-------Does God Hate?-------

This article is written in response to some websites out there that are supposedly Christian but the message comes across as self righteous and is definitely not what Jesus would do. These sites remind me of the Pharisees who Jesus criticized severely for the same reason He would chastise these self righteous so called Christian websites of today. They know about God but do not God is.

One particularly appalling website is the one posted by Westboro Baptist Church. The home page for this church is titled God Hates Fags Dot Com.

Does God hate people who are homosexuals? Definitely not.

"16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John Chapter 3

God loves every single person equally. God does not play favorites. The problem that man has with God is that man is sinful. Every person from Adam until now is a sinner. Sin separates man from God. God hates this separation because He loves man. However, God is Holy and Just and cannot fellowship with a sinner. There had to be a provision for sin to be removed so God could have fellowship with man once again.

This is why He sent His only begotten son Jesus, who is actually God in the flesh, to die on the cross so He Himself could bear the penalty that our sin requires. Our response to this should be to believe and trust in the sacrifice that God made.

"3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" Timothy 1 Chapter 2

God's desire is that all men believe in Jesus Christ so they can be rescued from their sin. There is no other way to God, contrary to what the world teaches.

If man chooses not to believe in Christ, then that man rejects the provision made for his salvation and will spend an eternity in hell separated from God. Why would God do this? The reason is that he given man the freedom of choice. No one is forced to go to heaven and no one is forced to go to hell. It has always been and always will be man's choice.

Those who deny Christ and want nothing to do with Him will get the same response from God who will say, "Fine, have it your way, I will nothing to do with you either."

God does not hate sinners. He loves them so much He died for them. God does hate sin because that is what separates us from Him.

The Westboro Baptist Church seems to have misread their Bible. They are attacking the homosexual community which is not the way to spread the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Jesus died for you so you don't have to pay the penalty for your sin. This is the message the church is supposed to be carrying to the homosexual community.

The homosexual community is not the only thing this church attacks. They have a little counter on their page that counts the number of people God has sent to hell from the time you loaded their web page. How would they know that?

There are things that God does hate.

"For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for [one] covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously." Malachi 2:16

Same verse translated, "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith."

God hates divorce. Divorce breaks up families and causes many behavior problems in children. Our jails and prisons are filled with people who came from divorced families.

God hates violence. Violence is glorified in all of our entertainment media. The result of violence is great tragedies for families and the cities are crawling with street gangs and crooks who live for violence.

"22 Neither shall you set you up any image; which the LORD your God hates." Deut. Chapter 16.

God hates idolatry. There is only true God and the Bible identifies Him as Jesus Christ. The worship of anything else is idolatry, which God hates. Idolatry comes from demonic influence.

It is interesting to note that the religion of Islam does not acknowledge Christ as God therefore they would be guilty of idolatry which God hates. Also the Islamic bible known as the Koran teaches its followers to kill Christians or Jews if they cannot be converted to Islam. Killing is an act of violence which God hates.

God hates sin. The proper response of man is to acknowledge he is a sinner then ask God to forgive him through the shed blood of Christ. The improper response is to point out the sin of others and thank God you are not like them. This is called self deceit

Christians have to face enough persecution in this world as it is. They do not need fools like the Westboro Baptist Church to fuel the fire.

Copyright 2010 by Gary Goodworth

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