Ask a Bible Teacher
Q&A

You have written that in
effect Jesus said to
hate the sin but love
the sinner.
My friend says no where
in the Bible does it say
that Jesus or God ever
said hate the sin,
love the sinner.

Answer to Question

Your friend is correct.
Jesus never said hate
the sin, love the sinner
but that's the way He lived.

In the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus re-defined sin to a
previously unheard of level,
essentially saying that
thinking about sinning
is as bad as doing it.

But He was frequently accused
of fraternizing with sinners,
and in fact spent most
if His time with them.

With the woman caught
in the act of adultery,
even though He told her
to stop sinning,
He refused to condemn her
(John 8:11).
The same was true with
the crippled man He healed
in John 5:14.

When they nailed Him
to the cross to kill Him,
He prayed,
"Father forgive them,
for they do not know
what they are doing"
(Luke 23:34).

He never condoned the sin,
but He never condemned
the sinner.

He said,
"I have not come to call
the righteous, but sinners
to repentance "
(Luke 5:32).

His goal in dealing with
sinners was always reconciling
them to God, and He
ultimately accomplished
this with His death.

For God was pleased
to have all his fullness
dwell in him,
and through him to
reconcile to himself
all things,
whether things on earth
or things in heaven,
by making peace through
his blood,
shed on the cross
(Colossian 1:19-20).

Therefore their is now
no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus.
(Romans 8:1).

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