The question your friends are asking is a common one, but one that results from not reading the Bible completely. First, God is not a God of hatred. God does hate sin, and ultimately God does send His wrath upon sin and those who choose to continue in sin. The wrath of God is a consequence of His holiness.
Holiness is the only part of the character of God that is thrice repeated in worship in heaven. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.”
- Out of God`s holiness, His wrath falls upon those that reject the one and only way God has provided for people to have sin forgiven and be holy also.
- This provision was made by Christ´s substitutionary death on the cross and His resurrection.
- It is accepted by putting one´s faith in Christ and trusting Him as Lord and Savior.
Both Old and New Testaments declare both the wrath and love of God.
WRATH:
Ezekiel 18:4 … The soul who sins shall die.
Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
LOVE:
Deuteronomy 23:5 … the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Only those who reject the provision of God´s love in Christ need fear His wrath