Yuku free message boards

Quote:

---

Subject Author
Can the world hate "you"? maxnullifidian
I was looking up the word "hate" in the concordance yesterday, and noticed these verses:

"The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil."
John 7:7

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you."
John 15:18

"Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you."
1 John 3:13

So, I'm just wondering, which is it? Can the world hate "you" (he's talking to the disciples, so I guess that's who the world can't hate), or not?

Is this a valid contradiction?
Edited by: maxnullifidian at: 12/30/05 3:25 pm

---

No, it is not a contradiction.

In the verses quoted above, Jesus and the apostle John are addressing two types of people. One type is the chosen elect, the other type is the non-elect. In John 7:7, Jesus is addressing His half-brothers by birth. With the exception of His half-brother James, it appears that the other half-brothers (and half-sisters) of Jesus did not believe in Him as the Messiah. Jesus groups His non-believing half-siblings as being part of the world (non believers), and therefore the world cannot hate them because they were of the world.

In John 15:18 quoted above, Jesus addresses His disciples. He tells them that if (or when) the world hates them, then they should know that world hated Him before it hated them... In other words, He was telling them not to be surprised that the world hates them. This occurs because the disciples represent Jesus, and the Holy Spirit dwelling within them testify of Jesus. When the world sees a Christian, it sees a representation, albeit greatly inferior, of Jesus. What the world sees in Christians is more than enough to cause the world to hate them.

In 1 John 3:13, John is informing his spiritual brethren (the elect) to not marvel when the world hates them. The world hates the light. Therefore, hatred expressed towards Christians should not be surprising.

There is no contradiction because the subjects of the verses are different (elect and non-elect).