 |
|
Who Has
The Wrong Spirit - Those Who Love Or Hate?
Today, in Christianity, the message of
Love has become so lopsided to the point whereby if anyone should dare to
display a hatred for sin or error, they are immediately charged by the
majority with having a "wrong spirit."
Is this what the Bible attests?
Who is in the right or the wrong here?
May this message settle this issue once
and for all.
Charles Spurgeon, the Great Preacher of
old, in his volume called The Treasury Of David,
boldly declared - "It is well to be a good
hater."
Many people reading that statement would gasp in total shock - simply
because they have received a corrupt or false understanding of what true
Christianity is all about.
In that same quote, he went on to say - "And
what is that? It is to be a hater of no living being, but of every
false way. Self-will, self-righteousness, worldliness, pride,
unbelief, and hypocrisy are all false ways and must not only be shunned but
also abhorred."
The question to ask yourself, O Christian, is this - just how
much do you hate these things?
Perhaps we should also ask - is it really well with your soul?
Because if you do not hate these sins, then it is
not well at all.
What saith the Scriptures?
Psalm 97:10 says - "Ye
that love the LORD, hate evil..."
Psalm 119:104 says -
"Through Thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false
way."
Proverbs 8:13 adds - "The
fear of the LORD is to hate evil..."
Do you profess to love the Lord? We are not asking if you have
warm and fuzzy feelings when you think about Jesus? We are asking if you
really and sincerely love Him as the Bible directs?
Closely read and study the following comments from the various commentators
and see how you stand spiritually.
"Show your love for the Lord 'by' hating
all that is evil, that is, all that He hates, or that is evil in His
sight. There can be no true love for God where evil is not hated in all
its forms, since it is the object of the divine abhorrence. We cannot be
like God unless we love what He loves, and hate what He hates. There is
nothing more clearly affirmed in the Scriptures than that in order to
the love of God there must be the hatred to all that is wrong, and that
where there is the love of sin in the heart, there can be no true
religion(Christianity)." -
Barnes' Notes
"To hate means to reject; to love means to
choose. Since both are an expression of the will and not merely an emotion;
the Bible commands both love and hatred." - Nelson's New Illustrated
Bible Commentary
"We cannot love God without hating what He
hates. We are not only to avoid evil, but we must be armed against it
and bear a hearty indignation toward it." - Charles Spurgeon
Do you claim to have a working knowledge of the Word of God? What is your
proof? That you can spout out a thousand Scriptures on a certain topic? What
does the Bible give for a basis?
Psalm 119:104 says -
"Through Thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false
way."
Reading and studying the Bible does not make one more tolerant,
accepting, or "nice"(in reference to sin and
error) - as some suppose. Instead, it imbues its students with a divine
perspective on things and issues - a true understanding...a correct view
of things...a just knowledge of truth and duty. Resultantly, they find
themselves displaying an utter abhorrence and disgust for all sin. They
hate or dread the way of sin for it is a false way. The more they read
the Bible, the more they hate sin and desire to speak out against it on
all sides.
Read what others had to say concerning this matter -
"The more understanding we get by the word
of God the more rooted will our hatred of sin be(for to depart from
evil, that is understanding), and the more ready we are in the
scriptures the better furnished we are with answers to temptation." -
Matthew Henry Commentary
"Avoidance of sinful courses is both the
effect and means of increasing in divine knowledge." - Jamieson,
Fausset, & Brown's Commentary
"Hatred is a stabbing, murdering affection.
With a hot heart, it pursues sin to death. Hate sin perfectly and
perpetually, and you will not spare it, but kill it. Until sin is hated, it
cannot be subdued. Until sin is hated, you will not cry against it as the
Jews did against Christ, 'Crucify Him'...Rather, you will indulge it, like
David did to Absalom, and say, 'Deal gently...with the young man.'...Deal
gently with this or that lust, for my sake..." - Spurgeon
"Mercy to sin is cruelty to the soul." -
Edward Reymer, a 17th Century Preacher
In Proverbs 8:13, we read -
"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil..."
How do people act who have a distinct awe or holy reverence for God?
What about those who are under the influence of the Holy Spirit...filled
with the Spirit...walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lust of
the flesh...mortifying the deeds of the flesh...?
Most would immediately quote Galatians 5:22 which says
- "But the fruit of the Spirit is
love..."
But to do so is only partially correct. It is not the whole counsel of
God. It is a lopsided view of divine principles - for the Holy Spirit
directed King Solomon to say - "The
fear of the LORD is to hate evil..."
In other words, true Christianity teaches men to hate all sin because it
is displeasing to the Lord and brings utter destruction to a man's soul.
Once again, read the various comments pertaining to this particular subject
-
"There can be no true love where there is not
also true hatred - no love of truth without abhorrence of error." -
Krauth, Encyclopedia Of Sermon Illustrations
"Wherever there is an awe of God there is a
dread of sin, as an evil, as only evil." - Matthew Henry Commentary.
"The teaching that sin is hateful is a
wonderful and vital truth. In ancient times, as now, only the Biblical
revelation stressed this truth." - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary
Getting back to our original question - Who has the wrong spirit
- those who love or hate?
Which kind of Christian are you?
A true one or a phoney?
You cannot call yourself a Christian and be tolerant of any sin.
You cannot call yourself a Christian and not have a desire to speak out
against the abominable practises which are in the world and even in some
churches.
If God is in you of a truth, you will find yourself like the Prophet
Jeremiah, saying - "Then I said, I will
not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name. But His word was in
mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with
forbearing, and I could not stay" (Jeremiah 20:9).
This tolerance of sin - this overemphasis on the so-called "Love
Gospel" in our churches - has made our Preachers to appear
sissified and has produced more backsliders and apostates who couldn't come
back to the Lord if they tried. They are so intoxicated by the False Love
Gospel - totally convinced that God in His Justice would never cast their
souls into a Devil's Hell. Resultantly, they have no true incentive to
repent of their sins or quit their sinning once and for all. And the finger
is pointed at the Preachers in the pulpits. They are to blame
for this whole mess.
"Ye that love the LORD, hate
evil..."
You can't make it any plainer than
that!
May God Bless His Word.
Connie
| © COPYRIGHT Connie Giordano - All Rights Reserved
