Greetings on this fine rainy day.
It’s that time again. So, let’s dive deeper into applying the word of God from Sunday.
One of the most glorious themes in the bible is God’s covenant of righteousness. Through his righteousness, God covers over the sins of those who confess their sin. Divinely covered sin produces great joy in those forgiven.
Psalm 32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Those who have their sins covered are likewise to cover over the sins of others.
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
Proverbs 17:9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
Proverbs 19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
As people under the covenant, we are acting out the covenant of love and mercy before the eyes, minds, and hearts of others in our actions and words, thereby effectively participating in God’s divine work of covering over sin.
Our participation in covering over sin through love involves a right understanding of God’s covenant and a desire to encourage in others an alignment to the covenant. Knowing that God forgives sins through confession and repentance, effective covering over sin guides others towards the Lord and his covenant of forgiven sin. As such, effective covering over sin encourages confession and repentance in others, for the Lord is one whom ultimately covers sins. Both our words and actions help lead others to confession and ultimately to God’s covenant faithfulness and love.
Covering over sin intends to ensure that the power of sin to spread to others is cancelled. Often, in a desire to correct sin, some become tangled in the very sin they seek to correct, or they abandon the way of love, and attempt to correct sin unmercifully through anger or condemnation with the result that sin is perpetuated (in two people now instead of one) instead of covered.
In order to understand some of the proper words and actions befitting a “sin coverer,” let’s engage in a few passages. Read these passages and then answer the following questions:
Matthew 5:22, Matthew 7:1-5, Romans 14:17-19, Romans 15:5-7, Romans 15:14, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Galatians 6:1-3, Ephesians 4:29-32, Colossians 3:8-17, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-20
What should characterize our interactions with others? With those who are hard to love, or even our enemies?
What should characterize our interactions with those who sin against us?
What principles should guide our interactions with those whom we disagree? How about with people whom we have no relationship?
Write out a summary paragraph describing what a “sin coverer” might look like (what actions and characteristics would define them? How would they go about covering sin?).
What are one or two principles you can take from this lesson and apply to your life in order to grow in your role as a “sin coverer”?
Grace and peace,
Aaron
