Is it good theology for a Christian to use the common cliché “Hate the Sin, But Love the Sinner”? Where it comes from is unknown, yet it seems simple enough to express biblical truth. But is this how we should think about individuals who live as if sin isn’t a thing? John 3:16 tells us that God has so loved the world, but Psalm 5:5 tells us God hates all who do iniquity. We know that the Bible doesn’t give contradictory statements and that every word of God proves true. How, then, should Christians think about those who have lived in such vile, wicked ways? How should we think about those who are alive now and are living in constant sin, where some individuals appear more vile and heinous than others? Is this cliché a good perspective of how God thinks about sinners? Or, is there more to hating sin and loving sinners than can be appropriately summed up in these few seeming kind but maybe misleading words? Join Dr. Richard Caldwell and Dr. Josh Philpot this week on the Straight Truth Podcast as they think about and discuss hating sin and loving sinners.

Dr. Caldwell says he would state it differently. He would say to understand the sinner and believe the Gospel. He goes on to describe what he means by that. We ought to hate things that violate the Word of God, the will of God, so yes, we hate sin as it exists. But when it comes to how that sin is expressed through people, we understand the sinner. We must know who we all are from birth because of the fall of Adam. We need to understand the desperate condition of man in his sin, which is blindness, impurity, violence, and all the rest. And that this is the state of all humanity, from the vilest of sinners to even the most polite, well-mannered individuals who aren’t reconciled to God; all are haters of God. So, we need to look at people and understand they need to be reconciled to God and know that the Gospel provides the answer. We need to understand there is no one, until their very last breath, that is beyond salvation, transformation if the Lord should will it.

There are places in the Scriptures where God even says He hates individuals. Is this something that Christians can say? Dr. Caldwell says, in a sense, we can say that. But in doing so, we must think in biblical categories and use biblical language. So, there’s a sense in which God hates the sinner. There is a sense in which we hate sin as it’s expressed in their personality, by the individual, by the way they live, or in what they do. But not the person in a way that rules out the power of God to transform their life and not in a way that wouldn’t long for their salvation if God should will it so.

Dr. Caldwell shares about a section in Matthew 23 that he is currently preaching through. In this section, described as the woes, Jesus declares the certainty of the judgment upon the scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites. Jesus is dealing with these men who are hateful towards Him and want to murder Him. Jesus expresses the vile nature and character of these men and gives specifics about why they’re going to face the judgment of God. Yet at the end of this same section, there is this cry of sadness over the whole city of Jerusalem and how He would have gathered them to Himself, but they would not. There is this expression of longing for it to be different. This is the balance we need to have in ourselves as well. It is a mixture that only the Spirit of God can teach us. But it only happens as we imbibe Scripture and think in biblical terms.