GOSPEL TRUTH: Covered Eternally

Good News from Proverbs 28:13…..

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 

Proverbs 28:13

A very simple choice is presented in this verse. Firstly, the person who covers over their sins “shall not prosper”. If we try to keep secret the wrong things we have done we will not make progress. Those “sins” will eventually come into the open. How often, in the news, we hear of someone who succeeded in covering up a murder or an extra-marital affair for many years, only to be found out eventually and shamed. They appeared to have “got away with it” but eventually the deed was brought into the light.

It is foolish to imagine that we will “prosper” in God’s sight when we are in denial of our sins or attempt to cover them over. We are all sinners before Him, and because God is holy we face eternal loss and Hell because of the sins which we have committed.

However, there is a second option to consider. It is possible to obtain “mercy” – or to be spared from the punishment we deserve if we confess and forsake those sins. Confession is to be made to God against whom we have sinned. By forsaking our sin we demonstrate that we are truly sorry for it and know how serious it is before God. It is possible for us to be shown mercy because “Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom.5:6) and because of the promise in the Bible: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn.1:9).

Sins can be covered successfully – but not by ourselves. “Blessed is he … whose sin is covered” (Ps.32:1) – meaning covered by God. Those who ask the Lord Jesus to have mercy upon them and save them know that their sins have for ever been covered by His precious blood.