Is it possible to hate the sinner but love the sin?

Question

example: I love fornication but hate the person I'm doing it with.

Answer 1

It's actually pretty easy.

Answer 2

That's easy. Everyone is a sinner. Is there someone you hate? Then you hate the sinner.

Is there something that the sinner does that might be consider a sin, but you enjoy it as well? If yes, then you got your answer.

Maybe your brother lust over your girlfriend and you hate him for that. But you also enjoy lusting over other girls even though you have a girlfriend. So you hate the sinner, but love the sin.

Answer 3

People do it every day; example would be drunks, and drug addicts. Some of these people's behavior most find disgusting. Yet if given the opportunity would drink and or; if not both do their choice of drug. Thus hating the sinner but loving the sin.

Answer 4

Yes it is. Like the other poster wrote, people do it all the time. It's just sad there isn't more of people loving the person but hate the sin, such as people want to hate homosexuals. There may be a scripture against homosexuality, but it is just as wrong, in God's eyes for us to hate the homosexual person.

Answer 5

I think that's the heart of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7:1-5. If I have sin in my life that I won't remove (the plank), but I hate the smallest splinter of it in someone else's life, my walk with God is all smoke and mirrors. Deflecting the attention off my sin and onto someone else won't help me. And it won't help them.

I love the sin too much to remove it from my life, and I love my brother too little to keep from using him for the sole purpose of making myself feel better.

If I care about either of us, I'll deal with my own sin first, and then I can really help someone else in the same state.

Jesus doesn't say we can't discern sin in someone else's life. He doesn't say that we can't confront sin in another. He does say that we cannot love the sin in our own lives and be critical and unloving toward our brother caught in the sin.

It's possible to hate the sinner and love the sin, but it's not justifiable.

Answer 6

Yes, it is possible.

Take for example a parent/child relationship. The child can do things that parents don't like. Or even hate the actions of the child, but they still love there child. Take the parents of the "shooters" in the Columbine shootings.

I am sure they hate what their children did. But that doesn't stop them from loving and missing them.

Answer 7

It is possible for all christians to say that.. But the truth is, if you hate the sin and want to stop that person from living that way, ultimately you have no respect for the person as that is the way they want to live there life, and if you have no respect for the person then you cant like them very much can you.. so I say its just a cop out and a way for religious groups to say they hate homosexuals without having to say it!

Answer 8

Absolutely. For me its a lot more plausible than loving the sinner and hating the sin ;).

Answer 9

IT IS POSSIBLE. But I prefer loving the sinner than the sin.

Answer 10

"Sin" and "Sinner" are subjective, so what may be a sin or a sinner for you may not be for me. So, I may love what you call a sin but what I believe is not a sin. Its all a matter of perspective.

Answer 11

Easily. If you're a greedy bastard, and there's a greedy bastard next to you, and he's your opponent, you hate the greedy bastard despite loving greed.

However, you don't hate the sinner BECAUSE of the sin in this case.