Does God Hate the “Non-Elect?”

Recently, I was asked about my interpretation of a controversial passage in Romans 9 in which Paul quoted Malachi One.

Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Romans 9:13

The most literal reading of this text might be troubling to some believers. If you’ve grown up quoting John 3:16 (For God so loved the word) and 1 John 4:8 (God is love), you might struggle initially at the thought of God hating anyone. So what does this mean?

First of all, I believe that the best way to understand Romans 9:13/Malachi 1:2 is to look at the broader issue of love versus hatred in the Bible.

When we think of love and/or hatred, we automatically think of passion! In our culture, these are emotional terms. However, love and hatred are not entirely emotive in nature when used in the Bible.

For example, consider Luke 14:25-27.

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

It would be wrong to think that Jesus is telling us to have strong, emotional, passionate feelings of hatred towards our parents and that such a sentiment is a requirement for salvation! (Jesus admonished the Pharisees for not honoring their mothers in Mark 7 and he managed the support of his own mother while hanging on the cross in John 19.) Jesus was telling us that making Jesus Lord means putting him before family, even our parents. This is further evident when we read Matthew 10:37 and 19:29.

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

So to hate father and mother in Luke 14:26 speaks of preference, not emotion. We are to prefer Christ over all. We are to place him first in our lives. Anyone and anything that would come between us and Christ is to be removed. He is worthy of our absolute highest devotion in life.

When you stop to think about it, don’t we all have preference in mind when we talk about love? When I publicly promised to love my wife at my wedding, I was promising to place her above every other woman. In fact, by saying yes to her, I was saying no to every other woman. The fact that I was preferring her above others was certainly included in my marriage vows!

It is only when we free ourselves from a twenty-first century understanding of love and hatred can we, in my opinion, correctly interpret Romans 9:13/Malachi 1:2. God preferred Jacob over Esau. Why? When Esau sold his birthright, he was callously and knowingly rejecting the covenant that God had established with Abraham and Isaac. Esau demonstrated that spiritual matters were of no importance to him. Jacob, on the other hand, although a mischievous little brat, was a mischievous little brat who understood the importance of the covenant. His life would be transformed by six words of a prayer he prayed in Genesis 28:21, “The Lord will be my God.” Personally, I believe that was Jacob’s profession of faith and the before-and-after moment of Jacob’s life.

Did God hate Esau in the twenty-first century sense? No. Do Romans 9:13 and Malachi 1:2 mean that God hates those who will never accept Christ? No. While there are numerous passages I could quote (including a sound exegesis of the aforementioned John 3:16 and 1 John 4:8), I believe that the most convincing passage relating to God’s love for the unrepentant is Matthew 5:43-45.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

This passage contains three parts: A command, an application and a justification.

Command (What does God want me to do?): Love my enemies.

Application (How do I do it?): Bless, do good and pray.

Justification (Why does God ask me to do this?): Because God gives sunlight to the evil and rain to the unrighteous.

The very passage that tells us to love our enemies tells us that we are to do so because this is how God operates in relation to the unrighteous! Thus, by commanding us to love our enemies, God is merely asking us to reflect the kind of love He demonstrates.

Going back to Romans 9:13/Malachi 1:2, there really are two questions to be answered. The first question has already been addressed: Does God hate (as we would understand it) the unrepentant sinner? No. But that leads us to another question? Does God love His children more than He does the unrepentant? I am going to argue yes.

When Jacob confessed the Lord as his God, thus pledging himself to the covenant God had established with Abraham and Isaac, he entered into an experience of love that Esau would never know. God lavished His love upon Jacob and the change in Jacob’s life was proof.

But there is more evidence that would indicate that God’s love for His children is greater than His love for the unrepentant. Hebrews 12:5-6 says (quoting Proverbs 3:11-12):

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as children? It says,
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his child."

The reason that God disciplines His children is because He loves them. The implication here is that He does not discipline the one who is not His child because His love for them is not the same. I would argue that God loved the unrepentant enough to give His Son to die upon the cross. I would also say that as hard as this is to believe...the marvelous, magnificent and amazing love demonstrated at the cross is just the beginning! Those who come to Jesus in faith will experience for all of eternity the depth of God’s love to degrees that our minds cannot now fathom.

Is God’s love for His children greater? Yes. Does He love His children more because they are intrinsically better? No! We are saved by God’s grace alone! However, we should never shy away from telling a lost person that 1) God does love them but 2) He is also a holy God who cannot tolerate sin. He wants for them to come by faith to Jesus for pardon and cleansing.