Originally Posted by Tim
I agree with this statement. I think you only believe that it’s inconsistent with what I’m saying because you cannot reconcile simultaneous love and hate.
I cannot reconcile love and hate because they are mutually exclusive. However, what I have labored to establish is that I believe that benevolence and hatred are not mutually exclusive.

Originally Posted by Tim
Question in regards to God’s “hatred for the workers of iniquity”: Does God hate all unjustified sinners, both elect (prior to faith) and reprobate? If Yes, how do you reconcile His eternal love for the elect? If no, how do you reconcile that we were “children of wrath, just as the others”? I would pose that they cannot be reconciled unless God can simultaneously practice both love and hatred.
No, God does not "hate" the unregenerate elect. God's hatred for the reprobate is judicial in nature, i.e., God from eternity determined to render His perfect justice upon the majority of the sinful human race according to their guiltiness. Contrariwise, God in His infinite love and mercy determined to bestow His grace upon a remnant of sinful mankind and redeem them in Christ (Rom 8:29,30; Eph 1:4-13; et al). The elect in their natural, unregenerate state are worthy of God's wrath and judgment, but they are not 'hated' but loved with an everlasting redemptive love in Christ.

Originally Posted by Tim
You also make the argument for your understanding of God’s hatred because He is infinitely holy. I agree. However, He is also infinitely loving, infinitely just, infinitely merciful. How do we understand an infinite being with multiple absolutes? I am hesitant to make an argument like yours since it seems to take one of His attributes without fully taking into account the incomprehensibility of God.
I'm not sure I understand your question here? scratch1

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you believe that God wills "desires", i.e., He sincerely wants all men to be saved? Those who hold this view typically cite 1Tim 2:3,4 as a proof text. IF this is your position, could you please exegete that text?

2. Could you please exegete John 3:16?

Last edited by Pilgrim; Thu Mar 05, 2015 10:54 AM. Reason: Added questions
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