Compelling Behavior

Q: How can we encourage a person to apply this truth (1 Peter 4:8)?

A: Think about all the sins you have committed up to this point in your life. If you are like me it is impossible to remember every sin you have committed in thought, in word and in deed. The Bible says that "everything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23)." Therefore, every time that you sin you are not expressing faith in God. Pretty humbling, right? But, "that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11)." One of the greatest gifts we have received from God is His forgiveness. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He took away all our sins, past, present and future, from the eyes of God. Therefore, when God looks at a believer He doesn't see a sinner. He doesn't see a sinner saved by grace. What He sees is a washed, sanctified and justified child of God who has been given the righteousness of Jesus Christ through faith in Him. We see, in the actions of Jesus Christ, on our behalf, a love that has covered a multitude of sins, as expressed in 1 Peter 4:8. Our response to His great love should be to simply say thank you. Without God's love for us, we would be without hope and salvation would not have been possible.

The deepest need of the human heart is to be loved unconditionally. We look for that in people, places and things who don't have that kind of love to give us. Our attempts to find that love, apart from a relationship with God, can only be found in the world as an expression of sin. It is with that thought in mind that we are able to put God's love for us in context. From the time of Adam until the time of Christ, our sin separated us from God. He desired to indwell us the way He did back in the Garden before the Fall. However, before He could do that, He had to deal with the sin that caused His life to leave us and severed that relationship. No man who has ever lived had a life worthy enough to give as a sacrifice for our sins. That is why scripture tell us that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)." Because we couldn't pay the price for our sins, God did it for us. That is the definition of unconditional love. When we realize all the sins that Jesus Christ died for, cancelling the debt we owed God, all we can say is "Thank you." "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10)." It is recognizing how much God loved us that leads us to how we answer the question of the best way in which to encourage a believer to apply the truth of 1 Peter 4:8.

We read in 1 Peter 4:8, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." Chapter 4, leading up to verse 8, reminds us of just what it was that Jesus Christ redeemed us from when He died on the cross. The suffering we experience from our sins is compared to the suffering Jesus Christ endured to pay for our sins (verse 1). It is this understanding that causes us to live our life for the will of God and not for evil human desires (verse 2). When we were without Christ we were like pagans, "living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry (verse 3)." It is the recognition of what we have been delivered from that makes us avoid participating in these types of sins any longer even if we are abused for doing so (verse 4). Have you experienced anything like this in your own life? I think it is a common experience for most Christians. It is remembering the suffering brought about by sin that causes us to live our lives in accordance with the will of God. When we are being led by the Lord we are reminded of the depths of sin we had fallen to apart from Him. And that helps us stand tall even when those around us try to bring us down for no longer deciding to participate with them in their sin. The bottom line is that our motivation to apply the truth of 1 Peter 4:8 comes from the love of God. "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died (2 Corinthians 5:14)."

When we realize just how much God has loved us, we are then motivated to share that which we have received from Him with those we encounter in life. When someone sins against us it presents us with the perfect opportunity to express the love of God towards them. God's love took away ours sins for eternity. Therefore, we are able to forgive others because of how much we have been forgiven. The patience God has shown towards us allows us to be patient with others. The kindness of God towards us allows us to be kind with others. God not keeping record of our wrongs shows us how not to keep record of those wrongs done to us. Do you see the pattern? "Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8)." God gave to us so that we could share it with others. By doing so, we are able to gather souls for the Kingdom of God, which is what our mission is here on earth. It is human nature to be unloving towards others when they sin against us. That is why when someone who doesn't know the Lord has an encounter with Him, through us, they are more apt to inquire as to where the love they received originated. They know that our reaction to them is unnatural. It is a reaction that is supernaturally motivated. So, I would encourage a person to apply the truth of 1 Peter 4:8 by reminding them of the love they have received from God, in Christ.