The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Brenda Rivera of Orlando, Florida from the tape, GC 1301-O, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 17."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1978. All Rights Reserved.

Question

We got into a discussion in our Bible Study about the fact that God hates sin but not the sinner. Now Satan is a created being even though he is like the personification of sin, does God hate Satan?

Answer

Well, you’re asking a very technical question. When we say God hates sin and doesn’t hate the sinner, you’re really drawing a fine line. God looked on all His creation and said that it was good, so that basically what God created He adores, He considers the work of His hand, and man, though the image of God is marred is none the less made in the image of God. So, the New Testament says God loves the world, God loves all men. It even says that we are to do good unto all men especially of the household of faith, so we are to do good to all men for they are made in the image of God. There is a sense in which no matter what we do in our lives, God still loves what we are as the expression of His creation. But He hates the sin.

Now I think that is also true in the case of Satan or in the case of the demons or anything else. The angels, God created them and in so far as they reflect and represent His creative power and His creative wisdom; God honors that by, whatever we want to call it, I mean He looks at it as good. OK? He looks at it as if it were positive, in the sense that it was the expression of His creation. But whenever sin taints a being, whether it’s angelic or human, God hates the sin. Now in our minds it’s difficult for us to separate that, but in God’s mind it’s possible. I think we try to do that, for example in Ephesians chapter 4 it says “we are to speak the truth in love.” Now in order to do that you have to love the sinner while hating the sin. So I think in the case of Satan, God does not hate the being as such, He hates what sin has made that being.

Now let me go a step further, there are places in the Bible where it even says, “God hates a sinner” or “God hates an evil man.” But we have to understand that in the context, it’s reflecting that God hates that sin and what sin has made of that individual.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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