Prayer and Restoration: Part 5 - James 5:19-20Written by LaRosa Johnson
Monday, December 01, 2008
After giving encouraging instruction on prayer, James closes his epistle with one final appeal for his readers. If we look at the sum total of this letter, we can easily see that James spent a lot of time correcting misunderstandings and incorrect attitudes of believers, in essence correcting the misguided believer. With that, he sums up the letter with some heartening words for those who are working to bring back a believer who has strayed away from following the truths of Scripture. He states all of this in two short verses, so let's open our Bibles to end of James' epistle and read verses 19 and 20.
- Quote :
- James 5:19-20 (NASB) - 19My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Given James' intense teaching on prayer for weary believers and the example of Elijah that we just looked at, it seems a bit abrupt and out of place that this would be the end of the letter; but, rest assured that it's exactly where it's supposed to be. As you keep in mind the immediate context of the encouragement for weary believers, we will see that James still has them in view as he closes the letter. Think about it for a minute, who are the ones that are most likely to stray and turn away from the truth of Scripture? More often than not, it's going to be the believer who is weak and weary, lacking in prayer and support, that is susceptible to such things. So, when James is talking about weary believers in the earlier context, it is safe to say that he also has them in mind here when he talks about those who are straying from the truth. It's important to note, though, that this is not exclusive to them alone, since any of us can just as easily forsake the Word of God and end up in similar circumstances. With that in view, the purpose of the passage is to address the brother or sister that is able to bring back a fellow Christian who has fallen away from the truth, whether they are someone who has neglected the Word of God, shown partiality, spoken against others, chased after worldly pleasure, or whatever other sin it may be.
What does James have to say to these believers? As the text states, "he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." In its simplest terms, James is telling them that they are doing a good work by turning a fellow brother or sister back to walking in the Spirit. Let's not leave it there though, let's take time to break down and comprehend what it is that James is saying when he talks about saving a soul from death and covering a multitude of sins because doing so will allow us to have a full understanding of this passage.
The first thing that we want to look at is the phrase, "save his soul from death." A quick reading of the English text may lend to figuring out who will have their soul saved, but it's a legitimate question that we need to ask ourselves because it's not completely obvious. Is it the sinner whose soul is saved, or is it the soul of the one who is turning back the sinner? Given the variances between some manuscripts, this is a valid question, but the overall understanding of Scripture as a whole shows us that it is the sinner who is being saved, and not the person turning back the sinner, since we know that it is not works that save or secure our salvation. Now that we know who it is that's being saved, we need to understand what it means for their soul to be saved from death. Keeping in mind that this entire group of verses (vv. 13-20) is speaking on the restoration of a believer, we cannot take this to mean that a sinner is receiving salvation and being saved from hell. If we do that, it destroys the context of what James has been talking about, since there is nothing that would lead us to believe that the context has changed. Therefore, we have to say that a believer is in view; thus, the sinner is a believer who is no longer in fellowship and is walking in darkness (like the unrighteous rich in verses 1-6). With this being the case, hell is no longer in view, and we have to look at death in another light. So, if it's not eternal death, it has to be physical death that James is referring to.
Let's now take a moment to deal with what's in view when talking about physical death as it relates to the Christian. When James talks about saving a soul from death, we have to take this in the framework of someone who has turned away from truth and is no longer following after righteousness. Having that as our basis, it is best to understand physical death as an attribute of divine discipline from God the Father. As previously noted, Hebrews 12:4-8 teaches that the Father disciplines those whom He loves in order that they would walk in obedience to His will. Because we are Christians, God is our Father; therefore, when we sin, He has to discipline us so that we can be moved to turn away from our transgressions and return to walking in holiness. That means, when we sin, we can expect chastisement, and it is up to us to be obedient to the discipline, turn away from our sins, and return to walking in the Spirit. Well, for some believers this isn't the case and they choose to continue walking in carnality, even with the chastisement that is upon them; it is because of this that the Lord may ultimately further the extent of His discipline to include the shortening of one's life (death). This is a similar concept to what John talks about in 1 John 5:16-17 when teaching on the sin leading to death. For some, God gets to a point where He will not let us continue in sin any longer by ending our life on this earth. What's more, this can also be seen as continuing deeper into a sin pattern that is presently being exhibited. This is the death that James has in view for the sinning believer.
Getting back to our text, the error of the sinner's way is that he is living a life of sin that is not consistent with Scripture, and the end result of continuing in this lifestyle of sin is death, as detailed above. But when a believer is able to convince another believer of their sin, they rescue them from this dire fate. There are a number of ways that a believer can approach another about their sins (see Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 5), but the bottom line is that the sinner needs to be reminded of the truth of the Word of God and have their faults brought to light so that they can repent and receive restoration. It is important that all of this is done in love, because if you don't love your brother, then you will never confront him with the error of his way, nor do it in a way that isn't condemning or judgmental. That's James means when he says that this saving "will cover a multitude of sins." The love of the brother confronting the sinner and turning him from his sin effectively throws a veil over the sins, meaning that they are forgiven by God and no longer seen, as well as keeping them from continuing in a lifestyle of sin and darkness. This is the same idea that Peter is getting across in 1 Peter 4:8 when he states, "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins." This thought is also reiterated elsewhere in Scripture in passages such as Psalm 85:2 and Proverbs 10:12. Simply stated, love for our brothers & sisters should motivate us to lead them back to Scripture and repentance so that they don't have to face unnecessary chastisement for prolonged sin.
In many ways, this is yet another prayer application. Often times, situations like these require constant prayer and supplication before the Lord. Believers should be praying to the Lord for a change of heart for these erring believers, as well as seeking Him for the right words to speak to them so that it's done in love, instead of a negative attitude. Also, when we present the truth of Scripture to our sinning brethren, they may not take heed and change their actions, which requires remaining in constant prayer, praying that they would repent and return to the truth. Although this is an application for restoring fallen believers, there is also an evangelistic component to this passage as we are praying for lost souls to come to the truth so that they will be saved from both physical and eternal death. Finally, we should also be praying for ourselves and others that we would remain in the truth and not stray away from it, like others have chosen to do. We should never be so proud to think that we won't fall, lest we fall also, which is why we remain in prayer.
In summary, this passage is speaking to believers who are presently walking in the light, encouraging them to walk in love towards their brothers and sisters. As they walk in love, if they see that a brother is straying from the truth, they should seek to restore them so that they might not face the consequences of unrepentant sin. Really, that's the overarching theme of this letter, to turn sinning brothers back to the Lord; with everything that James wrote in this epistle, it was all aimed at getting believers to walk in heavenly wisdom, as opposed to the ways of this world. As believers, if we're walking in sin, we should walk repent and turn to the truth; and if we're walking in the light, we need to love our family enough to get them back on the right track.
devotion courtesy of Trailblazin Ministries
http://www.trailblazinministries.com/devotions/james088.php
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