HOW CAN I HATE THE SIN BUT LOVE THE SINNER? – PART 2
Your Standard Must Always Be JESUS
This is a follow-up to my answer to the question that was sent to me:
“Explain this to me: ‘Hate the sin but be loving to the sinner.’”
In my previous writing, I discussed the different types of love — for example, love for my wife, love for my family, and then love for my neighbor — and how our LORD wants me to love my neighbor with a particular kind of love.
In this follow-up, I want to draw our attention to two extremely important matters, because it is the desire of our LORD’s heart that not one of us should be lost.
The first is — that we must never make the sinner our standard of measurement, but rather, our standard is Jesus Christ and His command to us as His children.
The second important warning is the evil temptation of the enemy that can one day keep me out of Heaven because of racial hatred in my heart.
If I look only at what is in our Lord’s Word, for the people in South Africa — those who, so to speak, hold the Bible in their hands and tell everyone what great Christians they are, but at the same time proclaim, “We are separate from you,” even when it comes to faith in Christ — and if you want to show them from the Word that this is wrong, they sometimes become angry and even shout at you:
“Look at what those people are doing to our people!”
Often, you don’t even get the chance to tell them that we must not use the so-called “them” as the standard for how I, as a Christian, must live and share the gospel — my standard must always be Jesus.
That is why we have so miserably failed in the past in proclaiming Jesus’ gospel of love — because there has been, wrongfully of course, a false gospel proclaimed by some that says: “The gospel of Jesus is a white man’s gospel, made for white people, excluding those who are not white.”
But we who proclaim the true and pure gospel of Jesus Christ know and understand — to quote just one example from our Lord’s precious Word:
Revelation 5:9 – And they sang a new song [of glorious redemption], saying, “Worthy and deserving are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
Unfortunately, satan succeeds in getting some to preach an evil gospel and to truly believe in their hearts (because that is how it was preached to them) that this is the way they should proclaim it. And satan uses, with great success, that weakness in the natural human heart: “We are a slightly higher and better quality of people than they are.”
What makes this mindset even worse and more evil than the first I mentioned, is when I believe that I, and only those like me, are the chosen ones of our Lord.
I must take the second part of Jesus’ command to love very, very seriously, and do everything in my power to live it out the way Jesus wants me to live it out.
Because love for my neighbor is part of holiness, and without holiness, I will have a problem at the grave:
Hebrews 12:14 – Continually pursue peace with everyone, and the sanctification without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.
If, after the grave, I will not see God, that means I arrived on the other side without Jesus!
Then, as I understand the Word, the gates of Heaven will be shut to me, with all my religion:
Matthew 25:11–12 – Later the other virgins also came, and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open [the door] for us.’ But He replied, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I do not know you [we have no relationship].’
If, after accepting Jesus as my Savior and Redeemer, I do not proclaim His gospel with His love for my neighbor, I will open my eyes on the other side of the grave without Jesus and tumble into the abyss of hell:
Matthew 7:21–23 – Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day [when I judge them], ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them publicly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me [you are banished from My presence], you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].’
Because you see:
Romans 13:8–9 – Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled [the essence of] the law [relating to one’s fellowman]. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
In my human weakness, I must understand:
Romans 6:19 – I am speaking in familiar human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you presented your body members as slaves to impurity and to moral lawlessness, leading to further lawlessness, so now offer your members [your abilities, your talents] as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.
Romans 6:22 – But now since you have been set free from sin and have become willing slaves to God, you have your benefit, resulting in sanctification [being made holy], and the outcome [of this is] eternal life.
Now I must always watch and pray, because I remember:
1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
I must watch that I am not devoured by satan — and that it cannot be said of me, in my self-satisfied religion, because of the hatred and contempt in my heart:
2 Peter 2:20–22 – For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world by [personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have personally known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then turned back from the holy commandment handed down to them. The proverb is true that has happened to them: “The dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “A sow is washed only to wallow [again] in the mire.”
That is why we must constantly be alert and careful, making sure we have on the full armor of our Lord:
Ephesians 6:14–18 – So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability]. Above all, lift up the protective shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding] for all God’s people.
The more fully we have this armor on, the better we will be able to do what Jesus is telling us in His Word:
1 Peter 5:9–11 – But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack—rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be]. To Him be dominion (power, authority, sovereignty) forever and ever. Amen.
2 Peter 3:9–11 – The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is extraordinarily patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the [material] elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and the works that are on it will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be [in the meantime] in holy behavior and in godliness [displaying profound reverence toward our awesome God]…
Allow me to share again our Lord Jesus Christ’s commands of love:
Matthew 22:36–40 – “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And Jesus replied to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].” The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
And listen — this is still Jesus speaking about His love between you and me for Him:
John 15:10 – If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
Sakkie