As stated by the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) in Chapter II, Section I, “There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection…immutable…” The Confession succinctly states what is clearly taught by Scripture; that God is without limit (infinite) in His being and His perfection, and He is therefore not capable of change (immutable). God is infinitely perfect in every character trait or quality that may be attributed to Him.

Most Christians understand from Scripture that God is eternal (everlasting, without beginning or end). God is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnipresent (fully present everywhere in every part of His Creation). Virtually all Christians agree that God is a God of perfectly infinite Love; He is a God of perfectly infinite Grace; He is a God of perfectly infinite Mercy; He is a God of perfectly infinite Goodness and Truth.

Almost no one would argue with any of these traits attributed to God, particularly that He is a God of perfect Love. Many, however, have never considered that in His perfections God is also a God of perfect hated. If God does hate, then He is necessarily a God of perfect hatred since everything about Him is perfect. The question then becomes, does Scripture teach that God hates? If it does teach that about God, what are the things He hates? Most Christians will affirm that God hates sin, yet most are adamant that He loves the sinner, but is that biblical truth?

There are several verses that teach that God hates sin; the actions of sinful people; the sins of even those people whom He has adopted as sons and daughters.

In Isaiah 1:12–15 (NASB95), the prophet quotes God condemning rebellious Israel: “¹² “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? ¹³ “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. ¹⁴ “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.” Because of the sins of His people, God refuses to even listen to their prayers. He states that because of their sinfulness He hates their actions (sins) in the celebration of the festivals and feasts that He had commanded them to observe.

Isaiah 61:8 (NASB95): “⁸ For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them.” Here, God explains that He hates those who rob Him in their burnt offerings. Instead of bringing what He commanded, the rebellious sinners refused to give God His due. Even though He hates the sin of those who rob Him, He will make an everlasting covenant with them because He loves justice. Remember that a covenant includes blessings for those that obey the commands of the covenant and curses for those who disobey those commands.

The prophet Jeremiah, in 44:2–4 (NASB95), explains to the rebellious nation why they are in exile. He quotes God, “² “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them, ³ because of their wickedness which they committed so as to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. ⁴ ‘Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.” The exile of Israel is the result of their continued wickedness in serving and sacrificing to other gods, acts (sins) that God hates.

Through the prophet Zechariah, in 8:16–17 (NASB95), God speaks to His people and says, “¹⁶ ‘These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. ¹⁷ ‘Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the Lord.” He commands that none of us devise evil in our hearts and we are not to love perjury for these are sins He hates.

In Revelation 2:6, Jesus is speaking to the angel (Pastor) of the church in Ephesus and says, “⁶ ‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” While we do not know exactly what the deeds of the Nicolaitans were, it is probable they were professing Christians who were introducing compromise into the church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:14-15). Jesus, God the Son clearly states His hatred of such deeds of compromise.

Malachi 2:16 (NASB95): “¹⁶ “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” Though they know that God hates divorce, many Christians ignore the fact and dissolve their covenant of marriage by divorce. What many miss in this passage is that God also states His hatred of the person involved in the sin of divorce. God hates “him who covers his garment with wrong.”

There are also other verses that teach that God hates not only sin but also sinners (those involved in sin).

In Psalm 5:5 (NASB95), the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, declares of God: “⁵ The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.” Since iniquity is sinfulness and the passage states that God hates all those who do iniquity, it is clear He not only hates the sinful acts but also the one doing them.

In condemning Israel for their continued apostasy, God says through the prophet Hosea, “¹⁵ All their evil is at Gilgal; Indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; All their princes are rebels.” Hosea 9:15 (NASB95). God plainly states that because of the wickedness of the deeds of those in Israel (verse 10), “I came to hate them there.” He not only hates their sinful deeds but also those who do the deeds.

In Jeremiah 12, the prophet cries out to God about the wickedness of those in Israel who act against their brothers. God responds to his prayer in verses 7-8 by stating, “⁷ “I have forsaken My house, I have abandoned My inheritance; I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies. ⁸ “My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest; She has roared against Me; Therefore I have come to hate her.” Because of Israel’s roaring in rebellion against God, He has abandoned them and given them into the hand of their enemies. He has come to hate apostate Israel.

Even though God is a God of perfect hatred, Scripture also affirms that He is a God of perfect love and perfect justice. In Ephesians 1, God’s Word declares that He chose us in His perfect love, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless and to be adopted as His sons through the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ. Since God is infinite in His perfections, He is therefore incapable of change (immutable). Even though Scripture speaks of God relenting or changing His plan, it was always His eternal plan, in His perfect justice, to pour out His perfect wrath upon His own Son for the sins of those whom He had chosen for salvation from before the foundation of the world. He imputed our sin to the Sinless One and imputed the righteousness of Jesus Christ to us that we might stand holy and blameless in His presence in eternity. God satisfied His hatred of sin and sinners by executing His perfect justice against His own Son for the sins of those whom He predestined to salvation. At the same time, God the Son demonstrated His perfect love for those whom God the Father had chosen for salvation by taking upon Himself the wrath against sin that justice required. Those not chosen for salvation through the love of the Son, will suffer the perfect justice of God against their sins for eternity.