A Requirement to Hate in the Bible - Part 1

Eduardo Elizondo—March 29, 2025

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We're going to ask this question because that's exactly what seems to be expressed in Luke 14. It's a Scripture that is difficult to

understand. It's a passage of Scripture that has caused a lot of controversy and a lot of questions about it. What does this truly mean? We're going to begin in:

Luke 14:25: "And great multitudes were going with Him; and He turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters, and, in addition, his own life also, he cannot be My disciple'" (vs 25-26).

In Matt. 10 He said something similar, talking about 'loving less.' If somebody's loving more father, mother and all of that, and that certainly applies, because Jesus said in that passage that the one that does that is not worthy of Him!

Here it clearly says, hate father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, etc. But today, I would like for us to focus on the last part of these words, because perhaps in this last part of the verse lies a key to understanding more about what Jesus meant when He said that we have to do these things in order to be his disciples!

He says, "…and, in addition, his own life also…" That is a key part of these verses. Sometimes we overlook, we get rattled and confused by the first part of this verse where he talks about hating father and mother, wife and children, brothers, etc.

I would like for us to focus on the last part where He says, "…his own life also…"

'If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own life also, cannot be My disciple,' because this is a requirement that Jesus is sending forth here to all those who are following Him! This seems diametrically opposite to what it says in Matt. 5.

Let's go there to read that, because this is the reason why this passage is very difficult to understand.

Matthew 5:43—the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives this instruction "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 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 despitefully use you and persecute you" (vs 43-44).
This word hate in v 43 when he talks about hate your enemy and those who hate you, that's the same word that Jesus used in Luke 14!

So, why is He making this requirement about 'hating' our own life' and then talking about these other family members as a requirement to become His disciple?

In Luke 6, we're going to read it also, the same book as Luke 14, the same author, so this is not a matter of translation or perspective.

Luke 6:27—Jesus says: "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you" (vs 27-28).

So, this requirement is so perplexing. Why 'hate' your own life? Then again, we're going to look at some things in the Bible about this topic and why 'hate' all these other people in your life?

Well there is one example of someone who came to do that.  That was the conclusion of basically his life and the entire book that goes by his name. I'm talking about the book of Job. Let's go to the book of Job, because that was the conclusion that he arrived at.

But let's set the stage and understand what Job was going through, what he went through and what was happening behind the scenes, because just as much as there's detail in the book of Job here is to give us understanding.

All the Word of God is inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof and for correction for all these things! But also this inspiration that these words that are in the book of Job are for us to see what is going on in the spiritual realm. Really few other books give us a glimpse of that, of what is happening.

Then it gives us both parts, what's happening in heaven and what's happening on the earth with a faithful servant of God.

Job 1:1: "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and turned aside from evil."

That is the description of Job. We're going to see that it's not just the author's description.

Verse 8: "And the LORD said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil?'"

Wouldn't we all love to have that description, to know that God has that description for us? That's what we strive for, certainly. We do have the Holy Spirit and we are on the way of conversion.

But what is this requirement about 'hating your own life also'? We're going to see some of the things that Job went through and we don't have the time to go into all of the details, but we're going to see some things in here that were happening.

We know the story of Job, that Satan comes and God asks him this question and Satan says, 'Well, he just serves You because You're blessing him in everything.'

Obviously, people would be stupid not to do that. But God gives Satan permission to touch everything that Job has except his life! And after all these miseries poured out, all of this happens in chapter 1.

This is how important it is in the book of Job that he gives us all these other chapters of what happens in his head after this misery comes. Only in his head he voices those things. His friends come and they try to comfort him and then they end up being worse in all of these things.

But we're going to see some interesting things regarding the life of Job and what he went through. So, after all this misery that goes on, basically in the first chapter, Satan takes

• his property
• his cattle
• his children

basically everything that Job has! He leaves them alone.

Then at the end of this first chapter in v 21, this is what Job said after all of these tragedies come and they are permitted by God, brought by Satan the devil. Let's just clarify what happens.

Job said, v 21: "And he said, 'Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.' In all this Job did not sin, nor charge God foolishly" (vs 21-22).

You see the integrity, the understanding that he had. Then we know what happens in Job 2. We know that Satan is like, yeah, 'skin for skin.' Everything that a man has will give for his life. Basically enticing God to trying to show God that what we do is just out of convenience, out of benefit.

It's not a true love for God, a true devotion for God. We know what happens, that God lets Satan take Job's health, but not his life!

So, Job is full of sores from head to toe. He's in utter misery, and this is after he had lost everyone and everything! He came with probably within inches of his life! He was so miserable, and was in the bottom of despair, you might say.

We want to read some things as we work our way to the end of the book, which we know what the conclusion is, but we want to read it again in the light of this requirement 'to hate,' especially where Jesus said 'his own life also cannot be My disciple.'

Job 7:20—he is crying out to God, complaining to God—"If I have sinned, what shall I do to You, O Watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, so that I am a burden to myself? And why do You not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I shall sleep in the dust, and You shall seek me in the morning, but I shall not be" (vs 20-21).

He's acknowledging his frailty before God. He's acknowledging that he can't do anything to God one way or another with the good things or the bad things that he does. That's what he says.

• What do I do?
• Why have You set me as Your target?

He feels like that!

We're just going to read some Scriptures to see what was Job's thought process here. He was feeling the weight of all his misery, and he wasn't necessarily blaming God directly. He knew that this was from God, and he was asking that question, because at the bare minimum he knew that the hedge of protection had been removed, and he also was actually afraid of that! He says that he was afraid of that's what happened to him! He's asking this question; he's talking about these things:

Job 9:16: "If I had called and He had answered me, yet I would not believe that He had listened to my voice."

It's almost like he was losing faith because of what happens. Then he explains what's happening:

Verse 17: "For He breaks me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause."

So, he's defending his innocence, his righteousness. He was righteous! We cannot say that he was not righteous, because it says

Verse 18: "He will not allow me to take my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If I speak of strength, lo, He is mighty! And if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead? If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me; though I am blameless, He shall declare me perverse" (vs 18-20).

Now Job is getting into this area where he's thinking:

• Even if I'm good, what can I do against God?
• How can I defend myself?

He's thinking about that because he's analyzing his life and what's happening. He doesn't know if there is something he did.

• I'm certain that it's not
• I'm certain that it's not me

Then he says, 'Well, maybe it is me! But if it is, forgive me, show me what have I done?'

That's why he wants to go to court. He basically wants to have a trial before God.

Job 13—now to see some of his other thoughts here; this is a very interesting study. If we study this with the intention to understand the conclusion, that is going to be very beneficial, especially right now in the time that we are leading up to Passover and examining ourselves. We're going to see some things in Job that we can also think about ourselves regarding our own behavior, our own thoughts.

Job 13:19: "Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die. Only do not do two things to me; then I will not hide myself from You" (vs 19-20). He's talking about God!

Verse 21: "Withdraw Your hand far from me, and let not Your dread terrify me. Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and You answer me" (vs 21-22).

This is what Job is telling God and these are very serious and important things.

Verse 23: "How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin."

• he's asking that question
• he doesn't see it
• he can't acknowledge it all on his own
• he doesn't see what he's doing
• he doesn't see some things that God wanted to bring out to his attention and show him

We know what happened!

We're going to see God's response in: Job 38:1: "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?'" (vs 1-2). In some of the chapters Job also says:

Oh, that there was an empire between God and me. Then I would defend myself. I will have the opportunity to lay my case before Him.

Job 38:1: " Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare it if you have understanding!'" (vs 1-4).

We know the rest of what God tells Job. He starts showing him who HE really is and what HE has done and how much of a nothing, even an upright man that fears the Lord and departs from evil, it's before Him.

But it is not to put him down, it's not to destroy him completely forever; we know that. We know what happens at the end.

Job 42 to see the conclusion of this, we know is not to destroy him because then God gives him double of what he had and He blessed him abundantly more.

But there was something that Job needed to learn that doesn't seem like he was going to learn in the state that he was before.

It has everything to do with this 'hating your own life also,' this requirement to be Jesus' disciple!

Job 42:1 "And Job answered the LORD and said…"—after God shows him, saying:

• Where were you when I made the world and all of these things?
• Can you feed all of the creatures?
• Can you sustain the earth and all of these things?

Which is amazing! It just blows your mind when you read it and you can imagine the fear on Job's face when God was telling him this.

Job answered the Lord; v 2: "I know that You can do all things, and that no thought can be withheld from You."

Then Job knew that God was listening to all of that stuff, all those chapters that he was answering:

• his friends
• defending himself
• crying out to God
• pleading with God
• asking for an empire

Verse 3: "You asked, 'Who is he who hides counsel without knowledge?'…. [What is it that he didn't understand?] …Therefore, I have spoken that which I did not understand; things too wonderful for me; yea, which I did not know. Hear, I beseech You, and I will speak; You said, 'I will ask of you, and you will declare to Me'" (vs 3-4).

That's what he's saying. Then when God challenges him, he acknowledges where he was in his relationship with God.

Verse 5: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You."

But the conclusion in v 6 is what I want for us to focus on. "Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

He did exactly what Jesus says to do in Luke 14. Exactly what Jesus said to do, that the one that does not hate his own life also cannot be My disciple!

And Job did it! He said: "Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes"—when I see who I really am before You:

• when I see all my faults
• when I see my shortcomings
• when I see the evil, arrogance and the pride within me
• when I see this human nature that carries me and pulls me in the direction opposite of You

That is what he's getting at!

We're going to see now that the Apostle Paul understood the same thing, understood the exact same human nature! This is very important for us to realize; to be able to see ourselves for who we really are and how much we really need God in our lives!

Just as John the Baptist said, 'It is ordained that I decrease, but that HE increase.' He wasn't just talking about the discipleship, which it happened. He was talking about our own lives. It is ordained that we all decrease and that HE increase in our lives when we yield to God!

But we're going to see something that the Apostle Paul knew perfectly well. He knew this very, very well.

• he lived it
• he experienced it
• he admitted it
• he put it out in the open

Because there's something very important in here in Rom. 7 relating to this very topic of 'hating our own life also,' which then later will become the key to understand the rest of that verse.

What it is he talked about that about mother and father and sister and all of that?

Rom. 7:14—we're going to read here what the Apostle Paul put out and what he understood about this. In his analysis of the Law, he's also analyzing human nature. That's really what we are to abhor, because it's within ourselves!

He calls it the law of sin and death (Rom. 8.) But let's read what he said in:

Romans 7:14: "For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am carnal… [just like Job, 'I abhor myself and repenting dust and ashes] …having been sold as a slave under sin."

You know what, brethren, you and I having been sold as slaves under sin, as well. Now we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ! But this nature doesn't go away, just like Fred explained when we were in Rom.7.

Verse 15: "Because what I am working out myself, I do not know For what I do not desire to do, this I do; moreover, what I hate, this is what I do."

This is important because he's explaining that what he does, what he hates. He is hating his own life also because he sees this part of him, his human nature. This is the whole of the flesh that's pushing him to do the things that he doesn't want to do.

Newsflash! for all of us, brethren, we all have the same human nature, and we have to come to hate it as well. To hate what we do when we sin, when we fall short.

Verse 18: "Because I fully understand that there is not dwelling within me—that is, within my fleshly being—any good…."

This is the explanation. This is the reason why there is a requirement to hate your own life also in order to become Jesus' disciple.

Within our fleshly being there is no good, there really is no good. It says, for the desire to do good is pressing within me.

• He's with us too
• we want to please God
• we want to do what's right
• we want to obey all His Laws and His Commandments

"…For the desire to do good is present within me; but how to work out that which is good, I do not find" (v 18).

Sometimes we feel like that. We do not find how to put into practice what we know we should do. We know better and:

• still we do it
• still we fall
• still we mistreat others
• still we respond angrily
• still we do things that we don't want to do

We do not practice sin! We know we do not practice sin because we have been begotten by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As John explains in 1-John, we know that, but we do sin. When we do sin:

• Do we see that sinful nature?
• Do we acknowledge that within us there is not any good?

That is not the goodness of God that our nature comes with, just the good and evil; the mixture of good and evil for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That's what it says.

"…but how to work out that which is good, I do not find" (v 18)—neither did Job when he was in despair!

God came and God showed him, God showed him his nature compared to God's nature so that he could understand his human nature.

The conclusion again of the whole matter of the whole book of Job is in:

Job 42:6 "Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

Direct result of what? Now my eyes sees You!

• now I understand who You are
• now I understand Your greatness
• now I understand myself a little bit better

This is what it is!

We're going to talk about the rest of these verses in another message. We're going to explore that and some other Scriptures that talk about the same thing about our nature of whoring our nature to really come to hate our own life also.

Then we're going to go into talk about the other things about these verse and other requirements that Jesus has so we can be His disciple because that is a requirement to be his disciple!

Scriptural References:

• Luke 14:25-26
• Matthew 5:43-44
• Luke 6:27-28
• Job 1:1, 8, 21-22
• Job 7:20-21
• Job 9:16-20
• Job 13:19-23
• Job 38:1-4
• Job 42:1-6
• Romans 7:15, 18
• Job 42:6

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 10
• Job 2
• Romans 8

EE:bo/po
Transcribed: 4/3/25

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