Just finished a discussion with a friend who asked me a question online just now... it's very interesting and very long. So here's a very short excerpt (yesh, this is the SHORT version... it went on for 2 hours...) But thought some of the questions he raised are good questions. Answered as best as I know how... if you've any good points to add, do share... we can learn from one another! :D

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:07 PM):
have a qn to ask .. the phrase about God loving the sinner but not the sin is *not* biblical right?

if the statement is true .. then does God love Judas, the Cannanites or whoever God ordered to be annihilated in the Bible? ...and besides I don't think the Bible explicitly writes that God loves the sinner but hates the sins

[yeu@nn] learning to plan besides praying says (10:21 PM):
"God loves the sinner, but hates sin." think to see what the writer of this phrase meant, we have to see what it means by "love" as in this particular context.

from wat i understand so far, there are quite a few different kinds of "love" - e.g. romantic love, sexual love, friendship love, unconditional love, etc. the english word "love" flattens all these varied meanings into one plain word: "love".

so i think when the phrase talks about God loving the sinner... it refers to the unconditional love of God for all men.

but the Bible does quote God as saying, e.g. "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated..."so it does indicate that God can hate as well as love

so, from what i understand so far, it is possible for God to not have a friendship kind of love with a person, but still have an unconditional love all the same.

so, given the undefined context of the phrase that you said, i think we have to assume that the phrase refers to God's unconditional love.

and unconditional love is something that is part of God's nature

so in that particular sense of unconditional love, yes it is biblical...

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:30 PM):
hmm ..does God love Judas unconditionally?

the tone doesnt sound friendly during the lastsupper

actually the point about unconditional love is moot
as in, how do we see it manifested in the life of Judas?

anyway, the phrase is still *not* biblical even in the context of unconditional love .. 'cos God said in romans he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy

unconditional love refers to his love to you as unconditional and *not* him unconditionally loving you
when we say hate the sin but love the sinner, it is more about him unconditionally loving you

ie I WILL love you NO MATTER what your sins

[yeu@nn] learning to plan besides praying says (10:45 PM):
hey... tink tt's a good comment... was thinking about it
in tt sense He's not obliged to love us

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:45 PM):
yup!

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:46 PM):
and what gives us the right to tell pple about God's intention
as if we know His intentions with regards to any particular person

He's not obliged to love us - but many pple extend this to mean and yet he's loving us, all of us

"and yet he is loving us, all of us, including you" .. this is the meaning conveyed when we use "God loves the sinner but hates the sin"

[yeu@nn] learning to plan besides praying says (10:49 PM):
so in a sense, tt's how real His love is... that He is not obliged at all to love us, and yet... for some very strange reason, He choose to love us all nevertheless.

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:50 PM):
wait, bible never explicitly say He choose to love us ALL nevertheless

[yeu@nn] learning to plan besides praying says (10:51 PM):
so wat u are saying is that there are some people He does not love?

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:51 PM):
yup .. though strictly speaking, He can love all like you said, but we shouldn't assume this to be the truth

[yeu@nn] learning to plan besides praying says (10:52 PM):
so lemme see if i got wat u mean... that we can't know whether He really does love ALL humanity, even tho we are saying tt He does.

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:53 PM):
you can put it this way, basically biblical hermeneutics does not suggest He really does love all humanity .. so we shdn't say He does
.. 'cos it is not biblical

[yeu@nn] learning to plan besides praying says (10:54 PM):
then what does 1 Tim 2:3-6 say?

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:57 PM):
this is tricky if you understand the theology behind ..
v4 sasys God desires everyone to be saved, so the obvious qn you shd ask the CGL is .. *but why is not everyone saved*?

[yeu@nn] learning to plan besides praying says (10:59 PM):
wat did ur CGL say?

Life, like medicine, may be bitter but is never bad says (10:59 PM):
I do not have any CGL .. haha

if God truly wants everybody to be saved, He can author the bible in such a way all (or most) pple will be saved