palosaari@tiger.oxy.edu (Jedidiah Jon Palosaari) (08/17/89)
Perhaps an answer to the different scriptures presented by Stan Reeves is that all those of hating sinners are in the Old Testament, and all those of loving are in the New. I'm not trying to suggest that God chose to do away with that part of the Old (not one stroke will disappear from the law) but that perhaps with the new covanent came fulfillment in our relationship with Christ. When He died for us, He started the trend toward which we are still heading- namely complete union with him. If all history can be viewed as a making of a relationship with Christ and the church (and we in the final chapter) then God was finally able to love the sinner in the New Testament after death. DISCLAIMER: I'M ONLY A LAYMAN, WITH NO RELIGIOUS STUDIES DEGREES In Christ, Jedidiah J. Palosaari [There is no doubt some difference in the OT and NT perspective. Please don't push it too far though. Paul makes it clear in Romans that Jews in the OT were saved in the same way that Christians are: by God's grace. The orthodox view is that God is not limited by time, and so Christ's death could also benefit those who lived before. Certainly almost all of the passages about hating sinners are in the OT (typically Psalms). But Rom 9:13 does quote Mal 1:3, where the Lord says he hates Esau. And certainly the idea of judgement is certainly present in both Jesus and the epistles. --clh]