Question: Good afternoon brother Jesse, thank you for your sound teachings and I surely do enjoy the podcast which you do on the BibleLine channel on YouTube. I was reaching out today because I also have a question and it has to do with God’s holy hatred spoken of in a few Scriptural passages. One particular passage is Psalm 5:4-6:
4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
Now this is my question, When David speaks of the workers of iniquity which God hates, in Psalm 5, is he referring to the flesh birth (sin nature) of people? I ask this because of teachers in Calvinism out there who teach that God hates some people. I also have heard some street preachers say, “God hates you in your sin.” And they will reference Psalm 5:5. And so, I am seeking to reconcile God’s love for sinners and His hatred for sin. I also have viewed the phrase ‘worker of iniquity’ possibly to also mean any sinner which has been given fully over to their sin nature. Just my thoughts though. Thank you for taking time to consider and address this question, have a blessed day!
Answer: Excellent question, Justin. Thank you for the words of encouragement as well. I believe that God takes issue with the sinner because of his hatred for sin. The sin and the sinner cannot be separated. This is the flesh birth, as you have correctly stated. The sin nature of man has been passed along since Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden (Cf. Romans 5:12-14). I like the term, “God loves the sinner but hates the sin” but it is not always accurate about the connection between the sin and the sinner. You cannot be either or. A sinner is a sinner because they sin. Clearly, God hates sin because of it being against His nature. I always think of 1 John 1:5 which teaches that there is no darkness in God. He is vehemently opposed to sin. Where does this put the sinner? Well, it puts him in risk of judgement leading to eternal separation from God in Hell! However, all of God’s wrath and hatred for sin was satisfied on the cross of Calvary when Jesus Christ became sin for us… and it pleased God (Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:5, Isaiah 53:10). Herein we find the solution for the sinner. The sinner can be declared righteous and eternally justified before God by placing their faith in Jesus’ payment for their sins. Now, the sinner has a new nature, the spirit nature, and their old nature, the flesh, has been judged via Jesus shed blood on Calvary (Cf. 1 John 3:9; John 3:5-7; Galatians 5:16; Colossians 3:5-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17). The Calvinist messes it all up because they start from the viewpoint that God has elected some to eternal life and everyone else to eternal separation in Hell. I hope this helps.