The Biblical Meaning of "Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin" & "Do Not Judge"

[Thordis]

Is 'Love the sinner, hate the sin' biblical?

"Love the sinner, hate the sin," while a common saying among Christians, is not a phrase found in the Bible. However, the concept is biblical. Jude 1:22–23 says, "And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh." These verses tell us to extend mercy and compassion for people, and hate for the sin.

God can perfectly hate sin and sinners in all holiness while also perfectly loving sinners and desiring they repent and receive forgiveness (Psalm 5; 11; Malachi 1:3; Revelation 2:6; 2 Peter 3:9). As human beings, we cannot love perfectly nor hate perfectly (without malice). So we need the reminder to love the sinner yet hate the sinful action. We are called to love others and also "to keep oneself unstained from the world" (James 1:27). "Love the sinner, hate the sin" is one way to do this.

Christians are called to follow God's character of love. "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:8–10). Notice that God loved us before we loved Him. We should follow that example with those around us.

We can love those around us (all sinners) through respect (1 Peter 2:17), praying for them (1 Timothy 2:1), and telling them about Jesus, regardless of their apparent or hidden sin.

We know sin leads to death (James 1:15; Romans 6:23) and that we should speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). It is not wrong to prayerfully point out the sin in people's lives, as long as we can do so with love and respect for the person. In fact, it is unloving to allow people to remain stuck in their sin. Most importantly, we need to tell people about Jesus.

We love people by treating them with dignity and respect as well as by caring enough about them to share the truth of Christ. We hate sin by not condoning or excusing it. In both our love for the sinner and our hate for the sin, we must be careful to act in a way that honors God, letting our reasonableness be known (Philippians 4:5) and speaking with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).

What does the Bible mean when it says we are not to judge others?

Matthew 7:1-2 records Jesus teaching, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." From this, many—Christian and non-Christian alike—have adopted the concept that we are not to judge one another. But what exactly does that mean?

The Greek word used for "judge" in Matthew 7:1 is the same as that used to refer to God's judgments in Revelation 19:11. In short, to "judge" is to separate, determine, or pronounce an opinion concerning right or wrong. Only God can accurately judge, for only He sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7; Psalm 139:1, 23-24).

It is interesting to note that following Jesus' command is a warning; we will be judged in the same way we judge others. Often when we think of those who are "judgmental," we think of hypocritical or self-righteous people. When we are eager to judge others, it is usually because we are eager to boost our own self-concept. Judgmental people generally do not live up to their own standards of morality. To assuage their own sense of failure or guilt, they begin comparing themselves with others, usually condemning the other in an attempt to make themselves feel acceptable.

Jesus elaborated on this when He said, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:3-5). When we are focused on the shortcomings of others, we are blinded to our own faults. We become like the servant who was forgiven a great debt yet failed to extend the same mercy to a lesser debtor (Matthew 18:21-35). Failing to see our sins impedes our ability to enjoy fellowship with Christ and to cooperate with His work of sanctification. Our blindness also precludes us from being able to help another believer along the path of righteousness. The blind cannot lead the blind.

Though we are not to judge others in the condemnatory sense explained above, we are called to be discerning. We have a responsibility to distinguish good from evil and light from darkness (Isaiah 5:20). We should first check our own motives and our hearts for any unrecognized planks (Jeremiah 17:9), but we cannot merely say that we should not judge and therefore cannot call anything wrong. Our world is filled with sins and lies. We are to judge these things. Jesus told His followers, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment" (John 7:24). First Corinthians 2:14-16 says, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ." When we are submitted to Christ, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to direct us into truth and right judgment (John 16:13).

Our judgments should first be regarding matters of truth. First John 4:1 cautions, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." Once we have judged what is truth, we may then need to make a judgment concerning another person. This is not to say that we condemn that person. Rather, we judge the actions of the person and, accordingly, how we should relate with that person. If we judge a person to be a false prophet, based on the objective criteria of God's Word, we should not listen to his teachings. If we judge the actions of a fellow believer to be out of line with God's Word, we can gently correct him (Galatians 6:1; 1 Timothy 5:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). If he refuses to change, then we may need to stop relating with him as a fellow believer and relate with him instead as we would an unbeliever (Matthew 18:15-17).

The key to understanding Jesus' teaching is to look at the condition of one's own heart. We are to make proper judgments about right and wrong, but not out of pride or self-righteousness. We are not to take God's place in judging. We are not to condemn others. However, we are to be discerning and act appropriately on truth.

https://www.compellingtruth.org/

[Nazarene]

Amen

[Thanas Django]

Personally, I think very few people will pay mind to this thread.

There are lots of good things described within the text of the opening post of course. I am not doubting that.

What I am saying is that there is only a certain level where this content can be discussed.

Most people are currently on the automaton level where they deal with everything as it comes to them, have no goals and are just levitating from dopamine rush to dopamine rush.

You can't talk to them about the log in their eyes, because their inexperience does not allow them to see the log. They can just see everyone else causing directly or inadvertedly pain to them and they according to their temperament they chaotically combat it or let it slide as it comes to them.

However, there is a point in our lives where we need to sit down and carve out a path for ourselves, and that's when we start seeing our logs, our limitations and the path helps you to deal with it the right way and gives you the capability to help your brother or sister in need. That's why Donald Duck has the best intentions to fix your car but always makes a mess out of it and it's better to go to a real mechanic.

As for love, many Christians tell themselves that all of God's actions come out of love and that he loves the whole of the creation and while that may be true, humans themselves cannot fathom love in its entirety and they cannot project their own lives across a millenium to see which action is the best to take.

So, we help our invalid neighbour move around on a wheelchair whilst not giving him the opportunity to develop his arm muscles so he can move himself and be independent and we think we are doing a good deed.


Christianity is not about huggles, it's about a constant struggle against the shadow. In a way, Christianity in its purest form is war against everything that tries to seduce you into an automatic pilot type of hedonistic sleep. Our weapons are not spears, attack drones or even fists, but our tongues our speech. Our playing field is not yet to come but it is here and now. What we will receive after we die will be a projection of what we accomplished here.