“Hate the evil and love the good and establish judgment in the gate; it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” (Amos 5:15)
We are well familiar with the beloved words of the Apostle John that declare God’s great love in salvation, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son….” So on contemplating how that same God can simultaneously hate not only the sin in the sinner, but the sinner themselves may be difficult to grasp. And yet this truth is plainly stated in multiple passages throughout Scripture. One example is Psalm 5:4-5, “You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.”
One reason God hates both the sin as well as the sinner is because sin exhibits itself through our sin nature which is alive and well from the moment of birth (Ps. 51:5). It is already deeply rooted in our heart and soul from the womb and remains with us as long as we are in this earthly body. And not only can God not “dwell with [our] evil” because it is utterly contrary to his righteous nature, he cannot even look upon it. “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,” (Hab. 1:13). While we are yet sinners he finds us reprehensible and loathsome for our continual transgression of his righteous law.
And yet when he looks upon those he has chosen through the eyes of his infinite mercy, he sees beyond our reprehensible wickedness to a ransomed, transformed soul clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He poured out every last drop of his wrath on his own innocent Son, the Lamb of God, so he could pour out his everlasting, unfathomable love on those loathsome sinners that he despises and bring them to glory.
This is why, as blood-bought children of a righteous-loving God, the prophet Amos tells us we are bound, like our Father, to “hate evil and love good,” (Amos 5:5). And Paul echoes the same in Romans 12:9, “Abhor that which is evil.”
This heart for righteousness and hatred of iniquity prove our love and devotion to our righteous Lord. “The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him that follows after righteousness,” (Prov. 15:9). For this reason we should affirm with David, “Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies,” (Ps. 139:21-22).
William Gouge rightly said, “Christ’s love of the righteous and hatred of the unrighteous manifests the righteous government of his kingdom, in that he deals with everyone according to his works, rewarding the righteous (which is a fruit of his love) and punishing the unrighteous (which is an effect of his hatred) and both according to their works, which is the evidence of his justice and righteousness.”
It is therefore incumbent on those who are heirs to his righteous kingdom to be found “blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world!” (Phil. 2:15).
Contemplations:
- Lord, I know it is not enough only to avoid evil; we must also do good. The Law of God is positive as well as negative. Inherent in every command are both precepts and prohibitions, that we might serve God as well as renounce the devil.
- It is my duty, Lord, to keep your ways and not depart from your statutes. True godliness consists in this, according to Isaiah 1:16, “to cease to do evil” as well as to learn to do well and to keep your ways.
- We see you time and again, Lord, directing us (Ps. 34:14, Amos 5:15) to hate evil and love good; that is, to hate the one and love the other with all our heart’s affection.
- Lord, I see the difference between the sinning of the godly and of the wicked. The godly sin daily, and therefore are taught to seek daily forgiveness. But their sinning is due to their frailty and not sins of presumption as are those of the wicked. For a true believer grieves over their sin while the ungodly sin with delight.
- There is no true love for you that does not truly hate sin, by which you are dishonored. As Psalm 97:10 reads, “You that love the Lord, hate the thing that is evil.”
Further References for Amos 5:15:
Psalm 97:10; Joel 2:14; Rom. 12:9; Exodus 32:30
