Subject:
Does God love Sinners?
Date:
Wed, 20 Oct 1999 09:41:48 GMT
From:
 (Nigel B. Mitchell)
Reply-To:

Newsgroups:
aus.religion.christian,aus.religion

This is worth a new thread, and I have deleted our n.s.r friends from the topic because this is probably not their sort of thing.
In <380 >,  (Graeme Hunt) wrote:
>You are theologically incorrect. God hates sin and he judges sinners.
>He does not love sinners.  “God so loved the world” etc., (John 3:16)
>is an anthropopathism. If God was to love sinners He would be
>compromising His essence.

I make no judgements about you, but I know this. I am a sinner, and God loves me anyway, so unless I am a special case (and I am pretty sure that I am not), then God must love sinners.
>Habakkuk 1:13 - “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst
>not look upon iniquity.”

Romans 5:8  But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
>As I have told you before, love is not man’s point of contact with
>God. That’s the silly liberal view that has no biblical basis. 

Perhaps these verses are not in your bible:
Deuteronomy 7:9  Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the
faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him
and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
Ephesians  3:18 - 19  I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, 
with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you 
may be filled with all the fullness of God.

1 John 4:8  Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

>>Are you really saying that God does not love sinners?
>>Where does that leave you?

>Well I could have a ball with you on that one Nigel, but I’ll leave
>you in peace and not humiliate you too much at this stage.

Graeme, if God does not love sinners, then either you think that God does 
not love you, or you do not consider yourself to be a sinner.  If either 
or both of those is the case, then I suggest you are sadly mistaken.
cheers


N+
Nigel B. Mitchell
 

Subject:
Re: Does God love Sinners?
Date:
Wed, 20 Oct 1999 18:12:12 +1700
From:
Peter Ballard < >
Newsgroups:
aus.religion.christian,aus.religion

In article <380f0a30 >,  (Graeme Hunt) wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Oct 1999 09:41:48 GMT,  (Nigel B.
> Mitchell) wrote:

> >Romans 5:8  But God proves his love for us in that while we still
> were
> >sinners Christ died for us.
> As with John 3:16 that is an anthropopathism.  God does not love
> sinners.

Graeme, what is an “anthropopathism” and why does it invalidate the plain meaning of John 3:16 and Romans 5:8?
If those verses do not say that God loves unregenerate sinners, what do they say?
And here’s another point to ponder: Surely you agree that God command us (Christians) to love sinners? 

[e.g. Luke 6:27 (“love your enemies”), Luke 10:27 (“love your
neighbour”), 1 Thess 3:12 (“love everyone”)] Why would God bother
commanding us to love people whom he does not love? 

Peter Ballard Adelaide, AUSTRALIA 
 OR 
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~pballard/ [personal opinions only]