Scripture is clear that God hates sin (the bad things people do, according to God’s standards). Sin always destroys what God made (Romans 6:23), and it deeply grieves Him. Those who are committed to living a life of intentionally sinning are described often in Scripture as “the wicked” — despised enemies of God who will receive His wrath both now and eternally in hell (Psalms 5:4-5, 11:5, Luke 16:22-28, Matthew 13:42, 25:41, Revelation 20:15).

Yet, despite the fact that God hates sin and is enemies of everyone who hates Him (notably, every human has been or still is in this category), He chooses to love them anyway. One of the most famous Bible verses in history makes this exceptionally clear: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, bold emphasis added). God loves everyone, and He wants everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4)!

Anyone who chooses to believe in Jesus and give up their life of sin will receive God’s free gift of forgiveness (James 2), which is what it means to “become a Christian.” However, God will never force anyone to do this — you are free to remain God’s enemy and suffer the consequences if you like.

Notably, if as a Christian you sin, it does not mean that you will go to hell. God’s forgiveness covers all your sins now — past, present, and future (1 John 2). However, don’t abuse your forgiveness and waste your life (Romans 6)! If you decide to return to a life of godlessness, you will suffer great loss of eternal rewards on the judgement day for believers (1 Corinthians 3). Some Biblical scholars also think it may be possible for a Christian to purposely throw away their salvation by intentionally choosing to return to being God’s enemy, though this is highly debated whether it actually refers to people who were never saved in the first place (Hebrews 6-10). Bottom line: a life of sin is worth giving up in favor of receiving God’s love and loving Him back!

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