Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/d_000.lzh/D_071.TXT

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Cm~e. XVIII.                                  OF THE HATRED OF GOD.                                                                 71

cause opposite to it; but where. there is love of any per-
son or thing. there will be an hatred of that which
is contrary to the object loved: thus good men, as they
love those that are good, like themselves, and good things,
sO they hate that which is evil; they love God, the
chiclest good; and they hate sin, the chiefest evil, as
diametrically opposite to him, Psalm xcvii. 10. Amos
v. 15. So the righteous Lord, as he loves righteousness
and righteous men, his people; as they are clothed in the
righteousness of Christ, and found in the ways of righ.t-
eousness, so he hates unrighteousness, and unrighteous
men; for to the Son of God he saith, thou lovest right-
eousness, and hatest iniquity; therefore God, thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fel-
lows, Psalm xlv. 7. besides, it is a virtue, yea grace, in
good men, to hate sin that dwells in them, and is com-
mitted by them, as the apostle did, Rom. vii. 15. for with-
out the grace of God it is not hated; and also to hate
them that hate the Lord, as David did, and for the truth
of which he appeals to God, Do not I hate them, 0 Lord
that hate thee? I hate them with perfect hatred, Psalm
cxxxix. 21, 22. Now if it is a virtue, or owing to the
grace of God in them, that they do hate sin and sinners,
then this must come from God, from whom all grace,
and every good gift comes; and consequently must be
in him, in a higher degree, even in the most perfect man-
her; to all which may be added, that hatred, when
ascribed to God, sometimes signifies no other than his
will to punish sin and sinners, and his execution of it,
Psalm v. 5, 6. and so is an act of justice, of punitive
justice; And is God unrighteous, who taketh yen
No; he is righteous in that, as he is in all
Rom. iii. 5. For the further illustration of this point,
I shall consider both what that is; and who they are
God is said to hate.
1. What that is he hates, that is sin; and this is con-
sistent with his not hating any of his creatures; for sin
is no creature of his; he is not the author of sin; all the
creatures he made were very good; but sin was not
among them; every creature of God is good, and not to
be refused, rejected, and hated by men; as none are by
God, as such; but sin is not any of them. Sin must be
hateful to God, since it is so contrary to his nature, to
his will, and to his righteous law. All sin is an abomi-
nation to him; but there are some sins that are parti-
cularly observed as hated by him, as idolatry, Deut. xvi.
22. Jer. xliv. 3, 4, 5. perjury, Zech. viii. 17. all insincere
and hypocritical acts of worship, [sa. i. 14, 15. Amos. v.
2l. sins against the two tables of the law; as murder, which
stands among the six things which God hates, Prov. vi.
16, 17, 18. fornication, adultery, community of wives;
the deeds of the Nicolaitans he is said to hate, Rev. ii.
6, 15. theft, robbery, rapine, and violence of every sort;
all kind of injury to the persons and properties of men,
Psalm xi. 5. lsa. lxi. 8. and every evil thing a man may
imagine against his neighbour, Zech. viii. 17. And all
this is true of each of the divine persons. God the
Father has shewn his hatred of sin by the judgments he
has executed iu casting down from heaven to hell the
angels that sinned, driving Adam and Eve out of paradise,
bringing a flood upon the world of the ungodly, raining
fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah; with other
instances in following ages, and later ones; and by the

chastisemeats of his own people, when they sin and
transgress his law; but in nothing more than by the con-
demnation of sin in the flesh of Christ, when he suffered
in the room and stead of his people, as their Surety and
Saviour; and so by the punishment of wicked men to all
eternity. The Son of God has given sufficient proof of
his loving righteousness, and hating iniquity, of whom
these things are expressly said, Psalm xlv. 7. Heb. i. 8, 9.
and are true of him as a divine person, and as Mediator,
and as man; and this he has done by inveighing against
the sins of the Jews in his time; by his severe usage of
the buyers and sellers in the temple; and by his exhor-
tations and threatenings to men to sin no more, lest worse
things came unto them: and the Holy Ghost is not only
grieved by the sinful actions and behaviour of men; but
may be vexed by them, so as to turn to be their enemy,
and fight against them, Isa. lxiii. 10. Which leads me
to consider,
2. Who they are that God hates; and they are sinners,
workers of iniquity, Psalm v. 5. not men, as men, but
as sinful men; and not all that sin, or have sin in them;
for then all would be hated, for all have sinned in Adam,
and by; actual transgressions; and none, even the best of
men, are without it, Rom. iii. 23. I John i. 8. but workers
of it, traders in it, whose whole lives are one continued
series of sinning; to those it will be said, I never knew
you; I never loved you, I always hated you; depart from
me, ye that work iniquity, Matt. vii. 23, make a trade of
it; make it the business of their lives, continually and
constantly commit it, John viii. 34. 1 John iii. 8, 9. and
God is impartial, he hates all the workers of iniquity;
and brings down his indignation and wrath, tribulation
and anguish, on every soul of man that does evil, of the
Jew first, and also of the Gentile, Row. ii. 8, 9.1 The
scriptures speak of an hatred of some persons antecedent
to sin, and without the consideration of it; which, though
it may be attended with some difficulty to account for;
yet may be understood in a good sense, and consistent
with the perfections of God, and with what has been
said of his hatred of sin and sinners; for thus it is said
of Jacob and Esau, personally considered; Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated, Mal. i.e. and which
was before the one had done any good, or the other done
any evil; as the apostle expressly says, Rom. ix. 11.
12, 13. The children not being yet born, neither having
done any good or evil; that the purpose of God, accord-
ing to election, might stand; not of works, but of him
that calleth; it was said unto .her, to Rebekah, the mother
of them, whilst they were in her womb, the elder shall
serve the younger; as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. And what is said of these, is
true of all the objects of election and non-election. And
now let it be observed, that this hatred is to be under-
stood, not of any positive hatred in the heart of God
towards them, but of a negative and comparative hatred
of them; that whereas while some are chosen of God,
and preferred by him, and are appointed to obtain grace
and glory, and to be brought to great dignity and honour;
others are passed by, neglected, postponed, and set less
by; which is called an hatred of them; that is, a com-
parative one, in comparison of the love shewn, and the
preference given to others; in this sense the word is used
in Luke xiv. 26. If any man hate not his father, and