“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”

Romans 12:9

Hating people who commit sin and hating sin are not the same thing. It can become very difficult to see the fine line that separates this. People who think differently than you are not your enemy. Other Christians are not your enemy. No person should be the object of your hate. That does not mean we are to have an attitude of apathy and indifference to sin. On the contrary, we need to see sin for what it is and the way that people are constantly tempted and controlled by it, beginning with ourselves. Are we any better than others when we overlook our own sin in order to attack others who are practicing sin? Of course not. The problem is the same. That is why Jesus prescribed and practiced love, grace, and humility when dealing with matters of sinful practice. What seemed to bother Jesus even more than those who were sinning against God were those who wanted to kill and harm rather than help those trapped in sin. Paul called it “zeal without knowledge” (Romans 10:2). He continues, “Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness” (Rm. 10:3). The things that we get impassioned about often do not echo the things that Jesus was impassioned about. Not intending to, we establish our own righteousness in the name of Jesus.

He had more than a few times during his ministry to respond to sinful behavior with hate and violence. He would have been justified in casting stones since he indeed had no sin. But, that was not the way he sought to establish His Kingdom and His Righteousness. He does not threaten and bully people into the Kingdom, he loves them in. He graciously forgives and takes responsibility for mankind’s sin by dying on the cross for them to be saved. He was able to see that sin was killing people. And so, he nailed sin to the cross and invited those who would receive his love to follow. Following Jesus’ way means that we trust his plan and his purpose to be better than our own. His way does not ask “would you kill for me” but, “would you die for me”? After all, love must be sincere.