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Are we supposed to hate or not?
Luke 14:26 and 1 John 3:15
- You must hate - (Luke 14:26) - "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."
- You must not hate - (1 John 3:15) - "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."
In Luke 14:26, Jesus is drawing a comparison of importance by exaggerating a relationship. He is saying that it is far more important to love Him than anyone else, including your own parents. Of course, He is not telling people to hate their parents. He is saying that by comparison to Him, you must love Him more than all else.
In 1 John 3:15, John is writing to the church about abiding in the love of Christ. In fact, in 1 John, the word "abide" occurs 16 times in the NASB and the apostle continually refers to abiding in Christ (1 John 2:4,24,28; 3:6,24, etc.).
Therefore, we see that a true Christian will love the Lord Jesus supremely and in so doing he will not abide in hatred towards his brother.
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Part of a series on
Luke, John, and Acts
- Luke 3:23, Why are there different genealogies for Jesus in Matt. & Luke?
- Luke 13:19, Is the mustard seed the smallest of all seeds?
- Luke 23:38, What was written on the sign on the cross?
- Luke 24:4, How many men or angels appeared at the tomb?
- John 1:18, Has anyone seen God or not?
- John 16:33, Did Jesus come to bring peace or not?
- John 20:1-2, 12, How many men or angels appeared at the tomb?
- Acts 1:13-14, Why are the lists of disciples different?
- Acts 9:3-4, When Paul saw the light, did all fall to the ground or not?
- Acts 22:9, Did the men with Paul hear the voice or not?
