While God hates our sin that has corrupted and has brought wickedness and violence into His good creation, He loves you and me as sinners. This is proven by the gift of His Son Jesus.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
In another passage, the Bible states: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
Yes, God cannot stand our sin, but He loves you and me as sinners.
The truth of the Bible is this: that God created you and me to exalt Him, represent Him accurately, and rule on His behalf (Genesis 1:26-28).
However, instead of fulfilling His purpose for us; we have despised God, completely misrepresented His love and goodness, and rebelled against His laws (Romans 3:10-18).
Truly, our sins have separated us from our God (Isaiah 59:2). The Bible tells us that if we refuse to deal with sin God’s way, God will send us to a place called Hell, far from His goodness, which we have rejected (Romans 6:23).
Throughout the Bible, we read about two ways to deal with sin (Genesis 4:1-5).
Many of us attempt option one: we try to cover our sin with our own self-righteousness. This will never work, because all of our goodness is as filthy rags in God’s eyes (Isaiah 64:6).
The second option is to cling to Jesus and His work on our behalf. Here is what Romans 5:8 tells us, “For God commendeth [showed] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus died on a cross to pay the penalty of sin, and He rose three days later to give new life to those who choose to believe in Him.
Romans puts it this way, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Jesus tells a story in Luke 18 about two men who prayed to God (Luke 18:9-14). The pharisee told God about all the good things he had done. The publican simply begged God for mercy. Jesus ends the story by telling His listeners that only the publican went home that day righteous before God.
If you will believe in what Christ has done for you, humble yourself before your God, beg Him for mercy and forgiveness; you will be saved.