God's love

Over at Chrisendom, Chris Tilling has had an interesting series of posts on Universalism which I have been engaged in (keep in mind, Chris is not a Universalist but plays the devil's advocate, for the most part). This brings to remembrance the many discussions I have had regarding Universalism (or more specifically, Universal Redemption).

There are many basic fundamental misattributions I find that Universalists ascribe to the teachings of the New Testament. I could go in detail with them, but I will address one that is actually an idea that is prevalent throughout Christianity today (even in circles that are not Universalist), and that is the nature of God's love.

The typical assumption that has been made within much of Christian teaching is the idea that God loves every individual. The conclusion is that since God loves everyone, He will redeem everyone. This stands in contrast with the more Calvinistic view that God loves only the elect. I find both of these views to be wrong.

Secondly, another assumption is made that God loves everyone equally, and that what we do has no effect on how much God loves us whatsoever. But then the opposite of this would be that God's love is purely based only on our obedience. Again, I find both of these views to be wrong.

Lets look into the first statement. We are all familiar with John 3:16, which starts out as "For God so loved the world..." The assumption that is made from reading this is that "world" stands for every single individual residing within the world. From this, many conclude that God loves each and every single individual. However, the Old Testament testifies against this idea. For instance, Psalms 5:5 states that God hates evildoers. Thus, many people will draw the meaning of "world" to refer to the elect, so as to get around this contradiction that "world" equals every individual. This ignores the fact that "world" (kosmos in the Greek) that clearly does not refer to the elect, as John 3:19 indicates the reject of the light that came into the world by men. Both of these ideas are wrong IMO.

What is being said instead is that God loves the world corporately, one might say. God loves the people of the world, though this is not to say that this is without exception whatsoever. The focus is that God loves not a select group, but both the righteous and unrighteous, and because of that love, He sent His Son, who is to be the source of salvation by being a teacher, an example, and a sacrifice. But does this preclude God's hatred of specific individuals? I would say not, and in saying that, John 3:16 is speaking generally and not concerned about the few exceptions there may be if there are some (because that is not the point that is trying to be brought up).

The idea is clearly from the Old Testament that God have a hatred towards some, such as in Psalms 5:5, 11:5, and Malachi 1:2-3. Now the nature of this hatred is not specifically clear, but that it does include wrath and precludes God being pleased with the person and wanting to fellowship with them as they are right there. In saying all this though, it is not as if God does not desire the salvation of even those he hates. Many people hate certain people (wrongly), but if that person would change how they were, they would be willingly accepted and no longer hated. Likewise, God does not desire the death of anyone (Ezekiel 18:32), so if those who he hates would repent, God would no longer be angry with them.

And secondly, God's hatred does not preclude kindness towards those He hates, as Matthew 5:45 testifies. God has some love, some concern for even the unrighteous, that He would show them kindness, although this kindness is that they might repent and turn (the gist of the meaning of John 3:16-21 and Romans 2:4).

Now does Psalms 5:5 and 11:5 mean God hate any person who sins? No. Does it mean that God hates any person who is not a Christian? If one does not believe in total depravity, no. That statements made in Psalms 5:5 and 11:5 are not of those who are merely unrighteous, but those who are of the most diabolical nature, such as a Hitler or a Hussein (though being in power and terrorizing large quantities is not a prerequisite). It is a person who has no regard for the laws of God and spurns every kindness provided to them by God (Incidentally, Clement of Rome speaks of condemnation coming as a result of spurning God's kindness in the 21st chapter of 1 Clement).

The basic point in all this is to say that, God does indeed hate. He is not the picture of this God that some people have of a being whose feelings for people are not affected by their disobedience or obedience. God's love for people is in part based upon our obedience to Him. The idea that obedience allows us to be loved is mentioned in John 15:10. So in part, God's love is founded upon doing as He says. However, it would be wrong to say that God's love is solely based upon obedience. Romans 5:8 says that God loved the sinner.

Now all of this may be confusing, so I will sum it up in a few points.
1) "Love" and "hate" does not mean the same thing in every instance it is used in the Bible. They may have somewhat different (though related) meanings in different places.
2) God does have negative feeling (hate) towards those who are the most disobedient, and maybe even some for those who are disobedient though not diabolical, though a bit less.
3) God does have some positive regard (love) for humanity even though they are disobedient, as they are His own creation.
4) God has greater positive regard (greater love) for those who are obedient to what God commands of them.