What Is Holy Hatred?

Though it may be difficult for some to hear, there’s such a thing as holy hatred. The reason it exists is sin. By definition, sin means to “miss the mark,” which refers to the divine standard of God. Since God is infinitely more righteous than sin (or sinners), He is intrinsically separate from it (or them) - we call this separation “spiritual death”. Since “God is love” (1 John 4:8), He exists in the sphere of love, exclusively, and there’s no place for sin’s defining characteristic, namely hate. A person still “dead in their trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) abides in the sphere of hate and therefore is under the wrath of God.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
God’s hatred towards unbelievers is very real. We should never shirk our responsibility of telling the truth about this just because it is distasteful to human sensibilities. To hell with so-called “political correctness”; what’s more important, integrity to God or saving face with others? By hiding the truth about God’s holy hatred towards the unregenerate, we are undermining the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is upon the conviction of this wrath that a person will repent of their sins. With that said, we must understand the fullness of holy hatred (aka God’s hatred of sin and sinners, alike).

We mustn’t misappropriate our own emotions when it comes to holy hatred. God’s hatred towards sin and sinners is distinctly different than the hatred mere man naturally thinks of when he feels he’s been transgressed against, personally. Man is far from being infinitely righteous, so when he uses self-righteousness as the basis of his hatred, the result is infinitesimally smaller than the holy hatred I just described above. We might learn from David here, whose hatred was a manifestation of God’s.

In the LORD I take refuge;
 how can you say to my soul,
“Flee like a bird to your mountain,

for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”

The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

The LORD tests the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Let him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

For the LORD is righteous;
 he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.
David rightly understood God’s hatred of evildoers (Psalm 5:5; 11:5). I wonder what David would have to say to the contemporary Christians who have rejected this notion that God hates sinners.

Another way to think about this is in terms of the distinction between darkness and light. Darkness is the absence of light, just like evil is the absence of good, and hate is the absence of love. These three descriptions are essentially describing characteristics of the sphere of sin versus the sphere of God. The sphere of sin is the absence of the sphere of God (in other words, whatever’s in God’s sphere is not in the sphere of sin - e.g., love). Therefore, the only thing left in the absence of love is hate. Since an unbeliever abides in the sphere of sin, from God’s perspective, they abide in hate.

Phew! This is powerful stuff, huh? In the absence of divine viewpoint, you might wrongly think I’m preaching that there’s no love extended to unbelievers, only hatred. But, you’d be wrong.

God’s love does, in fact, extend outwards towards those He hates (unbelievers). The Bible calls this “grace.” Grace is the unmerited favor of God. We might summarize as follows: God shows His love (e.g., grace/mercy) to His creatures because of who He is, not because of what He sees in fallen man.

Biblical grace (not the kind that man has invented to accommodate human sensibilities) is the great revelation of the character and nature of God. Sin necessitated the Cross of Jesus Christ; grace accomplished the work. How many of us can say that we show this kind of grace? We certainly don’t naturally, that’s for sure! We might do so as a result of being sanctified in Christ, but that’s the only hope we have.

Sanctification means to be made increasingly like God - to love others because of who we are, in Christ, rather than for who they are (even as unbelievers).

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
What about those passages in Holy Scripture which clearly reveal a hatred towards sin and sinners? Is there a type of hatred we might relate to? Let’s look at David, whom God spoke of, “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22).

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Apparently, David hated those who hated the Lord God. What say you of this? Is it wrong in light of what we know Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, “But I say to you, Love your enemies”? Since God isn’t a god of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), we must labor to reconcile these two things in our souls.

“David hated, but his hatred was like God’s hatred; it proceeded from no evil emotion, but rather from the earnest and thoroughly sincere desire that the purpose of God must stand and that wickedness must perish. Had David not hated, he would have desired the success of evil and the downfall of God, Himself. It is well to keep these thoughts in mind when we consider the nature of David’s hatred.”
Holy hatred against those who stand opposed to God is justified and righteous. The Bible is chock full of passages which speak to this type of hatred (the key to unlocking the Word of God is always to understand the context in which a concept is given). For example:

There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
Once again, we see that God’s hatred is directed towards sinners in v19. Does this diminish His love at all? Does the existence of this holy hatred contradict His grace and mercy towards unbelievers? Not at all! In fact, it actually amplifies the magnitude of His grace and love all the more! By understanding how real and justified His hatred is towards the unredeemed, we are given the scale of His grace, which is motivated by His love. It’s literally beyond measure!

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
As believers, we are given so much incredible insight into the heart and soul of God. He has made us new and given us the spiritual faculties to begin understanding the boundless grace and love that His salvific plan entails. As He sanctifies us, we’re able to love as He does, because of the goodness imparted to us. This is why we are able to abide in Jesus’ command to love our enemies; because we abide in the sphere of God’s love.

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
The Bible teaches us that the hatred of sin, from God’s perspective, is both justified and righteous. As we are sanctified, our understanding of this begins to take its full form, which amplifies why all humans should fear Him. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Enter the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the revelation of God’s love, which extends His grace to creatures whom He abhors. What else can I write? I’m blown away.

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins