Psalm 5:5 says this, “Therefore, the proud may not stand in Your presence, for You hate all who do evil.”
And we’ve heard it said that God hates the sin yet loves the sinner. But this verse takes on another direction of thought.
Sin is detestable to God. He considers sinners to be the greatest fools. Fools of their own making.
But I love the way the King James version says it, “The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.”
Ahh.. workers of iniquity. WORKERS.
Iniquity is defined as injustice, malicious prosecution, wickedness. Here I believe scripture is not inferring that God despises those who sin, because we all sin and we all fall short of the glory of God. But I believe He’s speaking about those who WORK in wicked ways. Those who give themselves up to the business of doing wickedness. Those who are employed by the devil to live lives in constant and perpetual sin, never ceasing to surrender to a loving God who stands always ready to lavish grace upon us.
Romans 3:13-18 defines for us people who are separated from God. These people, “their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouths are filled with cursing and bitterness. They rushed to commit murder. Destruction in misery follows them. They don’t know where to find peace. They have no fear of God at all.”
Oh.. but! But.. we have a choice to escape from the work of evil! Because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus we have freedom from our old sinful nature! Jesus was and IS our covering from old sin patterns. Glory!
We cannot conceive of sin without a sinner. And so indeed every sinner is both criminal and detestable to God. But thanks to Jesus and His overriding of sin by the undeserving debt He paid, we have hope!
Jesus says to the woman caught in adultery and He says it to us too... “...neither do I condemn thee… go, and sin no more.”
It’s the work of wickedness that separates us from the love of the Father.
And we’ve heard it said that God hates the sin yet loves the sinner. But this verse takes on another direction of thought.
Sin is detestable to God. He considers sinners to be the greatest fools. Fools of their own making.
But I love the way the King James version says it, “The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.”
Ahh.. workers of iniquity. WORKERS.
Iniquity is defined as injustice, malicious prosecution, wickedness. Here I believe scripture is not inferring that God despises those who sin, because we all sin and we all fall short of the glory of God. But I believe He’s speaking about those who WORK in wicked ways. Those who give themselves up to the business of doing wickedness. Those who are employed by the devil to live lives in constant and perpetual sin, never ceasing to surrender to a loving God who stands always ready to lavish grace upon us.
Romans 3:13-18 defines for us people who are separated from God. These people, “their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouths are filled with cursing and bitterness. They rushed to commit murder. Destruction in misery follows them. They don’t know where to find peace. They have no fear of God at all.”
Oh.. but! But.. we have a choice to escape from the work of evil! Because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus we have freedom from our old sinful nature! Jesus was and IS our covering from old sin patterns. Glory!
We cannot conceive of sin without a sinner. And so indeed every sinner is both criminal and detestable to God. But thanks to Jesus and His overriding of sin by the undeserving debt He paid, we have hope!
Jesus says to the woman caught in adultery and He says it to us too... “...neither do I condemn thee… go, and sin no more.”
It’s the work of wickedness that separates us from the love of the Father.
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