love and hate

Satan being cast down from Heaven

"Thou has loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God,

hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."

(Hebrews 1:9)

Lately, it is very common to hear Christians say that God's love is "unconditional".  A few days ago, I had occasion to discuss that idea with a dozen or so Christian adults gathered for Bible study.  When I said that God cannot and does not love anyone 'unconditionally', I was promptly assailed with the usual, emotional objection, namely: "I will love never stop loving my children, no matter what! and, God is no different."  (Obviously, they did not consider the case of the fallen angels, who once were called "sons of God"....)  I patiently proceeded to reason with them.
 "Un-conditional means 'without any conditions whatsoever'", I explained.  "And if God loves 'unconditionally', then, why is there Hell?  Moreover, if God loves everyone unconditionally, then, how can God JUDGE anyone for anything; for, there were then no basis for judgment.  Furthermore, if God loves anyone unconditionally, then God must love every one of his creatures unconditionally, else, God were then guilty of being a respecter of persons.  And if God does love everyone unconditionally, then, God must still love the devil."

The Associate Pastor of that church immediately spoke out, "God does love the devil!"  Oh, my.

But if God yet loves the devil, then, God must also love all the demons in Hell, as well as every damned soul.  And if that is the case, then what in the world does "love" mean?  For, God himself prepared Hell for the devil and his angels (and, now, for rebellious humans).  So, if God subjects those he 'loves' to the eternal torments of Hell and of the Lake of Fire, what in the world does 'love' mean?

Nonsense.  That God loves the devil.  Or that God loves 'unconditionally'.  It just ain't so.  It cannot be.

Jesus Christ is THE CONDITION of God's love to every soul that will receive Christ.  Those who would receive God's love must receive that love in and through and by Jesus Christ.  Those who would abide in the love of God must abide in Jesus Christ.  And to receive Christ, as well as to abide in Christ, involves certain conditions imposed upon us by God himself, in his Word.  Repentance is one of those conditions, in the case that anyone might foolishly object to the contrary.  Obedience to Christ is a condition.

But this post is not really meant to be about 'unconditional love'.  Rather, I want to briefly talk about hate.

God hates certain things, just as perfectly and completely as he loves certain, other things.  If we are to be like God, in our moral character, then we must also learn to hate what God hates.  The same Holy Ghost, who teaches us to love according to the will of God, is no less committed to teach us that perfect hatred that burns, eternally, in the heart and mind of God, towards all things that are sinful, evil: everything that is contrary to the nature and will of God.

But why are we not mindful of that truth?  Why do we shy away from the notion of 'hatred' toward anything?  There are two, principal factors working against us, in that regard: 1) our general ignorance of the plain - much less of the deeper - teachings of Scripture; and 2) the pressure cooker of social etiquette sometimes called 'Political Correctness'; in other words, what the unbelieving world dictates to be polite conversation.  Love is good; hate is bad (according to the world).  But the world's 'love' is nothing at all like genuine 'love', as that is defined in Scripture.  And the world is actually filled with hatred - not toward that which is evil but toward that which is good.  Why should Christians listen to anything that the world has to tell us about love and hate?  The world is mad.

God doesn't love the devil, folks.  Neither should we.  There are a lot of other things that God doesn't love; but, in fact, God bears a pure and perfect hatred toward a great many things.  At some point in time, it must be true that God grows increasingly angry against those who persist to make themselves to be God's enemies (Scripture testifies that God is "angry with the wicked every day" Psalm 7:11).  And when, at length, they are cut off in death, God's love does not follow them down to the pit of Hell.  Nor, do I believe, does God suddenly begin to hate the souls of the damned, at the moment of their demise.

I do not suggest that we should adopt a hateful mind toward mankind.  But, emphatically, I urge that the Christian Church must re-think the meaning - which also involves the nature and scope - of God's love.  God's love is conditional, to everyone.  Too, Christians need to realize that, in order to be like unto Jesus Christ, we, like him, must learn not only to "love righteousness" but to "hate iniquity".

I hate the devil and all his kingdom stands for.  And I hate the evil works and ideas of men who yield themselves to do the devil's bidding.  I hate it enough to speak out, and to stand up, against it.

Do you love Christ?  Do you love the Truth?  Or do you love your reputation in this present, evil world?  The Church of the living God used to be called "the Church Militant".  But that 'epithet' hasn't been slung against the Church in so many years, that this present generation doesn't even know what that phrase means.   "The Church Militant" means that the Church used to be a power, a moral force to be reckoned with.  Society and its institutions were constrained in a real measure, by reason of the Church's godly influences.

When Christ appears, very soon, I don't want to be found kowtowing to the world.  Do you?