A Revolution of Hatred

     We are in the midst of revolution. It is not as any before it. Shots need not be fired nor blood shed. Even so, it is a violent revolution! The weapon of mass destruction is hatred. Scripture equates hatred with murder:

1 John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

     This passage presents two ideas: (1) hatred is vicariously killing other people, and (2) haters are doomed to Hell. To put hatred into perspective, meth addiction would be easy to discard compared to the addiction of hatred! For myself, I don't see lust nor pride as any place close to hatred, God understands and tolerates lust because he has been tempted himself. However, God has never hated anyone! "He so loved the world" (John 3:16) means everyone, even those who most humans despise!
      Scripture says "judge not lest ye be judged" (Mat 17:1).  Elsewhere it says "judge not... condemn not" (Luke 6:37). Judgment is thus condemnation, inevitably to Hell! Scripture as well be written: hate not lest ye be hated which is in congruence with the Golden Rule: Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you (Mat 7:12). Let me add, the reverse of this is not valid: do unto others as they do unto you! The Golden Rule is God's rule, and its converse is from the law of sin whose author is the Devil. What is the punishment for haters? God does the punishing:

Prov 25:21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: 22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.

     Allow me to rewrite this in shorthand: Love those who hate you! This context is validated by Jesus:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

     The reaction to hatred is to be love. However, even as a Christian, my response to hatred most often is returned hatred. I hate my enemies because Satan desires that I do. It suits his purposes because unaddressed hatred prevents eternal life. For myself, I worry about me when I hate others!
     I read scripture each morning and learn how to love. The Spirit corrects my hatred. Then I turn on the news and listen to others despise people as myself - conservative Christians. Rather than loving them because "they know what they do" as Jesus loved them so  (Luke 33:34), I feel justified in hating them. That is rationalizing hatred as they give me reason to hate! Do I feel good about that? Indeed, for a short time, sin is pleasurable but God checks sin through the emotion of guilt. Paul said it plainly, "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Mat 26:41), and he did not what he should do but did not what he desired not to do (Rom 7:15-20).
    I don't want to hate but I do. Even Christians have a "dualistic cosmology" in that the soul has two forces which oppose each other. Let me explain my thoughts on this "dualism" within Christians: As Jesus did in his agony, we should look at the human soul as a cup. The "cup" is dirty with sin. When anyone is born-again by accepting Jesus's death as redemption for sin, his spilt blood washes the cup clean as all past sins are in remission (Rom 3:25). The reborn person has, at that time, a clean "cup". Soon, even Christians sin again, just as in the days of Noah. What did mankind do? Get drunk (Noah) and not honor his father (Ham). Generally, what the new Christian does is "lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, or the pride of life"  (1 John 2:16) - all sins of Adam, all of which are of this world.
     Before the reborn person sins, the Holy Spirit is "poured" fully into the cup. Since God cannot coexist with sin, sin displaces God within the cup. The cup has within it matter as well. Think of a sponge within the cup which soaks up Spirit. The sponge and living water, under God's Laws of the Spirit, cannot occupy the same space. The filled cup is "full of the Holy Spirit" but with sin, that doesn't last long. The Greek word for this phenomenon is "pletho" which means "to imbue" or "to supply" or can even mean "to fill" (Strong's Dictionary). It makes sense that the clean cup is filled, but as the world influences with sinfulness, imbuement is more applicable since the former clean "cup" then has some contamination within it. Repentance rewashes the cup because the blood of Jesus will always cleanse as long as it is in what the cup is soaked!
     Lust and pride quickly dirty the cup, but a sincere prayer for forgiveness cleanses it again! God easily washes away all sin but even Christians must allow Jesus to do the washing. He never infringes without invitation because it is our "cup". Wise Christians give their "cup" to Jesus to do what he wills. That is the living sacrfice which is our reasonable service (Rom 12:1). We accept the Ghost of Jesus as our free dishwasher. He doesn't mind because He is King but Servant too!
     The lust is easily cleansed. The pride needs a good scrubbing with living water. Perhaps prayer and fasting may be a more effective brand of "detergent" (Mat 17:21) because hatred is the poison of an evil spirit.   Before the preparation for re-cleansing the cup, Christians should not "eat" the fruits of the world from the Tree of Knowledge. That is removing ourselves from the influence of sin and its laws!
     The interview news programs with liberals is the fuse which ignites hatred within me. The Holy Spirit keeps it smothered but demonic influences reactivates what God has squelched. Those who denigrate Christians and propagate the law of sin are influenced by demons to do so because demons know that denigrating the things of God crawls under the skin of Christians. In other words, Satan's forces uses God's Word against us just as the Serpent did with Eve back in the beginning. What is that deception: It's okay to hate in God's Name because I am more righteous than they are! My pride as defender of God is what makes me hate others.
     This is not only the dualistic cosmology of me but all mankind. I admit how I hate for two purposes: (1) to quit hating, and (2) so that others can see that they are haters as well. Perhaps prayer and fasting will cleanse all our "cups" and keep them clean. All we need do is bring our cups to Jesus so that he can do the washing. Ironically, sacrificing ourselves is allowing Jesus to do the work!