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1 Peter 4:8
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
Christ could return at any moment to judge the world. Thus, we should be willing to suffer for the sake of Jesus because we know that those who persevere in trusting Christ will pass through judgment into an eternal reward in glory. Jesus’ imminent return should also prompt us to self-control and sober-mindedness, not speculating about when the end will occur but praying for ourselves and for others to remain faithful to God (1 Peter 4:1–7).
In today’s verse, the Apostle Peter gives further instruction on how to live faithfully in light of the near return of Jesus. We read, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (v. 8). Note first how Peter stresses love as the most important duty of the Christian—“above all” we must love. Throughout the New Testament, we find the Apostles identifying love as the chief Christian virtue, with 1 Corinthians 13 serving as the most extended treatment of love’s importance. In that text, Paul tells us very plainly that without love, we will gain nothing (v. 3).
Peter tells us not only that love is the most important Christian virtue but also that we are to love “earnestly” (1 Peter 4:8). Our love for other believers is to be sincere and strong, coming from the heart and not mere lip service. We are to build up our affection for our fellow Christians through regular participation in the life of the church. By grace, we come to love others more deeply as we engage with them.
One reason for love’s importance, we read also in 1 Peter 4:8, is that “love covers a multitude of sins.” The Apostle does not mean that our love atones for sin; rather, the point is that love overlooks sins that can be overlooked, sins of belief that do not strike at the heart of the gospel and sins of behavior that do not tear Christian fellowship apart. The early church father Clement of Rome comments: “Love hides a multitude of sins. Love puts up with everything and is always patient. There is nothing vulgar about love, nothing arrogant. . . . Without love, nothing can please God.” Matthew Henry well observes that love “inclines people to forgive and forget offences against themselves, to cover and conceal the sins of others, rather than aggravate them and spread them abroad. It teaches us to love those who are but weak, and who have been guilty of many evil things before their conversion; and it prepares for mercy at the hand of God, who hath promised to forgive those that forgive others.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Dr. Sproul writes in his commentary on 1 and 2 Peter that “love does not seek to expose our neighbor for every petty weakness but to cover him or her from the attacks of the world.” Love must expose serious sins to the appropriate parties, but love does not nitpick or make a big deal about every transgression. Love is patient with people, not exaggerating their errors as they mature in Christ. Let us love other Christians earnestly in these ways.
For further study
- Leviticus 19:17–18
- Proverbs 10:12
- Matthew 22:34–40
- 2 John 5–6
The bible in a year
- 2 Chronicles 10–12
- John 14:15–31