Love Covers Over a Multitude of Sins

Howard Marchbanks

August 29, 2014

 

There is a wise saying in Proverbs, given by Solomon.

(Proverbs 10:12 KJV)  Hatred stirs up strife: but love covers all sins.

 

The apostle Peter quotes this same proverb in 1 Peter 4:8

(1 Peter 4:8 NIV)  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

 

How is it that “LOVE” can cover sin?

 

The same book of Proverbs states:

(Proverbs 28:13 KJV)  He that covers his sins shall not prosper:

 

Love appears to be an important element in the covering of sin.

 

Let us break down the thought and words that Solomon wrote and Peter quoted.

Let us dig deeper into what might be learned from the concept of

“Love covers over a multitude of sins.”

 

First, what is love?

 

Is it an emotion? Is it something we feel?

Is it an action? Is it proactive?

Is love something we fall into and out of?

 

The term used in Peter for love is agape.

Strong's Concordance defines agape as Affection or benevolence

Synonyms for these words may be fondness, warmth, kindness, care, compassion, generosity, or goodwill.

 

Peter is quoting Solomon who wrote in Hebrew.

That word for love is ahabah, which also has the same meaning.

 

Let’s turn to 1 John 4:7 and use this definition of love to further enhance our understanding of what love is.

 

(1 John 4:7 NIV)  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Affection, benevolence, fondness, warmth, kindness, care, compassion, generosity, or goodwill.

 

(1 John 4:8 NIV)  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

(1 John 4:9 NIV)  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

(1 John 4:10 NIV)  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins.

 

We see God’s great loving act to send Jesus (Ephesians 1:7 KJV) in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God’s grace;

 

The notion of an atoning sacrifice takes us back to the day of Atonement and brings us forward to the death of Jesus, our Passover lamb.

 

 

(1 John 4:11 NIV)  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

(1 John 4:12 NIV)  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

(1 John 4:16 NIV)  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

 

Paul brings up the same terms of love in Colossians 3:12 but add the concept that this love must be shared with each other in order to bind us in a special union as a Holy people.

The idea of being a Holy people denotes that this group of people is set aside for a special purpose. Holy to God –set aside for a special purpose

 

(Colossians 3:12 NIV)  Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

(Colossians 3:13 NIV)  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

(Colossians 3:14 NIV)  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Affection, benevolence, fondness, warmth, kindness, care, compassion, generosity, or goodwill

 

Let us return to 1 Peter 4:8 and add a two more versus, before we look at the next word in detail.

 

(1 Peter 4:8 NIV)  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

(1 Peter 4:9 NIV)  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

(1 Peter 4:10 NIV)  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

 

 

We have looked at the word “love”.

Now we will look at the word “cover” or covers

 

(Exodus 24:12 NIV)  The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction."

(Exodus 24:13 NIV)  Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God.

(Exodus 24:14 NIV)  He said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them."

(Exodus 24:15 NIV)  When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,

(Exodus 24:16 NIV)  and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.

(Exodus 24:17 NIV)  To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.

(Exodus 24:18 NIV)  Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Moses would soon have the tables of stone which he would throw down and break because of Israel’s idolatry with the Golden Calf. God would again write two more tablets, the Ten Commandments, and the Testimony would later be placed in the ark that had been prepared.

 

(Exodus 25:9 NIV)  Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

 (Exodus 25:17 NIV)  "Make an atonement cover of pure gold--two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

(Exodus 25:18 NIV)  And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover.

(Exodus 25:19 NIV)  Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends.

(Exodus 25:20 NIV)  The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover.

(Exodus 25:21 NIV)  Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.

(Exodus 25:22 NIV)  There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

 

As part of the Day of Atonement special offering, the High Priest would need to cover the Holy of Holy with a cloud of incense.  (Exodus 30:34 NIV)  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices--gum resin, onycha and galbanum--and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts,

(Exodus 30:35 NIV)  and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred.

(Exodus 30:36 NIV)  Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

(Exodus 30:37 NIV)  Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD.

 

Lev 16:12  And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil:

Lev 16:13  And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:

 

The Book of Hebrews mentions that without Holiness, no man shall see God.

(Hebrews 12:14 KJV)  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

(Numbers 4:4 KJV)  This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:

(Numbers 4:5 KJV)  And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

 

Again we see the ark of testimony covered to keep its holiness separate from mankind.

 

The fifth chapter of the book of Revelation, verses 6, 7, and 8 picture a thrones in heaven with God and the Father. It describes golden bowls full of incense.

 

(Revelation 5:6 NIV)  Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

(Revelation 5:7 NIV)  He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

(Revelation 5:8 NIV)  And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

 

 

Back to the original question

 

(How is it that “LOVE” can cover sin?

 

1 Peter 4:8 NIV) Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

 

We have broken down the thought and words Love and Cover that Solomon wrote and Peter quoted.

 

“Love covers over a multitude of sins.”

 

We could simply say that God is Love and replace the word love with God.

 

All the corresponding attributes of a loving God would be descriptive of His character and of his way of doing.

Affection, benevolence, fondness, warmth, kindness, care, compassion, generosity, or goodwill

 

We could move further and say that since God loved us and loved us SO MUCH, he sent his son to be conceived into human form, born of a woman, raised with all the risks of childhood disease and chances of accidents, to one day grow into a man to be tempted, persecuted, hated, falsly accused of wrong doing and sacrificed

to forgive and pay the debt of our sin. To cover us.

 

My phone rang at 5pm last night. Tina and I were invited to join a couple for dinner.

We ordered our pleasure off the menu and when it was time to pay our debt to the restaurant, the couple that invited us to have dinner with them covered our bill. They forgave our debt by an act of Affection, benevolence, fondness, warmth, kindness, care, compassion, generosity, and goodwill.

 

What we owed on the check was not to be seen again. The got it. The covered it.

 

(1 John 4:10 NIV)  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins.

We need to look further and deeper at “Love covers over a multitude of sins.”

 

(1 John 4:11 NIV)  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 

(Colossians 3:12 NIV)  Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

(Colossians 3:13 NIV)  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

(Colossians 3:14 NIV)  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 

Think about this.

 

As a group of people, called for a Holy purpose, it is expected that we behave in a loving manner toward each other.

 

Consider the special incense that God had made for the Tabernacle.

Fragrant spices--gum resin, onycha and galbanum--and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts,

a fragrant blend of incense,

the work of a perfumer

It is to be salted and pure and sacred.

We are the “salt of the earth”. There are many different types of salt with varying shapes, different potencies and colors.

 

Some of that incense was to be ground to powder and placed it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where God met with Moses. It was most holy. Qodesh – Qodesh

 

This is a shadow of God’s throne when the saint’s prayers would be before God’s throne

(Revelation 5:8 KJV)  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of saints.

 

What is so important is that is requires a very special formula and all the saints, loving each other, must be blended together to form this incense “cloud” covering of the throne when the seven seals are broken on the scroll.

 

When we do not have love for each other it is like incense formula is out of balance and unusable.

Love appears to be an important element in the covering of sin.

 

We are encouraged to above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

 

God is love and “LOVE” can cover sin. Love can forgive sin. Love has paid the penalty for sin once and for all.

 

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins.

 

Our love for one another binds all together in perfect unity with our prayers to reach up to the throne of heaven to cover the mercy seat of God’s throne.