In recent times the idea has been suggested, from verses like this one, that God hates sinners. This stems from a misunderstanding of the characteristic differences between the Old and New Testaments.

The Old Testament addresses a man’s acts and his guilt, not his nature and his state. It deals with sins, the fruit—not with sin, the root. From Leviticus 4–5, some try to teach that the trespass offering was for sinful deeds and the sin offering was for a sinful nature. Simply reading Leviticus 4 is sufficient to disprove this theory. It speaks of things which should not be done—deeds. It speaks of guilt. And it speaks of forgiveness.

By contrast, the New Testament teaches clearly the problem of a sinful nature: “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). The sinful nature is condemned, not forgiven, in the death of Christ. It requires the teaching of the New Testament to arrive at the truism: “We are not sinners because we commit sins. We commit sins because we are sinner.” God loves sinners (Mk. 10:21; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 5:8). Jesus—who is God—loved even a sinner who refused His word. He loved me and gave himself for me when I was still a sinner. Infants who tragically die in childbirth—or before—are sinners. Yet the general bearing of Scripture proves God’s love for them in assuring them a future place of blessedness.

God hates sins, not sinners. The deeds done by people—and thus the people continuing in them—are objects of His wrath. A person’s acts, not his nature, incur the “hatred”—the judgment—of God. The sacrifice of Christ is the only remedy to deliver us from this.