These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Proverbs 6:16-19 (NKJV).
Here's a simple question: can God sin?
The logically correct answer is that, no, by definition of what and who God is, God cannot sin. Like counting the corners on a circle, just because we can imagine an irrational concept, does not mean that the inability to manifest a paradox is a mark against the power of God. Do not waste time on the intellectual anarchist who insists that being able to do the illogical is a necessary component of being omnipotent.
It's not.
Given that, there is a word in the first sentence of this passage that should stick out like a sore thumb to most folks in our modern age that seeks to create unity and peace through humanistic means.
So here's another simple question: how is hate not sinful?
Before we even broach what God hates, we really need to grapple with the simple fact that God does in fact hate anything at all. From a young age, in the late 20th century, my generation was brought up under the tenets of "love, not hate". We were the second generation downstream from those who had fought in a terrible war, superficially over hate, and so hate was always cast in an extremely negative light.
Yet God hates.
The natural conclusion then is that hate is not evil, not by itself. What makes hate "evil" then? What is it, if hating itself is not sinful, that would make it so? We've seen, or at least been told, about all the destruction and suffering caused by hate, so where did that come from?
What was hated.
It's not that hate itself is evil, but how that hate is applied, what the target of that hatred is, which determines if it is righteous or not. Look at the specifics of the things that God hates, things which are an abomination.
Pride, deceit, murderer, and wickedness.
These things are all also contextually based as well, schemes which reflect a rejection of God and God's character to instead seek to usurp the throne. Each of them is a polar opposite of God's nature, they are the antithesis of God, so God hating their manifestation, when any seek to live them out, is righteous because God is hating sinfulness. God hates that which denounces God, which makes sense because all that is created owes an eternal debt of gratitude to God for existing at all, so for the created to be ungrateful to the creator, let alone to subvert the designs of the creator, understandably provokes hatred.
What of the hatred of man then? What does this mean for those who are not God?
Simply, that in being aligned with God, we'll hate what God hates, and love what God loves. If you seek to reflect God's nature, you will do so in all aspects, not just the ones which confirm to the proclivities of the particular culture you live in. Hatred of evil is not evil itself, but a reflection of God's hatred of that evil, even when we find it in ourselves.
If we do not hate evil, how are we to justify the process of sanctification? What purpose is there in being more like God, refined by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, such that these sinful desires that God hates are abated? If we are saved by Jesus, what is the point of trying to be more like God?
Because it's our only way of showing God gratitude.
Our obedience to God does not come by our own strength. Our refinement is not by our own efforts. Our alignment to God does not come from our own wisdom, from our own power, but from God. Our existence is not caused by anything we chose. We are invited by God to participate, to be thankful, and in return God asks us to reflect that thanks in how we live our lives.
We don't behave to be saved, we behave because we're saved.
That behavior includes hating that which God hates, and loving that which God loves, in expressing without reservation the true breadth of God's character, not merely trying to pick and choose portions of it based on our own wisdom, not putting our faith in our own filtering of God based on our priorities, but seeking to know and reflect God accurately and letting God do the rest of the work in the hearts of those who are still in rebellion.
That is the best we can do, and all that God is asking of us.
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