Why Does God Hate Sin?

At the end of creating everything, God looked at all he had made and declared it very good (Genesis 1:31). However, it would not take long before God’s good creation was tainted. Man sinned, and there were repercussions (Genesis 3:6-7). Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating from the tree in the middle, the tree that bore the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:27, 3:6-7). Eve fell for the allure of the serpent, grabbed a fruit from the tree, took a bite, and gave some to Adam, who was right beside her (Genesis 3:6). It was just a fruit anyway, and it wasn’t poisonous. In fact, they’d “be like God, with the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Who wouldn’t want to be like God? So, why did God deal with Adam and Eve so severely if it was just a fruit they ate (Genesis 3:16-24)? Clearly, the implications of eating that fruit were much more enormous. A bite from that fruit is what introduced sin to the world. So, why does God hate sin so much (Psalm 5:4)?

God is Holy (Isaiah 6:3)

The Hebrew root word for holy underlies ideas such as “different from,” “distinct,” “devoted to,” and “sacred”. God is distinct from all the creation (Acts 17:29). He is not part of it, and He is nothing like it (Isaiah 40:18). In every way, God is substantially distinct from all he created, including human beings (Isaiah 40:25-26). This is why God cannot be pleased by man’s ways since all that man does is evil (Romans 3:10-18). Secondly, to be holy also means to be devoted to something or someone greater than yourself. Since there is nothing or nobody greater than God, God remains devoted to himself (Isaiah 45:5-7, John 12:28). He has made an oath by his own name since he had no other name to swear by (Hebrews 6:13), and as such, he is devoted to making good his Word (Numbers 23:19). Of all things, God highly exalts his name and his Word (Psalms 138:2). God’s hatred for sin highly distinguishes him from us, sinful human beings. 

Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2)

God was happy to look at creation and even say that it was very good before sin came into the world (Genesis 1:31). However, now God is unwilling to turn his face toward sin (Habakkuk 1:13). God and Adam related so well before the Fall. But sin has hidden God’s face from us. Now he looks at us with vengeance and wrath since he must deal with sin ruthlessly (John 3:36, Ephesians 5:6). God hates being separate from man, and sin forces that to happen. 

Sin blinds our hearts (Ephesians 4:17-18)

Sin darkens man’s heart from the true light that comes from God (Romans 1:21, Ephesians 4:17-18). Jesus is the light that came to the world, and yet even though he was still on earth, people could not see him for who he is because sin darkened their hearts (John 1:9-10). Therefore, God hates sin for blinding our hearts. 

Sin hinders our growth (Ephesians 4:17-24)

For Christians, whenever we sin, we slow down in our growth to be made more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18, Ephesians 4:13). Sin hinders us from seeing God’s blessing in our life (Isaiah 59:1-2), which means the blessing of spiritual growth slows. The people of Israel in the wilderness could not look at Moses directly when he came down from being with God since Moses’ face was shining with God’s glory, and they were sinful, so Moses had to put on a veil on his face so that people can bear to look at him (1 Corinthians 3:12-14). We need to repent in order for the blessing of spiritual growth to continue to flow (Ephesians 4:17-24, Hebrews 3:12-14). God hates not being able to bless us with spiritual growth as quickly as he could because of the sin in our lives. 

Sin Enslaved Us (Romans 6:16)

God hates sin because it makes us hopelessly enslaved people (Romans 6:1-8). We are either slaves of sin or righteousness (Romans 6:16). We have no option of whom we are serving as enslaved people. If we are slaves of sin, we will not see anything wrong with sin, so long as it feels right and makes us happy, right (John 3:19)? But if we are slaves of righteousness, we seek to live on a standard that is beyond how we feel and how happy it makes us (Hebrews 11:24-26, 1 John 2:17). We strive always to live for God. Our heart desires to put God first above every other thing (Matthew 22:37). We seek the things that are above in heaven. We set our minds to where Christ is seated, on the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1-4). If we continue as slaves of righteousness, there is a reward in heaven for us (Galatians 6:9;1 Corinthians 15:58). God hates sin because it enslaves with heavy burdens and prevents us from enjoying his light burdens (Matthew 11:28-30). 

God hates sin because it lessens our love for God (1 John 2:15-16)

Sin has a way of pulling us away from God. Whenever we sin, we realise we don’t want to go to church, and we don’t want to attend bible studies. We don’t feel like praying and having morning devotions. These are the means of grace God has given to help us draw near him, yet sin pulls us away from these things. This dims our love for God and subtly makes us hate the things of God, which is why God hates it. 

God hate sin because sin leads us into more sin (Romans 1:21-32) 

We see sin leading us to more sin in dating relationships. We continue to push the line. Today you will kiss the one you are dating on the cheek; tomorrow, you will make out with them, and before you know it, you’ve fornicated. Then you will lie to others, saying you’ve not fornicated. You will then justify your sin by saying that God will forgive you. The fornication led to lying, which then diminished God’s holiness in your mind creating a new god who doesn’t mind sin, also known as idolatry. Sin is like a continent in that you don’t just get one country; you get all the countries in that continent. In other words, you don’t just do adultery, but you also lie, commit idolatry, and pride settles in there somehow. Sin is an evil, selfish monster. It will lure you into more and more sin which is why God hates sin.

Hope Through Christ

Only in God do we find hope through Jesus Christ for him to forgive us of our sins (John 3:16, 36). Only through Christ the veil of sin is lifted from our eyes, and we can, in boldness, approach the throne of grace to obtain grace and mercy in times of need (Hebrews 4:15-16). If you are struggling with sin and you are a Christian, turn to Christ and behold his beauty and perfection. Repent for your sins, for he is faithful and just to forgive you (1 John 1:9). If you have never given your life to Christ, this is a call to turn to Christ today to forgive your sins once and for all time (Hebrews 10:12-14). 

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