Does God Love the Unrepentant Sinner?

by Charles Finney, "The Guilt of Sin"
(I do not endorse anything by Charles Finney! You are best to avoid all his work altogether, as the man was a heretic! Trying to find anything remotely good like this post is like trying to find a gold nugget in a manure pile. Unless you're a mature, wise, discerning Christian, do not go near his work! It is frequently and largely heretical.)

"God is angry with the wicked every day!" Psalm 7:11

God is not angry merely against the sin abstracted from the sinner, but against the sinner himself! Some people have labored hard to set up this ridiculous and absurd generalization, and would attempt to make it appear . . .

• that God is angry at sin—yet not at the sinner;
• that He hates the theft—but loves the thief;
• that He abhors adultery—but is pleased with the adulterer.

Now this is supreme nonsense! The sin has no moral character apart from the sinner. The act of sin is nothing, apart from the sinful actor. What God hates and disapproves is not the mere event, the thing done, in distinction from the doer—but He hates the doer himself! It grieves and displeases Him that a rational and moral agent, under His government, should array himself against his own Creator, against all that is right and just in the universe. This is what offends God. The sinner himself is the direct and the only object of His anger!

So the Bible shows that God is angry with the wicked—and not with the abstract sin. If the wicked do no repent, God will whet His sword—He has bent His bow and made it ready—not to shoot at the sin, but the sinner—the wicked man who has done the abominable thing. This is the only doctrine of both the Bible, and of common sense on this subject.

"The wicked and those who love violence, His soul hates!" Psalm 11:5

"The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished!" Proverbs 16:5

"The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and maintains His wrath against His enemies!" Nahum 1:2

"Whoever whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." John 3:36

"You are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed." Romans 2:5

"But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil—there will be wrath and anger!" Romans 2:8

"What if God, choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath—prepared for destruction?" Romans 9:22

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient." Ephesians 5:6