Dr. John H. Gerstner



“Repent or Perish” forces people to ponder seriously the popular slogan, “God
hates the sin and loves the sinner.” Is a necessary repentance consistent with
“God loves the sinner?” If God loves the sinner while he is alive, it is strange
that God sends him to hell as soon as he dies. God loves the sinner to death?
Loves him to everlasting torment?

There is something wrong here. Either God loves the sinner and will not send him
into the furnace of His eternal wrath; or He sends him into His eternal wrath
and does not love him. Either “you are going to hell unless” because God hates
you, as you are. Or, God loves you and “you are going to hell unless” is false.

What leads almost everyone to believe that God loves the sinner is that God does
the sinner so much good. He bestows so many favors including letting him
continue to live. How can God let the sinner live and give him so many
blessings, unless He loves him? There is a kind of love between God and sinners.
We call it the “love of benevolence.” That means the love of good will.
Benevolens — willing well. Doing well. God can do well to the sinner without
loving him with the other kind of love. “Complacent love,” a pleasure in,
affection for, admiration of. It exists in perfection between the Father and the
Son, “in whom I am well pleased” (Matt.3:17; Mk.1:11).

God is perfectly displeased with the sinner. The sinner hates God, disobeys God,
is ungrateful to God for all His favors, would kill God if he could. He is dead
in trespasses and sins. (Eph.2:1) “The thoughts and intents of his heart are
only evil continually.” (Gen.6:5) He is the slave of sin (John 8:34), the
servant of the devil, (Eph.2:2).

God has no complacent love for the sinner at all. He has a perfect hatred of
him, “1 hate them with a perfect hatred.” (Ps. 139:22)

Why does God do so much good for those He perfectly hates and as soon as they
die impenitent send them immediately to hell and never in all eternity does them
one solitary favor more? It is to show His willingness to forgive the sinner if
only he will repent. It shows the sincerity of God’s willingness to pardon the
greatest sinner that, even while He hates him with a perfect hatred, He showers
him with constant daily blessings.

As I mentioned in Chapter 1, there is no “problem of pain.” The only problem is
the “problem of pleasure.” Dreadful as it is, it is not surprising that God
sends sinners to hell. The problem is why He does not do it sooner. Why does God
let a hell-deserving sinner live a minute and then let him prosper like the
green bay tree (Ps.37:35), as well? It is obvious that God can destroy the
ungrateful. Why doesn’t He? That is the problem.

Yes, the sinner suffers, too. But so little. It is a gentle reminder: though the
sinner receives many divine favors, that does not mean that God is pleased with
him. It is in spite of the fact that God hates him with a perfect hatred.

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness
and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the
kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Rom.2:4)

Our text also shows that the one reason a sinner is permitted to be born into
and enjoy this world rather than wake up as an infant in hell is that God, with
His love of benevolence, is determined to give the sinner a “chance,” an
opportunity to repent. Alas, most sinners use it as a chance to sin! They make
God’s blessed love of benevolence into a curse.

In this world the sinner enjoys nothing but the benevolent love of God. Every
experience of pain as well as pleasure is from God’s love — of benevolence. Even
pain is from love because it tends to wake the sinner to his danger. God indeed
loves the sinner, whom He hates with a perfect hatred, with a perfect love of
benevolence.

The sinner, as I said, makes every divine blessing into a curse including God’s
love of benevolence. This he does by construing a love of benevolence as a love
of complacency.

Construing God’s love of benevolence as a love of complacency is fatal. Instead
of the divine forbearance leading to repentance, it is used as an excuse for
non-repentance. Thus the sinner is not saved but damned by God’s love of
benevolence.

God “loves” the sinner benevolently and hates the sinner displacently. If the
sinner dies impenitent, God removes His love of benevolence and pours out the
full wrath of his displacent love.

As far as “hatred of sins” is concerned, sins do not exist apart from the
sinner. God does hate sinning, killing, stealing, lying, lusting, etc., but this
alludes to the perpetrator of these crimes.

God never hates the redeemed even when they sin. Is He an unfair respecter of
persons? No! (Act. 10:34) God hates the unredeemed sinner but loves the redeemed
even when they sin for a good and just reason. God loves the redeemed even when
they sin because His Son, in whom God is always well-pleased, ever lives to make
intercession for them. (Rom.8:27, 34) Christ died to atone for the guilt of His
people’s sins. When they sin, these are atoned-for sins. They are sins with
their guilt removed. In one sense, they are not sins at all. God does not hate
His people when they sin because they are in His Son, Christ Jesus. And they are
made acceptable in His Son. He “has made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Eph. 1:6)

Divine nepotism? No, His Son died for these people and paid the price for their
sins past, present, and future. They are cancelled before they are committed.
That is truth, not fiction. Righteousness, not nepotistic favoritism. In fact,
it is not their original relationship to Christ which makes their sins
guiltless, but Christ’s making satisfaction for their sins that created the
relationship as children adopted into the family of God.

God, in hot displeasure, chastens His people when they sin (Ps.6: 1; 38:1). It
is not hatred but complacent love in Christ Jesus. “Whom the Lord loves He
chastens.” (Heb. 12:6,7) God loves His people even when He afflicts them and
hates the impenitent even when He befriends them.

Why the chastening when there is love? God blessed the wicked when there was
holy hatred. Now He chastens His people when there is holy love. This is because
true moral behavior must be perfected. No sin can be tolerated in those for whom
Christ died. He died to purchase a “peculiar people zealous of good works.”
(Titus 2:14) Being redeemed, so far from tolerating their sinning, precludes it.
Anyone who persists in sinning proves thereby that he is not a child of God. God
punishes His own especially because they are His children. “You only have I
chosen among all the families of the earth: Therefore I will punish you for all
your iniquities.” (Amos 3:2)

“Upright” man was promised and warned. A holy, just, and perfect God would
promise and warn. Eternal life — if obedient. Instant death — the moment of
disobedience. (Gen.3:5; Ecc.7:29)

When man sinned, he died spiritually and was rejected from communion with God
his maker and friend. (Gen.3; Rom. 5:12ff) The wrath of God was upon him; labor
was his lot; suffering in childbirth; alienation and death, as threatened. God
is holy; of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. (Hab. 1:13)

Yet mortal man “lived” on (though to live in pleasure is death, 1 Tim. 5:6), and
so did promise. When the angels sinned they perished without delay, without
promise, without hope.

Man’s fate was better and worse than the fallen angels’ lot. It was a day of
possible salvation but also of possible greater damnation, greater damnation for
sinning away the day of possible salvation. God in His wrath; God in His mercy;
at the same time.

This was a terrible but holy wrath. God was using His omnipotent power but
according to His perfect justice. Man was affected but he deserved it. It was no
more, no less, than he deserved. God is no more powerful than holy; no more holy
than powerful.

As man continued to sin, God continued to increase His fury. His wrath is in no
hurry. The record is kept, all accounts receivable. Every idle word will be
brought into judgment (Matt. 12:36). The cup of iniquity must be filled. Then
wrath to the uttermost. (1 Thess. 2:16) God’s glory shines in the perfection of
His work.

But — God decreed the sin, (Prov. 16:4). Yes, for good and for glory. Man did it
for evil and for shame.

A little sin and infinite wrath? A little sin against an infinite God is
infinite. Wrath is in perfect proportion to the guilt. But even if the
punishment were finite it would go in “infinitely,” unendingly, because the
sinner continues to sin in resenting it.

All glory to God for His holy anger. (John 17:3; Rom.9: 17f)

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Author

Dr. John H. Gerstner was born in Tampa, Florida, and raised in Pennsylvania. He
earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Dr. Gerstner pastored several churches
before accepting a professorship at Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, where
he taught church history for over 30 years. He served as a visiting professor at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and adjunct
professor at Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Gerstner
was also professor-at-large for Ligonier Ministries for many years, and recorded
numerous lectures on audio and video for that organization.

Dr. Gerstner was a stalwart champion of the cause of reformed theology and, in
particular, the teachings of Jonathan Edwards.



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