Wow, I am amazed at some of the statements here. I cannot believe what I am reading. Some of you speak as if God delights in "casting" sinners into hell as if it is some sort of sport. I can imagine that He weeps over every one because He died for each of them.
If God hates sinners then He certainly goes through alot of trouble to bring them to salvation.
I remember a popular verse that says "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son." It doesn't say "For God so loved the righteous" but "the world."
1 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." It seems that He is even mediating on behalf of those whom He hates (as some here may believe).
When Jesus walked the earth He showed compassion, mercy and love to humanity, healing their sick and raising their dead, who were sinners by the way. Wow that sounds like a hateful God to me (sarcasm added).
In Matthew 5:43, 44 Jesus tells us to love our neighbor and our enemies, many of whom are sinners. How can He expect that from us if He Himself hates sinners.
Luke 6:32, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." How could God hold us to that standard if He only loved those who loved Him?
Or how about Luke 6:35, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." Showing kindness to those whom He hates?
This verse says it all. Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Look at the great commission. He gives the comission out of His love for the sinner. If God hates sinners because of His holiness, then (according to some here) since we are commanded to be holy as He is holy we aught to have the same hatred, right? Why then should we evangelise those whom we should hate? Why do people evangelise to begin with? Because they have a passion and a love for the people to come to Christ.
In Philippians Paul tells us the attitude that Christ has towards sinners. Phil 2:5-8, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Let me paraphrase that for you. In other words, the attitude that Christ had was that it was not worth being equal to God if all of mankind went to hell.
Here is more, Ephesians 2:1-5, " And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)"
1Th 3:12 "and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you"
Tit 3:4 "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared"
1Jo 4:10 "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
1Jo 4:19 "We love, because He first loved us."