Is a believer supposed to hate? Should we hate Satan?
The Bible does instruct us to love, but it also instructs us to hate. Psalm 97:10 instructs us, “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil…” To truly love the Lord will lead us to hate the things that dishonor Him. In contrast to that, we read in Proverbs 8:36, “But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all THEY THAT HATE ME LOVE DEATH.” In the practical sense, if we hate the Lord, we love death!
As followers or Christ, we need to be instructed as to what to love and what to hate. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:8 that there is, “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” Amos 5:15 tells us to, “Hate the evil, and love the good…” Of course, good and evil is not determined by society. It is determined by what is written in the scriptures.
Just because someone hates and abuses us, that does not mean we should hate that person. Hate towards us does not license us to hate in return. The Lord instructs us in Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
Should we hate Satan? While the Bible does not tell us specifically to hate Satan, it certainly implies it. God the Father is speaking to His Son in Hebrews 1:18-19, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and HATED WICKEDNESS; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” (NIV). While the Father here commends His Son for hating wickedness, we read of Satan being called the ‘wicked one’ in Matthew 13:19, 13:38; 1 John 2:13, etc. We read in Romans 12:9, “Let love be without dissimulation. ABHOR THAT WHICH IS EVIL; cleave to that which is good.” To abhor is to hate in an extreme fashion. Certainly the ‘evil one’ deserves to be abhorred or hated in the extreme.
We saw earlier that we are to “pray for them which despitefully use you.” We pray for those people, seeking their salvation so that they will turn from their wicked ways. There is NO REDEMPTION for Satan. We read of his eternal consequences in Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” There is no hope for Satan, so we should hate him and all he stands for. We should hate all the things the Lord hates. (CC) (537.2)