"Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friend" (Proverbs 17:9)
The media loves to splash the front headlines when it hears of a "cover up". My generation remembers well the infamous Watergate Cover Up that cost Richard Nixon his presidency. The whole idea of a cover up evokes suspicion, anger, and paranoia. It seems that there is always a new cover up being exposed by the media where facts have been manipulated, voices silenced, and blatant injustice has taken place. We know that this kind of cover up whether by being the perpetrator or victim is wrong.
But there is a kind of cover up that is right. It is a gospel cover up, the stewardship of information of one another's failures, sins, and weaknesses, that requires a gospel heart. I am talking about a gospel cover up. It is a cover up of others sins, sins against us, and our own confessed sins that I'm talking about.
How often do we chose to uncover and use old offenses against our spouse, our children, our parents, or our friends in order to win an argument, gain advantage, hold leverage over, or minimize our own sin. When we do this, we act as if we never forgave them the first time. It's like the couple who came into counseling and the husband said, "whenever my wife and I fight she gets historical." The counselor responded, "you mean hysterical". The man replied, "historical, whenever we fight she reminds me of everything that I ever did wrong."
Another form of uncovering that we do is repeating someone's sin or offense to others under the guise of seeking prayer. How often have people been slandered or maligned during a supposed time of prayer to the living God of mercy, forgiveness, and grace in Jesus name!
How about the uncovering that we do where keep uncovered and constantly rehearse the sins and offenses of others to ourselves-feeding our own self righteousness, refueling and kindling our anger, and percolating our desire for revenge?
Finally, there is the uncovering of our own sins and failures repeatedly to ourselves-choosing to indulge in self contempt and loathing and listening to Satan's accusations and lies.
All of these uncovering's demonstrate how little that we really believe and treasure the gospel. The gospel reveals the forgiving, merciful love of Jesus. By His blood He has once and for all covered up, covered over, and carried away our sins forever.
David writes in exaltation of God's forgiveness and covering of his own sin in Psalm 103:12, "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.".God doesn't just forgive our sin; He actually casts it away as far from us as it's possible to be. The phrase "as far as the east is from the west" is a rhetorical description of an infinitely long distance.
Isaiah proclaims in Isaiah 38:17, "you have cast all my sins behind your back" and in Isaiah 43:25, "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins".
Listen to Micah exult in God's great cover up of your sins in Micah 7:19, "He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot.You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea".
Do you hear all this cover up language dear reader? Remove? Cast? Blot out? Remember no more? Tread underfoot? Are you like that towards others? Are you like that towards yourself?
Jesus never repeats my sinful matters to me or anyone else. Neither does He repeat others sinful matters to you or anyone else. He never does and never will. NEITHER SHOULD WE!
Is it no wonder why Paul exhorts us to...“be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).
John Newton writes, "[The 'wretch' who has been saved by grace] believes and feels his own weakness and unworthiness, and lives upon the grace and pardoning love of his Lord. This gives him an habitual tenderness and gentleness of Spirit. Humble under a sense of much forgiveness to himself, he finds it easy to forgive others."
Another time Newton wrote, “Whoever has tasted of the love Christ, and has known, by his own experience, the need and the worth of redemption, is enabled, yes, he is constrained, to love his fellow creatures. He loves them at first sight.”
If what I believe about myself as a flawed sinner who has a great savior and who lives upon the grace and pardoning love of my Lord is true; than is there any more important thing in my relationships with flawed people than covering up others sins by forgiving and forbearing? That is what Paul seems to think in Colossians 2:13, "...bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive"
This is the rule our Lord Jesus gave us: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Matthew 7:12). I would take it even deeper in light of the cross: Do unto others as Christ has done to us! Do to yourself as Christ has done to you! , Let love, mercy and forgiveness rule your life and be the fruit of what comes out of your life towards others and yourself. Cover up others sins and cover up your sins. Do not use them in any way against them and yourself. Why? Because God does.
It s time to not repeat others sins against you any more to God, yourself, and to others and its time to stop repeating your own sins back to yourself. After all, God does not.
ITS THE BEAUTIFUL GOSPEL COVER-UP!
Dear reader may you today begin to engage in a gospel cover up for his glory, others benefit, and your joy.
Pastor Bill
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