God CANNOT lie and He assures us in His infallible Word that He loves everyone in the world. John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” There is no greater proof of His love for all mankind than what is seen in this verse, for He was willing to send His Son to the cross of Calvary to take the sinner’s place in death and judgment in order to provide salvation and eternal life for all who will believe. 1 John 4:8 teaches us that “God is love,” which means that His very nature is LOVE. His love is not dependent on us; that is, on how we act or if we love Him. The truth is that before we are saved we do NOT love Him, yet He loves us. 1 John 4:10 confirms this, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Does God hate anyone? It is often said, “God hates sin but loves the sinner.” Though this is true, there are verses that speak of God “hating THOSE who sin.” Psalm 5:5 reads, “The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity” (NASB). Later, in Psalm 11:5, we read, “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth.” And in Proverbs 6:16 and 19 we are told, “These six things the LORD hates…A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren” (NKJV). So, God not only hates the sin that sinners commit, but He hates the one who commits it! Add to this the fact that He is angry with them too. This is borne out in Psalm 7:11, “God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day” (NKJV).

How can God “love everyone” and at the same time “hate those who sin?” Did you notice the first part of Psalm 7:11? It said, “God is a just judge.” We saw earlier that “God is love,” but it is equally true that “God is holy.” 1 John 1:5 states emphatically that “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” This teaches us that God’s nature is also holy, and that means He is a righteous, sin-hating God. His nature hates sin so much that He even hates those who commit it. We may not be able to comprehend how God can love and hate someone at the same time, but Scripture says it and we should believe it. I read a comment that helped me out and perhaps it will help you. The person said, “God is unique. God is the only one perfectly capable of both righteously hating someone and mercifully loving them.” In His righteousness He hates sin and the sinner who sins, but in His mercy, which springs from His nature of love, He loves them. Another has said, “Hopefully you can see how it is the hatred of God against our sin that makes His love toward us so incredibly spectacular.” After writing in most solemn terms of man’s horrible sinful condition, the apostle Paul wrote these precious words to believers in Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Believers can rejoice in God’s holiness and perfect hatred of sin, and we can praise Him for His love that found a way to save us from sin and the judgment it deserves. (169.1) (DO)