“James 5:20”

Monday, October 09, 2017

James 5:20, “let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

IMMEDIATE CONTEXT: James 5:19, 20 (winning souls)

EXTENDED CONTEXT: James 5:7-20 (in view of the Day of the Lord)

James is a book that on the one hand calls the Christian to action where a key passage for the book could be, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (Jas. 2:17). On the other hand, it is a book defining true versus fake religion with a key passage being James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” Such a religion has an upward view (toward God), and outward reach to the needy (toward orphans and widows), and an inward examination (keeping oneself unspotted). We are designed to live in the world but are not be of the world.

Our recall verse speaks of turning a sinner from the error of his way.

1. Who is the sinner in this immediate context? It is one who wandered from the truth or a wayward sheep (5:19). A Christian can wander from the truth and therefore revert back to being a “sinner.”
2. What is the status of a Christian who wanders from the truth? By the fact that when he turns back results in the saving of a soul, it is necessarily indicated that he is lost. It is possible for a Christian to sin so as to be lost!
3. What is his condition when he turns away from his error? He is forgiven. God is always willing to forgive when we repent. He is willing to forgive even a “multitude” of sins. Such reconciliation with God is conditional and it requires us to “turn” and to “confess” (5:16).

--Steven J. Wallace

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