Does God love Satan?
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Asked July 01 2013
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Anonymous (via GotQuestions)
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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
No, God does not love Satan, and neither should we. God cannot love that which is evil and unholy, and Satan embodies all of that. He is the enemy (1 Peter 5:8); the evil one (Matthew 6:13); the fa...
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Bob Hall
I believe God does love Satan. Does He approve of Satan's behavior? No. Does He accept Satan as one of His own? No. He loves Satan because it His nature to love. Not only does God the Father love, but He IS love. I Jn 4:8. He acts (loves) out of who He is (love). Did He love me when I was lost? Yes. Did He approve of my behavior? No. For sure. Did He accept me as His own? No. He did not accept me until I received the Holy Spirit. And then He accepted me "in the Beloved. Eph. 1:6. Will Satan allow God's love to change him? I doubt it. However with God, "all things are possible". In Rev. 2:6 it says that God hates the works of the Nicolaitans, but not the Nicolaitans.
Ernie Kerwin
Paul, under the influence of the Spirit of God, wrote in Romans chapter 9: 10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger." 13 just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." In answer to possible objections, Paul continues: 14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says, to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. Please read the full chapter, both before and after this portion, for the full context. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is sovereign and righteous in all He does. All His works and actions were and are designed to bring all glory to Himself. (Read Ephesians Chapter 1) My purpose in writing this is to demonstrate, from the Scriptures, that God can and that at times does hate. But, in doing so, His actions do not call into question His Righteous Character. He is Sovereign and all His actions in the end are to bring Him the ultimate glory! To GOD alone be all the glory!
Derrol PORTER
I have not seen mentioned that Satan "the accuser", is the English transliteration, of the Hebrew. He was originally LUCIFER, the cherub angel, whose beauty and pride caused him to rebel against God and attempt to elevate himself above God[ Ezekiel 28:12-17] [Isaiah 14].In the rebellion he lured a third of the other angels to side with him and when defeated cast to the first and second Heaven or as " prince of the power of the air" Paul describes in [Ephesians 2:2] Satan is also called the Devil in many verses or "the adversary". In [Ephesians 6:12] Paul writes of Christians battle against these powers. Satan is domed to the lake of fire, but until then is an adversary and accuser, the father of lies.[ John 8:44]. Is he loved by God? No, for God can not love evil and Satan is the personification of evil.
Bryan Naidoo
Does God love Satan? Absolutely, yes. There is only one thing God hates is "Sin". Sin is an act of rebellion. The only creation that disobeyed God was "Man". It is true Satan is the father of lies, the murderer from the beginning. It is true he has no truth in him. Satan has been created to be such from the beginning. Satan did not disobey as told by many theologians, quoting Ezekiel 28th chapter and Isaiah 14th chapter. We know how man sinned and who tempted man. Who tempted Satan to disobey? Satan has been created to be our adversary, God created good and he created evil. If God created Good and evil, it is obvious for him to love his creative works. He created light and also darkness. Satan is not God's enemy, neither is Satan God's adversary. Satan has been created to try to test and to tempt man. The only creation that has the power of choice is Man. There is no biblical evidence that Satan has power of choice. He has been created to kill, devour, steal, and destroy. He is not only answerable to God the creator, he presents himself to God as seen in the first chapter of Job.
Danny Hickman
Supporter
Does God love Satan? Because of the brevity of the scope of the question, I can only answer what I believe to be the query: How does God FEEL about Satan, is what I perceive is being asked. Does God hate Satan? There is a scripture that says God hates all evildoers (Psalm 5:5). Let's be clear... who are these evildoers spoken of here? The next line says, 'You destroy those who speak lies' (vs 6). Who is excluded from having ever told a lie? If this scripture is understood as a decree that 'all liars are destroyed by God, no exceptions,' then how is there anyone left? How is any among us not destroyed? Actually, we will be destroyed eventually. That's what this scripture is saying. We will all die.. Psalm 5:5 isn't telling us how God feels about evildoers. No scripture tries to give us an understanding of how God feels. Genesis 6:6 states, 'The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth.' Paul told the Ephesian church, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.." (Ephesians 4:30). Luke 13 depicts Jesus as lamenting over Jerusalem for its ungodly ways. When Lazarus died and was buried, Jesus wept (John 11:35). None of these scriptures are attempting to give us an understanding of what God was /is / isn't feeling. They tell us how God reacts to us. We mess up, God lets us know He's not pleased with us! He laments, is sorry or regretful, grieves, shows His love through tears, etc. So the lesson is about what God does instead of how he feels. There's a question on this site, asked in July of 2013, 'If God is all-powerful, why does He not just kill Satan?' Mr Houdmann, the most celebrated teacher on this site, gave an answer that so far has received 76 upvotes. It was well-received by the got questions community. To summarize, he said God is sovereign over all, including Satan, that all things work together for good, etc, and "to question God's plan and its timing is to question God Himself, His judgment, His character and His very nature" which, as he correctly stated, "is not wise." He said it's not our responsibility to understand God, but to simply obey, and to trust that if it is God's plan to delay Satan's demise, then it has to be the best possible plan. Bible student, Phillip Ramirez answered also. To summarize his answer, he says God is allowing His created helper, who rebelled and is challenging Him for rulership of the kingdom, to be exposed for the failure that he is, to the benefit of all who witness. Mr Ramirez says, 'Satan is the best proof that "man is incapable of governing himself.'" (I like the way he framed his analysis). God is an eternal Being. God is the only eternal One. The nonexistence of God, a time before God was, doesn't exist. There was a time when Satan wasn't alive. God decided ALL OF THIS some "time" ago in eternity. Satan hasn't gone off script and caused God to rewrite anything, and neither have we. God doesn't need to kill anyone for any reason. The taking of another's life is a human appliance. Apparently, Cain was the first to imagine that his life could be improved by ending his brother's life. So he killed his brother, Abel. His life didn't improve, it got worse! Is Satan causing God any grief? Nowhere in scripture is it said that God was grieved or sorry that He had created Satan? It's not there. Ezekiel 28 records what God says about Satan (The king of Tyre): "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and beauty... You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." Satan was given a lot to do (the abundance of your trade); he was no lowly buck private citizen of heaven. Vs 13 says, 'You were in Eden, the garden of God.' He rebelled! But so did Adam (we). God can't not love. He is love.
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