The whole world refers to the new creation or the new heavens and earth. Those in the fire are under wrath and must be grafted in to be part of the new creation or whole world. The wicked don’t have the image of God. It’s been damaged by sin. They must be destroyed and made new or resurrected. The dichotomy of flesh and spirit or new man and old man is referring to believers.
No, it refers to all mankind:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…(Jn.3:16a).
Who were sinners & enemies of God:
Rom.5:8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Right it refers to the new creation. Those in the lake of fire are not the new creation. World isn’t a reference to every individual. It’s like when God destroyed Sodom but then restores Sodom with different people. Not the same individuals. Or like when the world was destroyed in the flood yet God restores the world but with different individuals. The whole world doesn’t mean everybody individually but all mankind. Those in the lake of fire are separate from all mankind. They must be grafted in after being cut off.
1 Cor.11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
Js.3:9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
Gen.9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.”
So, Hollytree, you don’t think the word translated as “hate” is not hyperbole for “love less.” Are you a disciple of Christ? If so, do you hate your father and mother? Do you hate your brothers and sisters? Do you hate your children? For Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26 ESV)
Only those in Christ have the image and likeness of Christ restored.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” ~~ Romans 3:12
Paidion,
That’s a different context than the one where God hates not only sin but sinners. Even so the passage you quoted means love less. So, you believe God loves some more than others.
I didn’t imply that. What Jesus was saying is that no one can be His disciple unless he loves his parents, siblings, and children less than he loves Jesus.
“The Bible does, in fact, teach us to love sinners, while hating their sin”:
The Bible also says that God not only hates sin but sinners. We are to love our enemies for Vengeance belongs to God. I have faith in God.
Clearly God’s love was for all individuals of the world:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…(Jn.3:16a).
Who were sinners & enemies of God:
Rom.5:8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 Jn.4:10)
1 John 2:2
He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours alone, but also for the sins of the whole world.
You’re taking the Bible out of context as I have already showed.
The only NT reference to God hating someone is a quote from the OT & hyperbole meaning to love less. Jesus uses the same hyperbole of hating one’s parents, while Scripture says to honor them. So any quotes that might refer to God actually hating anyone, rather than loving them less, would have to be in the OT before the cross & before God so loving the world as in Jn.3:16. Can you demonstrate that any of them are not also hyperbole or figures of speech? Or that they are simply referring to the old man, the flesh, the fallen nature, the sinful self, while God continues to love the part of human beings made in His image & likeness? For He sees their potential for salvation, to which He has destined all, & seeks their good, that they be saved. Any references to hate, wrath, punishment & the like are for man’s own good out of a heart of Divine love.
And yet God loves the workers of iniquity:
Rom.5:8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 Jn.4:10)
1 John 2:2
He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours alone, but also for the sins of the whole world.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…(Jn.3:16a).
Like I said, the “whole world” isn’t every individual. It’s all mankind. Those in the lake of fire aren’t included in the new creation. They are separate. They have been cut off from the whole world. They must be grafted in to be part of the whole world or all mankind:
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
So, you believe God loves some more than others and not everybody equally.
The following is quoted from the url below.
"In Psalm 5:5 we read that: “The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.”
Does God hate sinners? I thought he loved everyone?
A response:
A first look seems to suggest that the author, David, is implying that God hates sinners, but is that necessarily God’s view? For instance, we see Psalm 137:9 the author’s hatred of the Babylonians for their capturing of the Jews: “How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock.”
Would that be God’s view? Does God condone dashing “little ones against the rock(s)”? No, the author is simply speaking his mind, and if that is the case there is no reason to suppose that David in Psalm 5:5 is not speaking his.
Second, there is a writing device called metonymy. This is a figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated. For example, when I say that “I really hate Shakespeare”, I do not mean that I hate his personality, I mean I hate his work, his poems.
A Biblical case in point would be when we read that God hates “a false witness who speaks lies” (Proverbs 6:19), if metonymy is deployed, then God hates the lies and the one who is doing the lying (the cause) is put in place of the lies (the effect). In Proverbs 6:17 God hates “a lying tongue.” Would that mean that God hates physical tongues? No, obviously not, it means God hates the sin that a tongue can perform.
It is crucial to bear in mind that the Bible writers often used figures of speech when they write. So, in this case (Psalm 5:5) God hates sin, but loves sinners, the figure of speech known as metonymy clears up the confusion. Just as God does not hate physical feet or tongues, he does not hate sinners. These nouns are put in the place of the things they cause – sin. It would also defy explanation to suggest that God hates sinners which is the very reason he had Jesus die on a cross."
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See the following response (in a thread that addresses several of the scriptures you’ve posted) & the bible verses below:
Jn. 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
John 16:27
For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.
Deuteronomy 7:12-13
12"Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers.
13 He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.
Proverbs 8:17
"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.
Psalm 146:8
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous;
Proverbs 15:9
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But He loves one who pursues righteousness.
Deuteronomy 13:17
"Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the LORD may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers,
Deuteronomy 7:6"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
7"The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt
Sorry, the scriptures I gave are plain.
The Scriptures are full of many figures of speech & dozens of alleged contradictions. One has to learn how to properly harmonize them. Calvinistic limited atonement is not the way & a grievous error.