Why does God not love Satan if He tell us to love our enemies to be as His Children (Luke 6:35-36)?

score:5

Here is my short answer. And please bear in mind, that when I (and others) disagree with some of your points, that is not us trying to "censor" you "just because you don't like my question". People who go to the trouble of giving you an answer do so because they think your question is worth answering.

Jesus plainly gave us the mind of God on the matter of the divine judgement against Satan. Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus warned piously religious men of his day that they were of their father, the Devil, because of their disbelief and hatred of himself.

...you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! - John 8:43-45

We should all know what the Bible says about liars and murderers not getting into God's Kingdom (Revelation 9:21 & 21:8). There is absolutely nothing in the Bible to indicate that Satan might have repented of his evil. It shows a progression of wickedness over thousands of years. Those verses (above) teach that some remain set in their evil deeds and they will end up in the sulphuric lake of fire, foremost being Satan:

And the devil who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. - Revelation 20:10 & 14:9-11

Now, here is the astounding bit. God judges those unrepentant evildoers in that way because he is love. This is where God's divine love is infinitely superior to our sloppy, emotional idea of love. The sinful, human idea of love tries to cover things over, to make things better with an idea that more love on our part will change the wicked one.

Well, God's love is melded to his righteousness, and perfect love demands perfect righteousness. God's love is all-consuming, burning, cleansing love, and that is equally true of his righteousness. Thus, those who wilfully reject God's love will not be cleansed and consumed by it; they will experience the judgement on those who hate God. They will be consumed by the burning of God's judgement - which is an everlasting burning.

This applies to another realm, another state, so the language of scripture speaks of that which we understand in our physical realm, but this everlasting burning is not like anything we know of here on earth. Yet it is a just judgement because God is love. Perfect love combines with perfect judgement in the final state of the unrepentant wicked.

Just as divine love is a divine burning that sanctifies the saints, that keeps them without spot from this sinful world, that purifies them like refined gold and results in burning worship from cleansed hearts, so divine judgement is a divine burning. It consumes the wicked without destroying them, it keeps them from God's holy heaven and presence, it confirms the wicked as being incorrigibly wicked, and Satan is incorrigibly wicked. Thus, Jesus' pronouncement that people who make their 'father' Satan by disbelieving and hating Christ, will have their portion alongside Satan, when the day of judgement comes.

We may find this hard to accept, but when this comes from the lips of Jesus himself, he whom Satan tried to tempt into sin, to join his unholy ranks, and we realise just who Jesus is - the apple of God's eye - the very representation and being of God - then we accept God's righteous judgement of such unmitigated evil. We believe the scripture that warns us that there is a point at which there is

...no sacrifice for sins left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
(Hebrews 10:26-27)

Because that judgement comes as a result of having rejected God's love, the burning is awful, not purifying. We have been warned clearly in the scriptures, and from the very lips of Jesus himself.

If you remain unconvinced by this answer, please read what else Jesus said on the matter in Luke 16:19-31.

This is a good enough question - good enough to proffer an answer. I disagree with those who wish to "close this question as off-topic because it is not fully framed... the asker must show a Christian group teaches that God does not love Satan." Already two answers have shown individuals representing different Christian groups DO argue that God does not love Satan, and I'm going to be a third such individual, representing yet another Christian group. To close this question down seems like an attempt to stop such answers coming forward. Neither is it significant if any one particular group or another objects to the idea of God loving Satan, for if it can be shown from the Bible that Jesus objects to that idea, then that is all that is needed to answer your question, even if every Christian disagreed with Jesus on that point. "Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar." Romans 3:4

The very 'threat' of closing a question down puts people off answering, for several hours is frequently required to answer questions on here. More than once I have spent some hours crafting an answer only to find the question has been closed by the time I try to post it.

Anne 25676

Upvote:-2

The simple answer is after the Fall of Adam & Eve when Satan overstep the Permissive Will of God by "touching" Eve, God is the one who made a Holy Decree a "perrenial enmity". God is the one who declares war with Satan and his demons vs. the Woman and Her seeds or offspring.

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head,[a] and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis3:15)

God declared War with Satan and his demons and future human cohorts, so the bible is clear we must not love Satan but we are commanded in union with the Woman to crush his ugly proud head.

jong ricafort 1

Upvote:0

God's love to all creation is demonstrated in his benevolence and so he expects from us. The message Jesus was passing is that don't let evil run in your heart towards men, for if you allow it, you cannot be a good person - for the negative acts towards the enemy pictures you as a wicked person. But by praying and blessing them, you cultivate a good attitude and character like God. God is the one that can avenge you and justified in doing do because his decisions are made in the light of the future but we are limited in knowledge.

Ayo 9

Upvote:1

Jesus also prayed:

Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)

Love your enemy should be understood in the context that those who persecute us do not fully understand what they are doing. They are doing evil, but do not fully understand the character of the most high, and do not know that they are a slave to Satan in need of saving. Like Saul (Paul), they too have a chance at salvation.

However, those who constantly refuse every ray of light, consistently choose companionship with evil despite evidences of God's love, will have emptied out the cup of mercy. They have hardened their heart to such a state that there is no return.

To Satan, and all those beyond repentance God declares:

you shall be a horror, and never shall you be anymore. (Ezekiel 28:19).

Beestocks 3260

Upvote:3

First, we need to put Jesus’ words into context.

In Matthew 5:38-42 Jesus reminds his audience of the Mosaic Law in Leviticus 19:18 to “love your neighbour as yourself”. It was the strict Pharisees (of the school of Shammai) who added to this command what they thought it implied – to “hate your enemy”. Jesus corrected this error by saying “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus was not speaking about Satan. Jesus was speaking about our relationships with other humans.

Luke’s account of the same event introduces additional insights. Again, Jesus is speaking about how we relate to our neighbours, other people we come into contact with. We are to do good to all men, not just by showing love to those who love us but by “going the extra mile” and helping those who do not love us, to our enemies. Satan is never mentioned.

Yes, verse 35 says that God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Yes, verse 36 tells us to be merciful, just as God is merciful.

But nowhere does Jesus ever say that we are to love Satan. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God loves Satan. God’s perfect love, mercy and justice came together at Calvary when Christ laid down his life to atone for sin – for the sin of the world – sin that came about when Satan uttered the first lie to Eve that she would not die if she disobeyed her creator.

Regarding God’s mercy, James 2:13 reminds us that “judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful”. Has Satan ever shown mercy to anyone?

Repentance precedes forgiveness, and repentance means a change of heart, mind and of deeds. Has Satan ever repented and sought God’s forgiveness?

Satan is not merely God’s enemy. Satan is evil and seeks to overthrow God. Satan is opposed to everything that God represents, namely holiness, love, justice and mercy.

You ask, “where is the mercy and kindness of forcing someone to suffer for all eternity?” Wrong question. Ask, instead, where is the justice in allowing sin to go unpunished? What sort of God would turn a blind eye to sin and pretend it didn’t matter?

Why did God, in Jesus, have to come to earth and die that awful death in order to atone for the sins of the world? Because God is holy, righteous and just, as well as merciful and loving.

It is presumptuous to try and put God into a box of our own devising. Who are we to challenge God’s sovereign right to defeat evil and deal with all who disobey him?

You have already quoted Revelation 20:10 (in a comment) which describes the fate that is in store for Satan. God, who is Alpha and Omega, who knows the beginning from the end, is in full control and His will shall be done in spite of Satan and all who follow him.