Pastor Emeritus Writes:
Love and Hate

The Psalmist said "Hate evil, you who love the Lord". Psalm 97:10

Is there such a thing as "holy hatred"? Yes, there is. It may seem a contradiction in terms, but it is true. Love and hate are inseparable. You cannot love something or someone and be indifferent to the things that oppose it or them. The simple truth is, if you love good, you hate evil. That is why the Scriptures say "hate evil, you who love the Lord". In Proverbs you read, "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and every evil way ....". In the Psalm that is all about God's Word, we read, "From Thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way".

Yes, holy hatred is one of the characteristics of godly love. If you love God you must hate evil .... God does.

There is a love that God hates .... John tells us in his Epistles which are brimful of love, that we must not love the world .... The world system is under Satan's power. His kingdom is designed to oppose all that is of God .... and, when we go along with that system, we do not please God. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you.

If you love the world, you are engaging in something God hates.

Alas, many Christians flirt with the world .... flirt with the very things they have been saved from .... such is the deceptive power of the Enemy. Don't be fashioned by the world or let it squeeze you into its mould .... You have all the resources in our Lord Jesus to overcome. Satan and the world have nothing to offer you .... Some day his kingdom will be gone for ever .... This is what John says "The world is passing away and also its lusts but the one who does the will of God abides for ever".

One of the reasons why the "church" has lost its authority is that it is often trying to make itself acceptable to the world .... It can't be done!

Read through John's epistle and see how definite the contrast is between the children of God and the children of Satan.

May your love learn to hate.

Proverbs 6:16-19. You will read of the 7 things God hates.

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