Christian journey Community Group
This group is here to help you in your journey as a Christian. Questions about purity, living your life for God, even who is God, and what is this religion about can be answered here.
I have left a discussion group about the Bible when one person kept claiming "God loves everyone" I responded with "Then how come God states "Jacob I loved, but Essau I hated" Well needless to say they reject my stance that God does NOT love everyone. He WANTS all to repent and go to him, but he lets them have a choice. But he does NOT love "Everyone"
Like when Jesus said "If you do not hate your life, your family, you cannot be my disciple" I felt that at first this was curious, but then it's obvious that if you are not fully for God/Jesus, then you are against him. After all Jesus said "I came not to bring peace, but division. Son will turn against Father, Daughter against Mother. Luke 12:53 "They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter anddaughter against mother, mother-in-law againstdaughter-in-law and daughter-in-law againstmother-in-law.”
This speaks to me that families will be torn aprt by following fully, Jesus/God or not and those who refuse are to be dismissed/reviled.
What say you?
God doesn't hate the sinner, He hates the sin. He hates the sin that we do, and how we sin against one another. He loved what Jacob did, and who he was. He hated what Esau did, but loved who he was. As you stated, wanting all to repent and go to him is Love. The Price that was paid on The Cross was Love. That Love is for all. We must choose. When someone chooses to follow sin, The Lord hates that, because that person is lost to The Lord. The Lord can't abide in sin. Completely void of The Lord is Hell. I can't imagine His Pain at just one that is lost to Him. No matter that it is very very sadly many that are lost. :( Still Hope is in those that are found and can help find others.
Clearly The Lord hated what Saul did in hunting down and imprisoning and even executing Believers. Saul was there when Stephen was stoned to death. The Lord hated Saul's sin. Saul even stated that he was the chief of sinners. The Lord loved Saul and he got a rebirth Born Again as the Apostle Paul. Love does those things. If God hated anyone, then those at The Crucifixion Of The Father's Only Son would have felt His terrible wrath. The Lord Jesus Christ said to forgive them they know not what they do. That is Love. No one is too far gone, that The Grace Of The Lord can't reach.
When some speak of a Vengeful God in The Old Testament, they often speak of a God that you either prayed to or died. The Lord was just protecting His Children from those who would kill them. That is Love. Turn the other cheek and love your enemy is a great indication that God loves all. If you can't hate your enemy, who is left to hate? Hate blinds us, while Love opens our eyes. It is very easy to hate or justify hate, like it is far easier to destroy then to create. A life that takes months to be born can be taken in an instant. The Lord's Way is The Harder Way, but The Right Way. So to recap, God hates sin and the sin that we do, but he loves us all. I think on the immeasurable pain that He must feel on each loved one lost, and it is humbling. I pray that this was of better understanding and not taken with any disrespect. I apologize if you feel disrespected at all. Thank you and God Bless.
I'm just leaning to the belief that while God wants us all to come to him, he's not about to forget tresspasses and while he will deal with them at the end, the meantime we do need to understand and discuss and come to a conclusion of just who we see or perceive God is.