Proverbs 6:16-19 (NLT)
16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an
abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent
blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to
evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among
brethren.
Matthew Henry’s commentary states, “God hates sin; he
hates every sin; he can never be reconciled to it; he hates nothing but sin.
But there are some sins which he does in a special manner hate; and all those
here mentioned are such as are injurious to our neighbor. It is an evidence of
the good-will God bears to mankind that those sins are in a special manner
provoking to him which are prejudicial to the comfort of human life and
society.
When God created mankind, male and female, they both were
created in God’s image. God contains all the qualities of male and female and
those qualities are impressed upon us. For men their qualities often are the
more masculine ones, but they have their female qualities as well. In the same
way women have more of the feminine qualities of God, but they too possess
masculine qualities.
Within God there is hatred, but His is a righteous anger
that seeks to correct what is wrong. Unfortunately the sin that entered the
world through man’s disobedience to God corrupted man’s perception of hatred as
sin has corrupted other qualities and attributes of God. Most often hatred becomes
so warped that we form hate against people instead of sin. It is then that we
express hatred incorrectly and we become the abomination that sows discord
among our fellow man. How could we hate something with a strong passion and
then do the very thing we hate.
The apostle says it this way in Romans 7: 14-25, “We know
that the Law is right and good, but I am a person who does what is wrong and
bad. I am not my own boss. Sin is my boss.
I do not understand myself. I want to do what is right but I do not do
it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.
When I do the thing I do not want to do, it shows me that the Law is
right and good. So I am not doing it.
Sin living in me is doing it. I know
there is nothing good in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do good but I
do not. I do not do the good I want to
do. Instead, I am always doing the sinful things I do not want to do. If I am always doing the very thing I do not
want to do, it means I am no longer the one who does it. It is sin that lives
in me. This has become my way of life:
When I want to do what is right, I always do what is wrong. My mind and heart agree with the Law of
God. But there is a different law at
work deep inside of me that fights with my mind. This law of sin holds me in
its power because sin is still in me. There
is no happiness in me! Who can set me free from my sinful old self? God’s Law has power over my mind, but sin
still has power over my sinful old self. I thank God I can be free through
Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Even the apostle says he does what he hates. He has a
righteous hatred for sin, yet he finds himself in the midst of sin. He wants to
do right and finds that sin leads him astray. The apostle’s assurance of one
thing makes him thankful and that is the freedom he finds in the faith of The
Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ has set us free from sin. Jesus Christ is the
first to be raised from the dead. He is the head over all the kings of the
earth. He is the One Who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His
blood.
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