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“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.” — Proverbs 6:16-19

My wife and I have generally discouraged our sons from using the word “hate.” There’s a good reason for this: typically, it comes out of their mouths in anger, derision, negativity, or disgust. When you hear your young child talk about “hate,” it just doesn’t sound right. That’s because our hatred as fallen humans is generally self-serving.

The problem occurs when we apply that idea to God. This leads us to avoid using “harsh”-sounding language in presenting who God is and how he relates to humanity. We may lean towards considering his love without considering his hate. But there’s an immense difference between God and us: He is perfect, holy, and righteous. Therefore, even his hatred is perfect, holy, and righteous. If he hates something, it deserves hatred.

Love and Hate

Yet, God is love (1 John 4:8). Most of us know and are comfortable with this statement. Even those who deny Christ like the sentiment of what they think it means. In fact, the fruit of God’s love in our lives is one of the signs that we know God. God’s steadfast love is the foundation of our hope.

Yet for God to be good and to be love, it requires that he be opposed to evil, sin, and all wickedness. The theologian John Frame writes, “God cannot love goodness without hating evil. The two are opposite sides of the same coin, positive and negative ways of describing the same virtue…In the final analysis, then, it is biblical and edifying to say that God by nature is throughout eternity passionately opposed to evil. This hatred pervades all his thoughts and actions. God is the supreme hater of wickedness.”¹ The answer to the title question of this blog is “yes,” God does hate something, and that is wickedness.

Perhaps you are more relativistic and think you can love without hating anything. You might say, “There’s room for everyone’s opinions and choices.” This sounds nice, but it does not work out in real-time. If you say you love justice, it means you hate the thing or person who robs others of justice. If you say you love people who are faithful to their spouses, then it means you hate infidelity. Whatever it is you love will drive whatever it is you hate.

Wickedness and the wicked

This proverb clarifies that God hates both wickedness and the wicked. This list of seven things God hates includes actions and people. God hates pride (haughty eyes), deception (a lying tongue), and murder (hands that shed innocent blood). Those are things God hates as actions carried out by people.

Then we read that God hates someone who plots wicked schemes (a heart that devises wicked plans), quickly does evil things (feet that make haste to run to evil), slanders others (a false witness), or causes division and strife in a community or family (one who sows discord among brothers).

Note that this list crescendos with the person who sows discord. This is a particularly grievous evil to God. God hates those who aim to divide people when they should love one another. For us to walk in the fear of the Lord, we must learn to hate what God hates. Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.”

God’s love for sinners

How, then, can God love anyone? The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The answer is that God’s love found a way to satisfy the demands of God’s justice so that we no longer have to experience the consequences of God’s hate. We were all at one time children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), meaning that God’s hatred was directed at us. The truth is, that’s what we deserve for our sin against God.

God’s love found a way to satisfy the demands of God’s justice so that we no longer have to experience the consequences of God’s hate.

But God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4), and in his great love, he sent his only Son that we might not die but have eternal life (John 3:16). On the cross, we see the meeting of God’s love for us and his hatred for wickedness. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, so loved us, that he willingly took the just punishment for our sins. God’s wrath against sin fell on him. Now, for all who are called by his name, we no longer have to fear the hatred of God. Rather, we walk in the love of God by his grace through faith.

God loves us so much that he didn’t just leave us in our sin. Rather, he hated our sin so much, that he destroyed sin and death forever for us. Therefore, even his hatred is an expression of his love for all who confess the name of Jesus. Yes, God does hate wickedness and the wicked, but in Christ, God has made away for everyone to repent of their sins and receive eternal life, no matter how evil they are. In Christ, you can become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), are recipient of his grace and love. The best response to this mercy and grace from God is Paul’s praise: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33).

1. John M. Frame, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2013), 272-273. ↩︎