Love The Sinner – Hate The Sin

There is a saying in the church, “Love the sinner – hate the sin”. But like many sayings in the church, the reasoning behind it is flawed and unscriptural. Such sayings belong to a bygone age of the church and should have long since been forgotten.

An Eye for an Eye…

A lot of the errors that we are seeing in the church are caused by confusion over the truth which causes some Christians to cling to Old Testament ideals. Jesus came to refute such erroneous thinking. In the Old Testament we see the phrase, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” This phrase comes from Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; and Deuteronomy 19:21. Jesus debunked this saying as He sought to implement a new and better covenant – a covenant based on unconditional love.

³⁸ "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' ³⁹ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

Matthew 5:38-42

What is Sin?

We have to ask ourselves what sin is. Sin is the reaction of the soul to an absence of God; it is the nature, character and personality of a person who is in need of the love of God, which is the nature of God. Compassion allows us to see people who we would once have labelled as “wicked” or “evil” as being people who are in need of love and making a cry for help.

Judgementalism and Pride

The phrase “Love the Sinner – Hate the Sin” is incorrect because it encourages Christians to take the moral high ground and to judge, criticize, reject and condemn the nature, character and personality of others.

¹ "Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ³ And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus told people not to judge others in Matthew 7:1-5. He also went on to explain how people tend to judge other people as a means of projecting their own issues onto them. Other people become a smokescreen for the very issues which they are seeking to divert attention away from. This is something that the Pharisees did when they brought the woman to Jesus, in John 8. The Pharisees were willing to stone this woman to death because of her adultery. These men wanted to test Jesus, as well as diverting attention away from their own sin.

In effect, loving the sinner and hating the sin is like accepting the person but not accepting their personality. But the personality and character of a person is who they are. So to hate their sin is to hate who they are.

I know that the Bible says that God no longer sees our sin and that Jesus has already bore our old nature upon Himself upon the cross. Nevertheless, if we choose to judge a person according to the expression of his carnal nature, we may end-up not walking in love towards that person as we ought to. If we judge another believer in this way, we react according to what our five senses tell us, rather than what the Bible says we should believe according to faith.

Love With All Discernment

We must, of course, love with all discernment. I believe there are too many naive Christians who believe that they should just trust everybody with everything. But the Bible actually says that we should be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16).

Condoning Wrongdoing

As Christians, we are not to condone a person’s wrong beliefs, attitudes, motives, ideologies and behaviour. But at the same time we are to be cautious about criticizing and judging them according to who they, what they believe and how they behave. It is difficult for people to change long-held beliefs, traditions and bad habits. We should only seek to confront and challenge a person about their sin, if you know it will do them and/or other people some good.

We do not have to condone or agree with what a person does and how they behave. But if you hate their personality and behaviour, it will only lead to acrimony and discord between you. Galatians 5:26 says, “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”