When reading the Scripture, Everything has to be taken in context and we must first know whom he is saying this to and why. We must also understand that God hates certain things and His love does not override His hate for those who do evil and do not repent.

Hate is a feeling of utter hostility and disgust: revulsion, abhorrence an intense animosity or dislike of a thing. God has hate just as He has love. In the context of scriptures instruction we are to hate the things God himself hates (we were made in his moral image).

Deut. 12:31 "You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.” (Deut. 16:22 " sacred pillars.”) Religious activities that kill the innocent God hates.

Deut. 19:11-13"But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, "then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. "Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.” God does not have mercy even if one flees to a city of refuge. His justice overrides his mercy on these intentional crimes that were committed in Israel.

Ps 11:5 “the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.”

Prov 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.”

Prov. 6:16-19 “These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.”

Ps 5:5-6 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; you hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

How do we reconcile loving our enemies with the prophet saying “Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate.” (Amos 5:15)

Or Ps 139:20-22 For they speak against You wickedly; your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.”

Ps 97:10 You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.”

Or Judges 5:31"Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But let those who love Him be like the sun when it comes out in full strength”

God does judge the evil. Ps. 7:11 “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Until they repent)

1 Sam. 2:10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces; from heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "

God is asked to bring justice to those who are hurt from those who oppose what is good and right. The prayer of the Psalmist (94:2-3) “Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render punishment to the proud. LORD, how long will the wicked triumph?”

Jesus comes back to judge, to remove evil and those who did wicked things so that righteous may flourish. Eccl 3:17 I said in my heart, "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."

Ps 96:13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth.” (Ps.98:9). Ps 110:6” He shall judge among the nations, he shall fill the places with dead bodies, he shall execute the heads of many countries.”

Even Jesus said "And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” (John 12:47-48)

Heb.1:13 he is waiting for “his enemies to be his footstool’” (Rev.11:5 God will devour his enemies )

Similarly, the church is commended to judge and to act among there own.

Rev. 2:2 "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.”

God says those who claim to be chosen apostles and are not just liars but are evil.

V.6"But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Repeated again in v:15). 1 Cor. 5:12-13 “For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person."

So according to the word we are to be trained by God to separate from evil inside the church. Make a judgement by His word (a righteous judgment) not allow it or help it continue.

The world is our enemy (Jms.4:4), we are not to love the world (which is ruled by sin), death is an enemy and those who bring harm and kill are God’s enemies also. (1 Cor. 15:26). When the Bible speaks of our enemy it does not always mean they are evil

Now that we have established God being just and his judgment on evil we can go the New Testament and see exactly what Jesus meant.

Matt 5:43-46 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' (Quoting the Mosaic Law, Lev. 19:18). "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

Jesus is pointing out that is not the right attitude from Moses’ law. Jesus was correcting the Pharisaic interpretation of this commandment. The whole Sermon on the Mount was his right interpretation of the law refuting their wrong interpretation of the law.

The Pharisees interpretation was that their neighbor was always a Jew, the enemy was always Gentiles. In this way they were nationalistic. But they went as far as to teach if one is not a Pharisee they can be an enemy (sectarianism). Jesus is saying to love the gentiles like you love your own, (this also included Publicans and Sadduccees.)

The Mosaic Laws commandment taught one must love those whom God loves, and hate those whom God hates. Let me quote Dr. Fructhenbaum on this because his interpretation makes perfect sense. “For example, God clearly stated that He hated the Canaanites and their actions, and He commanded the Jews to exterminate them. This was to be a national action. Israel as a nation was to hate another nation, the Canaanites, because of their extreme wickedness against God. Because the nation of the Canaanites was God’s enemy, Israel was to look upon them as their enemies and hate them to the point of exterminating them as God had commanded. This was the basis for the commandment in the Mosaic Law. It was never intended to be used by individual Jews as grounds for exercising personal hatred, animosity, and enmity toward their fellow-man on an individual basis. Yeshua said that was not the proper interpretation of the righteousness of this commandment. It had to do with a national foreign policy toward another nation that God considered His enemy and had nothing to do with the personal animosity toward a fellow Jew or a Gentile.” (THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT manuscript)

God gave the Canaanites over 400 years to repent of their evil. They were God’s and Israel’s enemy and were to be expelled from the land Exod.32: 33. The Canaanites were ruthless people so God gave Israel the land because the Canaanite’s defiled it. Canaanite worshipers were a fertility cult which operated at their temples scattered throughout their land. They participated in lewd, immoral acts with "sacred" prostitutes. They practiced a depraved form of worship that appealed to the base instincts of man's animal nature. Lev.18:23-25

The Hebrews worshiped a holy God who conveyed a purity and righteousness among His people. The new monotheistic faith of the Hebrews would become contaminated “from their lewd nature worship with immoral gods, prostitute goddesses, serpents, cultic doves, and bulls. (New Unger's Bible Dictionary)

This is one reason the Lord says in Lev. 18:29 'For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. It is not my purpose in this article to explain the reasons except to put in perspective God’s hatred for evil and the context of what Jesus is speaking to.

In Matt 5:43-46 Jesus is speaking of people that curse you, hate you, spitefully use you and even persecute you. Matthew’s version is expanded by Luke’s:

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”

Luke 6:28-31" bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you."To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back." And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

Jesus solution, do good to them, pray for them, not just pray for those you like. But he does not mean to love them is to pray for their success or bless what they are doing that harms people!

Do those who use the sermon the Mount do what it says? They use the phrase love your enemies, do they let someone insult them or humiliate them (allow them to strike them on the other cheek) Do they allow their clothing or their car to be taken and offer the thief more? Do they give away to what people ask of them? No they do not. But this is how some interpret Jesus putting love your enemy into action.

Luke ends in v.35-36 "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil." Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

Jesus was teaching to have No personal hatred toward anyone which is something John upholds on hatred. We are not to react to our enemy as your enemy would react to you; you want good to happen to them, but what you do not do is put up with, condone, or speak well of their evil (lessen the wrong that they do or help them in it).

1 Peter 2:15 “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”

Rom. 16:19b “I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.”

Rom. 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Rom. 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men”

 When Jesus said to bless those that curse you, or persecute you He did not mean allow those who kill as sport or for their religious purposes to be blessed. Considering that God tells us to also hate what he hates there must be a balance in our perspective. This is why we need to think this through with the background of the Old Testament examples.

When I looked up the commentators, some included Satan to love, which is absurd. Satan is an enemy of all mankind, will you love him? Of course not, would you make his emissaries comfortable and bless them? I hope not.

To persecute in most instances means to make you suffer, make life difficult. If it is because of your personality that is different than your faith (Mt.5:10; 1Pt.3:14).

We have to look at what Jesus did to understand what he meant. When confronted with his enemies what did Jesus do? He was not always forthcoming with his enemies, he was silent before them, or made them answer his question first. At times he called them hypocrite’s and named their hypocrisy publicly (Mt.23). He even said their Father was the Devil whose works they do. He mocked them and told them about judgement. Now I ask you is that loving your enemies as we are told to do today? He constantly corrected those who followed him. He also took action, He cleared out the money changers in the Temple. His ministry was filled with corrections and rebukes to his followers and to those who challenged him (his enemies). He did not put up with lying or hypocrisy.

Likewise, Paul didn’t approach those who betrayed him or blasphemed (by their false teaching) with a blessing. Paul prayed for God to bring justice to those who were once on the mission field with him. 2 Tim 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works.” 1 Tim. 1:20 “…Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” We are told to reject a divisive heretic after two times; is that love?

Was Paul unloving when he name specifically Phygellus and Hermogenes for abandoning him? The apostle Paul also warned the church about Demas, saying ‘that he had forsaken him and that he, "loved this present world" (2 Timothy 4:10).

If Jesus meant that we allow evil and do good to those who plot it then Paul could not say “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good” (Rom. 12:9) (Abhor means to utterly detest, which means we have nothing to do with it.)

We do not give a blessing to those who do evil. 2 Jn. 1:10-11 tells us If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.” The house is where people gathered to worship as church. If you allowed a person to teach others their wrong you share in their evil works, you are an accomplice.

Job 28:28 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.'"

The fear of the Lord has you HATE evil, that is wisdom because God hates sin and evil.

Prov. 8:13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.” Ps 34:13-14 “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”

When it comes to a religion that kills or men grouped together to murder innocent people like gangs, we are not to love them; that is tolerating, that is endorsing their evil.

Let me give some concrete examples. Abortion advocates who take the life of a preborn, do you bless them and make them comfortable in doing this? We see that God approved of the Hebrew midwives lying to the Pharaoh to save lives. Otherwise the deliverer Moses would have been one of the casualties.

Matt 5:41-42 "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

The Roman soldiers would put their sword on a person’s shoulder to solicit them to carry their bags.

If someone steals your car do you ask them if they need anything else from you? If someone physically assaults you do you give them the other cheek or protect yourself? If someone kills one of your children do you offer the other one to them? If you left your home for a few hours and came back and found people squatting in your house would you allow them take your house and throw you out because they need a home? Jesus did not mean that love makes us a doormat for those who would take advantage.

His statements have to be qualified in their greater context.

If you were a Jew in Nazi Germany how would you love Hitler? If you were a Gentile during this time period would you help him exterminate people? Of course not. But that would be the outcome of how some people interpret these verses of doing good to your enemy.

Let me give a more current example. How about Isis, if they came to your town would you invite them over and feed them knowing what they are going to do. What if you knew they were going to kill loved ones, are you going to help them, tell them you love them not matter what evil they do? If so then you share in their evil.

The Romans opposed the Jews but they were not filthy murderers like Isis is.

Churches that teach this interpretative error do not live by it, many do not help their own members teaching this, which is actually tolerance, complacency.

The whole sermon in Mt.5-7 is Jesus correcting the interpretation of the law the Pharisees taught. He ends his sermon by saying Matt 7:6 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Paul also says “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!” (Phil 3:2) Referring to Prov. 9:8" Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.”

Jesus is speaking of those who come against and oppose their faith.

Jesus also said to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.” Wisdom is to know what evil is and when to speak. In other words you are to be wise and not just sacrifice your life to their hatred and hostility.

Paul interprets Jesus’ words in Rom. 12:17-21 “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

What he is saying is do not take the judgment into your own hand’s (physically) nor let anger consume you. Evil is overcome by doing good. How do we bless them by doing good when it’s possible, pray for them. But we do not bless those who live in sin and do evil to people.

Again, if you lived in Germany at the time of the Nazis and they asked you to help them find the Jews to send them to the containment camps would you help them? You don’t do something good to someone so they can do evil to someone else. Jesus is not saying do good to them if you know they are going to bring harm to you and others (such as killing you)

Barnes' Notes “Christ did not intend to teach that we are to see our families murdered, or be murdered ourselves; rather than to make resistance. The law of nature, and all laws, human and divine, justify self-defense when life is in danger. It cannot surely be the intention to teach that a father should sit by coolly and see his family butchered by savages, and not be allowed to defend them. Neither natural nor revealed religion ever did, or ever can, inculcate this doctrine.

There are different types of evil and different types of enemies. The Romans were cruel but they were not murdering people indiscriminately. Luke 6:9 "I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"

So Jesus defines killing as evil, killing you for a religion is the worst kind of hypocrisy.

1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

We need to first understand that God recognizes there are enemies. Have we forgotten that God will vanquish his enemies; his enemies are ours too.

Ps. 21:8-9 Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath (Ps 92:9)

God loved the people of the world that He did all that was needed to remove us from judgment (Jn.3:16), but if you don’t repent can you say he still loves you. He sends you to hell because of your decision to reject his solution to your sin. God called what man was doing evil in Noah’s day and judged the world; God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, God judge Pharaoh’s army. You can’t say he loved them when he judged them?

An unbalanced and unbiblical view of God’s love is often used by liberals to have people believe all will be saved. Satan and the angels are not forgiven, they are punished forever, the Bible says this numerous times.

God has not changed his mind about evil and those who do it. God is going to rid the earth of the evil hateful people one day. He does not love the evil they do, should we? We should pray for them and show love to them as individuals when the opportunity presents itself.

Does Jesus love everyone? God sent his only son to be sacrificed for those who are condemned (that is everybody Jn.3). But if one does not repent, His love, mercy, forgiveness is not applied; they instead receive judgment (justice) for their sins.