouble, if you will, as a church for a great period of time, I would say. And the Spirit of God is working now to draw people to Jesus and that's going to be happening until the Second Coming. And I think even those who make a case for this idea of a rapture being distinct from the Second Coming of the Lord, they say that during that time, yes, when the church is raptured that there are going to be conversions and typically they will say there's going to be a wide-scale conversion of ethnic Israel, of Jews, but probably others as well.

But there are a lot of questions that are associated with it. If the Holy Spirit is taken away, how are people being converted and so on and so forth? So there are a lot of questions that are raised, questions that I think are really difficult to answer and that's why I prefer the other view, which says, look, there's one Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time and up until that point, God is drawing people, the nations, your neighbor, your neighbors to himself. And so we ought to continue to pray that the Lord would open their hearts, that the Lord would continue to work in the people around us because the Spirit is on the move, brothers and sisters. And so we want to be faithful to the Lord in sharing the Gospel with the people who are around us and helps to see how there are different views on these things. But the key thing is this, Jesus is coming back. We want to be ready with the good news of the Gospel. 843-2673. That's 833, the core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.