God poured out his wrath on Jesus when Jesus became sin for us (Is. 53). Jesus paid a terrible price for our sins on the cross. We are to tell others about Christ’s substitution for them on the cross so that they can be saved. In doing this, we are exposed to the terrible consequences of sin in sinners’ lives. And when we are, we are told to "love the sinner, but hate the sin."

That statement, by itself, is wrong and it leads Christians to become "tolerant of sin and sinners" like Lot did down in Sodom and Gomorrah (1 Pet. 2:6-10). So, we need to see what the Bible says and follow God’s instructions on this matter.

In Noah’s day, when "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth," (Gen. 6:5), he didn’t drown out sin; he drowned men, women, children, babies, animals, and every living substance (Gen. 7:23). When God saw that the sin of Sodom was "very grievous," (Gen. 18:20), he didn’t burn out sin; he destroyed the people, the cities and "that which grew upon the ground," (Gen. 19:25). When God wanted to take "away the sin of the world," he didn’t crucify sin; he crucified his own dear Son.

See, the wrath of God goes against sinners, not sin. Look at Jn. 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." The wrath of God abides on the sinner, not his sin! Look at 2 Thes. 1:8, "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." God takes vengeance on the sinner that will not obey the gospel, not on his sin!

Look what David said about God’s anger, "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." Can you get that? So, the statement, "love the sinner, but hate the sin" is not at all from the Lord. It is from professing Christians who have learned to tolerate the sin of sinners around them to keep from offending them. David, a man after God’s own heart, was not like this generation of professing Christians, at all. Look what he said in Ps. 139:21-22, "Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies." Wow, what a contrast to today!

So, what are we to do? We are to have "compassion" on the lost like Jesus did and work in the harvest to witness to them (Matt. 9:36-38). But we are to remain separated from them to keep from becoming like them (2 Cor. 6:14-18).

Paul was so burdened for the Jews that he said, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh," (Rom 9:2-3). What compassion!!

But when he wrote the Thessalonians, he told them exactly how God "felt" (that’s the word they like to use today) about the Jews, "for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost," (1 Th. 2:14-16). Compare Prov. 29:27.

Brethren, do not be deceived by do-gooder, worldly, professing Christians who have no testimony among the lost and who aren’t winning them to Christ by their "tolerance." If you have compassion for the lost and the guts to tell them that they are wrong, you might actually win some souls to Christ. And you won’t have to compromise your love to do it.