A pastor's tweet has become controversial and drawn mixed reactions after posting his opinion on unbelievers.
As reported by Christian Headlines, Gabe Hughes, associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Texas, stated that Christians should warn unbelievers about the wrath of God and telling them that the LORD loves them despite their sins is wrong.
"You should not tell an unbeliever, 'God loves you.' The apostles never shared the gospel this way. The Bible says God's wrath is upon unbelievers (John 3:36, Romans 1:18)," he wrote.
"Help them see their sin, warn them of the judgment of God, and give them the gospel," the pastor added.
John 3:36 states that only the person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will have eternal life but the one who rejects Him "will not see life" because the wrath of God remains on him. Meanwhile, Romans 1:18 says that God's wrath is upon the godless and wicked people.
Most of the comments antagonize Hughes' statement.
Some argued that the minister is a Calvinist, with one pulling a statement from Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church (GCC).
Citing John 3:16, Pastor MacArthur pointed out the compassion, kindness, generosity and goodness of God "even to the most stubborn sinners."
"Who can deny that those mercies flow out of Good's boundless love? It is evident that they are showered even on unrepentant sinners," the GCC pastor continued.
When a Twitter user said that she became a believer after someone told her that Jesus loved her enough to die for her and that the LORD would have come for even if she was the only one, Hughes replied that the woman's latter statement is "self-centered."
"If you follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit brought you to Him in spite of some of those words you were first told, not because of them," the minister further stated.
Another user presented Paul's statement in Romans 5:8. In the verse, the apostle wrote that while people were still sinners, God demonstrated His love for them through Jesus' death on the cross.
One of his followers, who goes by the Twitter handle @Justa_Pilgrim, stressed that Hughes' opinion "is a direct denial" of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:43-48.
In the passage, Jesus told His followers to love their enemies, saying that they should pray for those who persecute them because loving only those who love them does not make any difference from what the pagans are doing. The LORD added that they should strive to be perfect as their "heavenly Father is perfect."
Chris Silard, who identified himself as a reformed pastor, also disagreed with the tweet.
"You can preach both God's wrath and love at the same time - ergo the Cross. I don't think your position holds up in Scripture. Otherwise you have to tell someone, 'God might love you, if you're elect,'" Silard replied, hitting the Calvinist doctrine.
Sharing a statement from the late evangelist George Whitefield, a Twitter user named Tony Byrne declared that Hughes' stance is "wrong." He contended that helping people "see their sin" is God in Christians who is helping the unbelievers which, he said, "is a form of love." Moreover, it is also a "loving thing to do" when the believers warn those who are lost, which is also God in Christians, for the latter to be saved.
"God 'giving the gospel to unbelievers' is God in us loving them," Byrne emphasized.
