Does God Love the Sinner, but hate the Sin?

Usually, Troll doesn’t just plow into a topic that falls into the area of Ogre, but today will be different.  Two of my dear friends, in the same week, used the old saw “God loves the sinner, but hates the sin.” In both instances, I stated that I did not agree, but in neither case was the circumstance appropriate to elaborate.  Since this perspective is so pervasive in the US, I thought it needed a good discussion.

The statement above implies a couple of things.  First, it implies that deep down inside, man is basically good.  Secondly, it implies that even if the sin of Adam was federally imputed to all of mankind, the role of the Atonement becomes a clearing of the slate.  This further implies that the standard of God can be less than perfection, because Jesus gives the gift that keeps on giving, unless you are Roman Catholic, in which case you’ve got some work to do in Purgatory.  Both of these examples are works theologies, and typical of the liberal perspective.  Let us look at this statement from a theology of Grace instead of a theology of Works.

Is man basically good?  I’ve addressed this issue many times in the past, but here are just a few passages that speak to the issue.  Jeremiah 17:9, Psalms 5:9, 14:1-3, Isaiah 6:5, 59:7-8, Ecclesiastes7:20, and of course Romans 3:9-12.  We have a problem of sin.  Notice how Paul describes the condition of sin in Romans 5:12-21.  He is contrasting the imputation of sin by Adam on the whole human race to the imputation of perfect righteousness by Christ to the elect through the gift of faith from the Holy Spirit.  The problem here is that we are born sinners and we will die sinners.  We require an alien righteousness, a righteousness that is outside of ourselves, a righteousness that we can obtain from someone else, to satisfy the Justice and Glory of God.  And here is the rub: without this alien righteousness, our own deeds, our own works, condemn us to hell. 

Therefore, can we truly say that God loves the sinner?  Perhaps, if we argue that while we were still enemies of God, He provides us with this perfect righteousness, then we can say that God loves us anyway.  But here is the problem with that line of reasoning.  God doesn’t save everyone.  There is an elect remnant, Romans 9, that God has held back for Himself from before time.  For these, He loves us and gives us the free gift through Grace of faith in the meritorious work of Christ on the Cross.  So, does God love us due to any particular virtue of our own?  Of course not.  He loves us because of the imputed righteousness of Christ that is added to our account.  Without this imputed righteousness, He truly does not love us, but instead, we suffer His Just Wrath.

What if we come to the problem from an Arminian, Semi-Pelagian or Roman Catholic perspective of the Atonement?  What does this mean?  The work of Christ on the Cross was sufficient for all people to wipe our slates clean, in these systems.  Our free will, being thus cleansed of sin, is now capable of following the commandments.  Our salvation is based upon our efforts and works during this life.  If we make an effort, God will forgive the rest in the first two cases, or give us a time in Purgatory in the third case.  Now, I’d like for a moment to discuss how this violates the Holiness of God.  We are saying here that God will accept sinful people into heaven.  Check out Matthew 5:48.  The standard is perfection.  No joke.  Perfection.  Dwell on that bad news for a minute.  Do we really expect that God’s love implies that He will simply overlook our sin?

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all who believe in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16.  We all know this verse, but we seem to turn off our brains when reading it and add some stuff that just isn’t there to the equation.  God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all who believed in Him and followed the commandments and took one step towards Him and prayed the prayer at the altar call and voted Republican would not perish, but have everlasting life.  Hmmm.  All that stuff is not actually in there, (except the bit about voting Republican.  It’s in the Grand Old Pachyderm Revised Standard Version (GOPRSV).)  As C.S.Lewis put it in the Screwtape Letters, just get them to add something to the Gospel, add anything to the Gospel, and then it’s no longer the gospel.  What this verse does say is that the work of Jesus on the Cross is 100% efficacious for all believers.  This means that salvation is based upon faith alone.  Certainly, I could have selected many other passages, particularly in the Pauline epistles, that are more explicit on this subject, but this is from John, and it is very well known.

Finally, God hates sin.  God abhors sin.  Any who sin, or are born in the condition of sin in Adam, in other words everyone, is condemned to hell.  God went about a rescue mission for an elect remnant of native vines and wild vines (Jews and Gentiles) in which He not only provides a perfect sacrifice that turns away God’s wrath, but also reconciles us to God through Christ Jesus’ blood.  Our sin, the sin of all believers, before we were born, was imputed to Christ.  His righteousness was imputed to all believers, and this righteousness is credited to our account on the Last Day.  Therefore, He lived the Life we could not live.  He died the death we could not die as a perfect sacrifice.  He arose from death and ascended into Heaven, becoming the firstborn from the dead.  On the Last Day, He will raise all of us and clothe His elect in His own righteousness, so that we may walk boldly in Judgment, confident in a perfect righteousness that isn’t our own.  God gets to see us through this perfect righteousness and His Holiness and Justice remains intact.  God, in this way, is not diminished by our sin.  We are accepted immediately and completely, full inheritors of His Kingdom.

Why did God go through all of this for us?  I’m sure He’ll tell us all someday.  Until that Day, the Last Day, we must trust in the scripture and believe.  Our reaction to this gift of faith and mercy is obedience and humility.  We will sin again and again as long as our bodies are IN Adam (until we die), and though it drives us nuts and upsets us that we cannot be the perfect man that Christ was, we persevere in the certain hope that our Salvation is secured in Christ.

That, my friends is why I do not agree with the opening proposition.  The theology of works is not my claim to salvation.  I’ll take grace, thank you.  Don’t give me what I deserve.  I’ll simply accept that free gift that the Holy Spirit has given me.  As bad is the bad news really is, the Good News is much better than you can possibly imagine.

--Troll--

It’s the Only way….

Let’s start with the obvious verse: John 14:6. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus says that He is the Only way.  But we are going to be talking about more than just One Only; we have five more only’s to discuss.

Everyone who calls himself a Christian believes that salvation comes by grace, through faith, in Jesus, to the glory of God as recorded in scripture.  But let’s pump up the claim.  Let’s make it big.  Let’s make it loud.  Let’s make it “only.”

Salvation comes by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Jesus alone, to the Glory of God alone as recorded in Scripture alone.  Now, we have something to talk about.  Now, we’ve gone and upset the apple cart.  Now, people are going to scratch their heads and wave us off.  What’s all this alone business?

Grace alone.  Sola Gratia.  This means that salvation, justification and sanctification, are by the action of the triune God alone.  We have nothing to offer to the equation.  We are fallen creatures who have no ability to operate in the vertical direction towards God.  We contribute nothing to our salvation.  What do we have to offer anyway?  Every part of us, every aspect of our natures, every thought, word and deed that originates with us is tainted by sin.  Therefore, all of our contributions are unworthy of God.  We cannot satisfy the perfection required by God.  Our condition of sin, inherited from the federal headship of Adam, prevents any offering from being sufficient to contribute to our salvation.  That leaves Grace.  Fortunately, God’s Grace is sufficient, even for us.  Grace alone.

Faith alone.  Sola Fide.  We receive this grace by faith.  Faith alone.  Receiving only.  We do not seek.  No one seeks God.  No, not even one.  God finds His own.  God gives us the gift of faith.  We receive this faith and believe.  There are no actions that can add anything to this faith.  As we stated above, what could we do that would have any value in God’s eyes?  Nothing.  And so it is faith alone.

In Jesus alone.  Sola Christus.  Faith must have an object.  In Grace alone, we learned that faith has a subject, and it is Jesus.  But there must also be an object.  The object is also Jesus.  Jesus does it all.  What do we contribute?  Nothing.  What can we contribute?  Nothing.  Jesus does all of the work.  His resurrection is sufficient.  His resurrection propitiaties, atones, expiates, justifies, reconciles, sanctifies, saves.  Jesus alone.

To the Glory of God alone.  Sola Deo Gloria.  If we think we can help out with this, then we are trying to steal God’s Glory.  We are attempting to place ourselves on His level.  We are idolatrous of ourselves, our egos.  Of course, this isn’t possible.  It was always about God.  The Glory of God.  The perfect sacrifice to appease the Wrath of God and reconcile His people to Himself is made by Himself to the Glory of Himself.  To the Glory of God alone.

Scripture alone.  Sola Scriptura.  There is no second book.  There is no 29^th chapter of Acts.  There is no continuation of prophesy.  There is no magisterium.  There is no modern day prophet who speaks of things other than Jesus.  The prophets in the Old Testament pointed to Jesus.  Jesus points to Himself.  Revelations and the other Eschatological passages of the New Testament point to the Second Coming of Jesus.  It all points to Jesus.  We have it all already.  It’s called Scripture.  It is our most precious possession.  It is our guide.  It is our teacher.  It is the Word.  It testifies to the Word made flesh.  It is Scripture.  Scripture alone.

Jesus said He is the Way.  The Way to what?  Salvation.  Salvation from What?  The Wrath of God.  Why do we need Salvation?  Because we are born in the condition of sin and doomed to die and to suffer eternal separation from God, and we are powerless to change this.  How do we get saved?  By Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Jesus alone, to the Glory of God alone, as testified in Scripture alone.

Those are the five Solas or Only’s of the Reformation.  Those are the words that make us heretics in the eyes of Rome, since the Council of Trent.  Those are the words that most clearly articulate the message of the Bible.  And the key word is Only or Alone.

Unwarranted confidence in human ability is a product of fallen human nature ... God's grace in Christ is not merely necessary but is the sole efficient cause of salvation. We confess that human beings are born spiritually dead and are incapable even of cooperating with regenerating grace. We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God's wrath by his grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life. We deny that salvation is in any sense a human work. Human methods, techniques or strategies by themselves cannot accomplish this transformation. Faith is not produced by our unregenerated human nature. - Cambridge Declaration 

For more on this topic, try this link.

By the way, why are the solas in Latin?  So, Rome could read it and be indicted by the truth!

--Troll--