Bible Study 2

You might want to pass on reading this;  it's probably going to stir you up.

I'm presently reading through Psalms and Proverbs.  For some reason, two verses seemed to stand out to me today:

Psalm 11:5
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who diligently seek me will find me.

This connected to something I read recently in the book, Radical, by David Platt:
...God is a loving Father, but he is also a wrathful Judge.  In his wrath he hates sin.  Habakkuk prayed to God, "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;  you cannot tolerate wrong."  And in some sense, God also hates sinners.  You might ask, "What happened to 'God hates the sin and loves the sinner'?"  Well, the Bible happened to it.  One psalmist said to God, "The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;  you hate all who do wrong."  Fourteen times in the first fifty psalms we see similar descriptions of God's hatred toward sinners, his wrath toward liars, and so on.  In the chapter in the gospel of John where we find one of the most famous verses concerning God's love (3:16), we also find one of the most neglected verses concerning God's wrath (3:36).

Most of us have a hard time considering a God who hates.  We've been taught that "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world...".  This is most certainly true!

However, God is also a holy God who cannot tolerate the presence of evil!  Consequently, He hates the evil-doer because of the evil that the person does!  The instant that person turns to God in repentance, however, God's love kicks in with forgiveness and restoration.

One step further:  When a believer slips into sinful actions, thoughts, or attitudes, we also begin a process that could lead to alienation from God.  His Spirit convicts us of this sin so that we can change our actions, thoughts, or attitudes - and once again become pleasing to Him!

Hebrews 12:6 (TM)
It's the child He loves that He disciplines;  the child He embraces, He also corrects.

Comments welcome...