There is a guaranteed way to save my brother, but what is it?
Can I Really Save My Brother?
James 5:19-20
Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Please turn to James 5:19-20. James 5:19-20 is the last passage we will study out of James in this sermon series. Also be ready to go to chapter 1 to James 1:14-21. As you are turning to the end of the epistle, I want to say that after working through James, I can see why so many theologians and commentators say that James is one of the most difficult epistles to exegete, understand, and explain. Certainly we have seen the overall thrust. As we read James, it is not difficult to recognize the essence of what it is. The overall thrust is Belief Backed by Believer's Behavior. Getting the big picture is easy, but the problem comes with all the smaller elements of the picture. It is where the big picture is like a jig saw puzzle; there are these smaller elements that are like puzzle pieces. Each piece, in itself, can be very difficult to understand, interpret, and figure out. For Greek speaking Israelite Christians, I don't think this epistle was as difficult to understand as it has become in being translated into English and studied thousands of years later. Scholars recognize that James shows a literary sophistication that is very high, so the letter was written well. The epistle is known to have some of the most refined Greek found anywhere. But nevertheless, difficult passages are there. And though James did not intend for it to be this way, he left us with a very difficult passage as his parting shot in ending his pastoral preaching letter to the Israelite congregations. Let's read the passage now. It is the last two verses of the letter; 5:19-20,
"19 My brothers, if any among you strays [ESV--wanders] from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let 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." James 5:19-20
Please prepare your heart this morning for the preaching of God's word as we finish gleaning from James. The theme of this sermons is,
Can I Really Save My Brother?
[prayer]
As we dig deep into God's word at the close of this great epistle, we can not help but notice that the teaching that James abruptly leaves his audience with is a teaching of great importance. It is not a harsh teaching. It is a teaching of love that comes from the love of God. We also notice that there is a sense of sober importance about this verse that is not so much an urgent alert as it is a serious call to action that is based upon a serious consideration. We see that this is serious, and most anyone who reads these closing remarks sees that this is serious; and though this be the case where we would all agree, the general concern of what James is talking about is interpreted in many different ways. What I mean is that there is more than one view among Christians concerning what James is talking about, or who James is actually talking about in each point--mainly in respect to sin and its consequence. There are two quotes that I have collected in the past that reflect the views of a particular theological position on this passage which demonstrate what I mean. The theological position I am talking about is the false doctrine of insecurity in Christ, also known as conditional security, or conditional election. It is the wrong belief that one can lose their eternal spiritual salvation through certain actions that they have done after being saved. In other words, it is the false belief of being once saved, yet not necessarily always saved. One spokesman who adheres to this false belief says concerning this passage;
"A believer can turn away from God and return back to sin, and by doing so, they have lost their salvation."
Another proponent of the false belief of insecure salvation states something very similar about this passage;
"If the backslider does not get corrected, his soul will perish with spiritual death."
The problem with these two statements, made by two different authors commenting on the same passage, is that they are made with details that are assumed to be in the passage, but they are not details that are really there. For example, James does not say in the passage, (as the first man I quoted) that a believer can turn away from God. What does James really say? He says,
"19 My brothers, if any among you strays [or wanders] from the truth ..."
We notice that turning from God is not mentioned at all. The reason why this is important is because to say that someone turned from God has the implication that they have rejected God like an atheist would do, or that they turn from God to believe and follow idols, like pagans do. So, it is important to recognize that James does not say this.
What does James really say?
Clearly James speaks of someone among the Israelite Christians wandering from the truth. At this point, let's consider something that was said by the second man I quoted. He wrote of something called "the backslider." I know that the usage of the word backslider is popular among contemporary Christians to describe a Christian whose life is generally characterized by spiritual despondency and sin, but just like the first injected terminology, this one also, is not language that James uses in the text. In fact, the term backslider is not found anywhere in the New Testament. Many Christians who use the term think that it is a Biblical description of sinning Christians, but it is not. Actually, the term is used once in the Bible. It is used in an Old Testament Proverb, in Proverbs 14:14, as backslider in heart;
"14 The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his." Proverbs 14:14
The mistake that the author I quoted made is bolstered by his use of the word backslider in the first place. Part of the problem of calling someone a backslider is that the word typically takes on way too many broad and arbitrary definitions. Since it is not a term defined and used by New Testament writers, it has become a term for personal, subjective evaluations of a Christian's so-called level of carnality. But that particular term is not the only problem. Remember, the second man I quoted, said,
"If the backslider does not get corrected, his soul will perish with spiritual death."
Notice that the man introduces another term. It is spiritual death. But James does not use that language either. James really says,
"20 let 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."
Saving a soul from death and covering a multitude of sins is a different statement than
"If the backslider does not get corrected, his soul will perish with spiritual death."
As usual, to recognize the real point that James is making, we need to look at the real details of what is actually there. One of those details is what the word soul refers to, (and we will get to that word in a moment). But, the first thing I think is important for us to recognize as we examine this passage, is that James is talking to Christians. Notice that James starts out this last section with,
"19 My brothers, ..."
James is talking to Christians as the family of God. As he proceeds we see that the concern has to do with any among you, and the you, are the Christian brothers of James,
"19 My brothers, if any among you [brothers] strays [or wanders] from the truth ..."
So it is clear that Christians among the dispersed Israelite churches can wander from the truth. The truth that James is talking about is God's truth. James does not say that salvation is what is wandered away from. James does not say that God Himself is what is wandered away from. James clearly says that it is the truth that is wandered away from. This leads us to recognize that Christians can actually do this. In fact, all throughout history, Christians have done this. In our day, Christians do this all the time. There are Christians in this room who wander away from the truth. I have wandered away from the truth. The honest and humble Christian recognizes the fact that if anyone is a perfect man, then he would never wander away from the truth, and along with that recognition, they would recognize that they are not perfect, and in their imperfection, they have not always been completely believing things that are the truth, or acting according to the truth 100% of the time. Any time you believe a lie, then you have wandered away from the truth. Any time you sin in any way, then you have wandered away from the truth, which is the truth of obey God and don't sin. If you fail to love God in any thought or action, or if you fail to love your brothers and sisters in Christ the way Christ loves you, then you have wandered away from the truth of the royal law. Anytime you lie against the truth, or attempt to redefine it to change its meaning into something else, then you have wandered away from it. By the way, the truth is easy to define by considering what the truth is not. The truth is anything that is not wrong, or false, or a lie. James uses the same term earlier, and there James gives us an example of sinning in respect to lying against the truth;
"13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior; his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, [The greek word for natural here is soulish] demonic." James 3:13-15
The truth, in James' first usage of the term, is where one has bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in their heart. Christians can lie against it. They can also wander away from it. Whenever a Christian begins living out philosophies about what God's truth is supposed to be, but they are wrong, or whenever they run after false doctrines that feed the flesh, (like the health, wealth, and prosperity doctrines) or, whenever they deny critical doctrines for Christian living, like the necessity to pray, or the necessity to evangelize, or the necessity to sanctify one's self from worldliness, or the necessity to be involved, committed, and plugged into a biblical local Christian church fellowship, then they have wandered away from the truth. The point is that though we are to live out our Christianity in belief backed by believer's behavior, Christians have, Christians do, and Christians will stray from the truth. The question is:
What does James want the churches to do about it at this point?
He tells us,
"... if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way ..."
The task that James wants Christian brothers to be concerned with is the task of turning sinners, who are among them, from the error of their way. This should be the task of all of us. This is your ministry, folks--not just mine. Do you see that James, at this point, is talking about individual ministry? Look at what he says, and think about yourself. James says one turns the sinner back, v. 19. James also says, he who turns, v. 20. James is focused upon individual action from person to person. All it takes is one obedient, interested, loving, wise, mature, bold, gentle, spiritual Christian to be an effective tool in God's hand to turn someone back to whatever truth they have wandered away from. We think of the beautiful, noble, worthy mission orders of Galatians 6:1. It is where Paul starts out the same way as James by saying brothers,
"Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted." Galatians 6:1
You who are spiritual. That is who we want to be. We want to be the spiritual ones. We want to be the spirit filled, spiritually minded brother or sister, who restores in a spirit of gentleness. And if we too, are tempted, and we trespass, and we wander away from the truth, we want someone who is spiritual to restore us, don't we? We want conviction, but we don't want condemnation, right? There are many ways to do this. The bread and butter of basic discipleship is one good starting point. In other words, teaching your brother or sister a particular precept of the truth that they have wandered away from is a primary step in keeping them on task. You don't have to be The Bible Answer Man either. What we are doing is turning a sinner from their error. Rebuke is another way. Rebuke sounds like a harsh word, but rebuke does not have to be harsh. It could be admonishment that points out the truth that they have wandered away from, and then it urges them to get back in line with the truth. Exhortation is another way. It is a kind of discipleship where you urge someone to love and good deeds based upon the truth. Preaching is exhortation. It is persuasiveness of urging according to the truth. And this leads us to look at the result that James says is guaranteed to occur when we are able to turn a sinner from the error of his way,
"20 let 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."
Staying with the fact that this is a difficult passage that is often misinterpreted as a warning of how to keep someone from losing their salvation, let's look at some of the elements involved that tend to drive improper interpretations of verse 20:
A) The first is James' use of the word, death. This death that James is talking about is wrongly considered by some people to refer to eternal spiritual death.
B) The second word that tends to drive a wrong understanding of what James is saying has to do with the word, soul. I mentioned it earlier. Soul is an important word here.
C) The third thing that tends to drive a wrong understanding of this passage, is the word save in the passage. The reason is because save in the passage is wrongly thought to be associated with spiritual salvation.
Let's look at those three things and learn some tools for properly understanding what James is getting at. I've listed them in reverse order from what they are in the text.
/1/
The first one I want us to look at has to do with recognizing James' use of "death." I want us to see that James uses it throughout his epistle as being metaphoric exaggeration. It's also called hyperbole. Think about what all James has said in his epistle up to this point about death. Think about how much poetic metaphor, how many artistically magnified statements, and how much exaggeration James has used concerning any subject he has brought up. We're talking about James here. The letter is chocked full of this way of communicating the truth. James is like a conductor of a loud dramatic symphony. He raises his conductor's hand, and out comes the horn section: It booms forth; the one who doubts is like the surf, waves, tide of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. He waves his other hand, and up comes the staccato strings--rhythmic, and intense; The rich man is like flowering grass which will pass away. Okay, so rich men are like organic weeds that bloom. The sun scorches and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed, and so it is the same way with the rich man who in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Then comes the pounding of the drums; If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body like a horse. Then there is fire. Remember the flames? Our tongues can set a forest on fire. Our tongue sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. And the drum section continues on in pounding orchestration. The rhythm relentlessly picks up with crashing symbols--No one can tame the tongue; like a wild animal, it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. James moves back and forth. He is inspired by the Holy Spirit. He is intentionally, artistically, and expertly using metaphor, poetry, exaggeration, color, tone, texture, pain, and even pleasure; The source of quarrels and conflicts among us is our pleasures that wage war in our members. They lust and do not have; so they commit murder. They are envious and cannot obtain; so they fight and quarrel. They are adulteresses, where friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Their lives are just a vapor-like puff of smoke in terms of their life spans. The riches of the rich have rotted and their garments have become moth-eaten. Their gold and silver has tarnished. Their tarnish will be a witness against them and will consume their flesh like fire. They have fattened their hearts in a day of slaughter. These are all dramatic ways that James, by God's Holy Spirit, has expressed various truths by using exaggerated language, and most of the exaggerated language describes various ways that Christians wander away from what?--the truth. The main point is that James uses exaggerated language, and to further this point, we need to focus in on what James says when he uses the word death. He uses death in an exaggerated sense in another place. In James 1:15, he talks about lust that conceives like in sexual reproduction, and then it gives birth to sin. That's pretty weird. Then finally when sin is mature, it brings forth the ultimate end of the life cycle metaphor, which is death. Death is a poetic, and extreme word that James likes to use to explain the dead end road of sinfulness. Even faith without works is dead. Keep this in mind because in James typical use of exaggerated language, when one Christian turns another Christian sinner from his error, he is guaranteed to save the person from death. Now, if someone argues that James is not using poetic exaggerated language, and James is talking about real physical death, then it appears as if people would not die when someone helps them repent from sin, or when they are discipled to turn from general error concerning the truth. But people die all the time who repent. People die all the time who turn from general error to the truth. Further, if James is not using exaggerated language, and James is talking about some kind of spiritual death, then a person's salvation is dependent upon you, or me or anyone else's ability to be an effectual turner who turns that person from the error of their way. But it is impossible for us to save a soul from spiritual death. Only God saves souls from spiritual death. Also, we need to realize that it is not our fault if someone rejects the gospel. But if James is using exaggerated language where he is saying the same thing as he said back in 1:15, where the sinner sins because his lustful desire conceives like in sexual reproduction, and then it gives birth to sin, and when sin is mature, it brings forth the ultimate end of the life cycle metaphor, which is death, then this makes perfect sense.
But we are not finished. There is that second and third thing that we need to properly comprehend. It is something else that helps bring clarity to our understanding of James' beautiful language;
"20 ... save his soul from death ..."
It is the two words, save, and soul. When you turn a Christian sinner through ministerial action, from the error of his way, then you save his soul from the end of the life cycle of sin. There is no argument against this fact. But the question is,
What is his soul that we can save from death by turning him from his error?
Further, we even need to ask,
What does it mean to save it?
In our contemporary culture, when we think of the word save, don't we English speaking Christians usually anachronistically think that just about every single time save is used in the New Covenant writings, it must be associated with getting saved in spiritual salvation? For the most part isn't this usually what people think? But this is not the way things are. For example, in Hebrews, we read, that Jesus,
"In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save [sozo in the Gk.] Him from death," Hebrews 5:7
Jesus did not need to be spiritually saved; Did He? Saving Jesus from physical death, is what the Father was able to save Him from. The same Greek word, sozo, for save, is used of being healed from sickness in Mark 6:56. It is used in the same way in Matthew 9:21, Mark 5:23, and 5:28 of being healed from a disease. Sozo is translated as "made well" in 11 other verses of the NASB. It is translated as Lazarus recovering in John 11:12. It is used in Matthew 27, Mark 15, and Luke 23 where people were wondering if Jesus would be saved from the cross. Sozo is used of saving a life as opposed to killing one on the sabbath day in Mark 3:4, and Luke 6:9. It is used of saving the life of a slave in Luke 7:3. Paul used the Greek word sozo to speak of being saved from the ocean storm in Acts 27:20; 31. Sozo is used of God saving people out of Egypt in Jude 1:5. Jesus asks God to save (sozo) Him from His hour of intense physical anguish and mental anxiety in the point of death experience in the garden, John 12:27, which is the same reference as Hebrews 5:7. Sozo is used of women being saved through the bearing of children in 1 Timothy 2:15. And finally, when we look at how James uses this word just a couple of verses before he uses it here in 5:19, we see exactly what James wants sozo to mean in his own letter;
"... the prayer offered in faith will restore [sozo, ie. save] the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up," James 5:15
So, as we move along in this, we recognize that all throughout the Bible, and even a few verses before our passage under study, back in James 5:15, sozo-save is not a word that always has to do with spiritual salvation, like from believing the gospel in spiritual rebirth and living forever in glory.
But there are still some other things. The word soul complicates this wrong interpretive tendency that some have. There are English speaking Christians who typically think of the soul as always being something like a ghostly spirit being part of us, or, at least, something mystically similar. One dictionary of theological words bolsters this trend by stating;
"Soul: the immaterial part of a person, especially the emotional center, the 'heart.' Sometimes the term is used synonymously with spirit." (Zondervan Dictionary of Bible and Theological Words)
That is the only definition the book gives for soul, (which may be a good definition in a few respects), but such a simplistic and narrowed definition leads to problems because there is really much more to this word. To understand what James means, we must look at how soul, (which is Psuche in the Greek) is often used in the fullness of scripture as that which represents the whole being that is alive (the person) and not just one isolated aspect of our being. This is so important because if you try to go through the New Testament and extract only a few sentences that use psuche-soul, and then you attempt to define soul's meaning based on those couple of sentences alone, then you are going to run into huge problems. When most of us think about our life, we think about our one self. We do not typically dissect our being into different categories. But, when we look at the Bible, we sometimes see that we are described as having a type of composite nature to our existence. For example, we see that Paul describes our lives as having three parts in one self. In 1 Thessalonians Paul says,
"... may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless ..." 1 Thessalonians 5:23
Apparently, this seems to be the description of a nice neat package of three things (a trichotomy), which would be you. It is the person. Even if one wants to look at what Paul says like some people of the reformed tradition do--where they say that what Paul really means is that we are probably only soul and body and no more (a dichotomy), this still implies that those two parts are needed for a complete package. Let us look at the same type of thing in Hebrews 4:12;
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of
[1] soul and of
[2] spirit, of
[3] joints and of
[4] marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of
[5] the heart." Hebrews 4:12
If we take this literally, it appears as if there is a handful of distinct aspects to any one person. But these things really are not so simple to understand. For example, some theologians will describe the spirit (pnumea in the Greek) as that aspect of us that is miraculously regenerated in salvation. It is sometimes referred to as the inner man. The soul (psuche) is often described as the mind and emotions. It is also sometimes called the inner man. Sometimes people will refer to the soul as the seat of the personality. The body, (sarx in the Greek) is the flesh. Joint and marrow might possibly fall into this category--the flesh. The heart part is not easy to categorize. The heart can be a part of the body that pumps blood, or it could be the bowels, like the Greeks typically meant when referring to the heart. But, the heart can also be interpreted to be the spirit. Or, the heart can be interpreted to be the soul. It depends on who is talking, and what point they are trying to make. Stay with me, because I don't want this to get too confusing. It is a good and safe practice to refer to the spirit, certain usages of the word soul, and certain usages of the word, heart, as falling under the general category of being called the inner man; for example, Paul says,
"22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, Romans 7:22
"16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 4:16
"16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man," Ephesians 3:16
All of us need to know these things. But the questions remain:
Is James talking about the inner man when he uses the word, soul?
Does James mean that the soul is also the spirit?
You know, James may be using soul the same way Jesus used it in Matthew 10:28. When we look at Jesus' words, Jesus says,
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28
It could be that James might be meaning the same thing that Jesus does in Matthew 10. But what does Jesus mean? Jesus could be talking about the mind and emotions in this warning when he talks about the soul. Jesus could be talking about the seat of the personality. Jesus could mean that the soul is really the spirit. Or, Jesus could be referring to that aspect of one's whole being that remains alive after the body expires, like for example, the inner man. What I am pointing out this morning is that this is not an easy issue. To further see what I mean, let us take what Jesus says in Matthew 10:28 about the soul, and then let's view it through the lens of what James says in his epistle concerning something called the spirit. James says,
"the body without the spirit is dead," James 2:26
Notice that James does not mention a soul here in addition to the body, but, Jesus mentioned the soul in addition to the body in his teaching in Matthew 10:28. Alternately, James mentions the spirit, in James 2:26 which Jesus does not mention in Matthew 10:28. Further, we must recognize that James says that when your body does not have the spirit, then your body is dead. Do you see how confusing this can get? But, there is more to this point, so stay with me. When Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, we read,
"4 And He said to them, 'Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a soul or to kill?' But they kept silent." Mark 3:4
Here, Jesus is saying that a soul can actually be killed. This is important, so keep it in mind. Again--a soul can be killed. Luke records the same event but uses the word destroy instead of kill. Luke says,
"9 And Jesus said to them, 'I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a soul or to destroy it?'" Luke 6:9
A soul can be saved from being killed, and a soul can be saved from being destroyed, which we will soon see is James' point in our passage under study, but at the moment, we are building each piece, one at a time, poco a poco. In the meantime, the passages we have looked at so far, clearly demonstrate to us that we must be careful when interpreting what James means by soul. It's not so easy to just look at the word soul, and think we have it all figured out in every instance it is used, and then try to make a broad brush stroke rule for its usage. Nevertheless, I assure you that we are safe. It is actually really very easy to determine exactly what James means, which is why I am going through all of this with us this morning. I want us all to remember that earlier I said that the soul-psuche is often used in Scripture to refer to the life of the entire being. This particular recognition is of vital importance. So get that fixed in your mind. Soul (psuche in the Greek) is often used in Scripture to refer to the life of the entire being--the person. We find it, for example, in what Paul says in Romans 13:1,
"1 Every person ["person" here is soul-psuche] is to be in subjection to the governing authorities ..." Romans 13:1
When Paul refers to the person, we recognize that Paul is talking about the whole entire being. Paul is not merely talking about one distinct part of two, three or four other parts of a person. Paul calls the whole person the soul. Paul also does this in 1 Corinthians, where he says,
"So also it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living being' ["being" here is soul-psuche] The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving spirit" 1 Corinthians 15:45
Paul is expressing the fact that Adam, as a man, is a whole living being. Paul is not saying that only one aspect of Adam was alive, (which is something that some people might want to refer to as a mystical soul) yet the word for soul is exactly the word that Paul is using. Let me demonstrate some more of this because we need a comprehensive picture to break through traditions. In Acts 3, Peter preached, saying,
"And it shall be that every soul who [psuche] does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people." Acts 3:23
Peter is talking about every man (which is the way John Wycliffe translated this same passage 700 years ago in the Wycliffe Bible). Wycliffe recognized that Peter said that every man shall be destroyed from the people. In the New American Standard Bible, it is a who yet it is the word soul. The same thing is found used by the same apostle Peter in 1 Peter, where he describes the people on Noah's ark,
"... God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, [psuche-souls] were brought safely through the water." 1 Peter 3:20
The eight persons are eight souls as eight whole and entire living beings. Jesus uses the word in an even more amazing way while suffering anguish in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus said to His disciples,
"My soul [psuche] is deeply grieved, to the point of death;" Matthew 26:38, Mark 14:34
Jesus was not saying that His soul was deeply grieved to the point of spiritual death, (which, if you will remember, would be the same wrong definition that the one commentator eisegetically inserted into our James passage under study). Rather, Jesus was talking about his human life. The physical symptoms of this were that He sweat blood, and needed to be strengthened, Luke 22:42-44. The remedy was that an angel came down and strengthened Him. The same language is used in Revelation,
"The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living soul [psuche] in the sea died" Revelation 16:3
Every living soul in the sea is every whole being in its entirety that previously lived in the sea. Finally, the word, psuche-souls is used in Revelation 18:13 to refer to,
"... human lives. [psuche]" Revelation 18:13
So, we see that souls is a word used for lives in respect to the whole entire being--the person, and not necessarily confined to some kind of esoteric mystical ghost like part of us. So in interpreting what James says, it makes sense to see it this way,
My brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth, (which is the doctrines and precepts of God according to New Covenant teachings), and another brother in Christ turns him back, let any brother in Christ know that he who turns a sinner, (which is a Christian who is in the act of sinning by wandering from the truth), from the error of his way, will save, (which means, rescue), his soul (which means his life as his whole entire being) as the person, from the metaphoric life cycle of sin, (which is bad state paramount to the horribleness of death) and will cover a multitude of sins in being turned back toward the truth of God's word.
A KEY IN JAMES PRIOR USAGE:
To further demonstrate this, we need to recognize where James said essentially the same thing earlier in chapter 1. Remember, I asked you to be ready to go to James 1:14-21 at the beginning of the sermon. When we look there, we see save and soul used in this same consistent way. Again, let me give you a little set up. James is talking to his Christian brothers just as he says in our passage of 5:19; meaning they are saved brothers, as in, they are saved already. But James goes on. He talks to them about receiving the word that is already implanted in them, which is able to save their souls. I'll start back in 1:14 as I touch upon the important details that show the parallel,
"14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away ...
[Think, wander from the truth to the lie of sin]
... and enticed by his own lust ... and when sin is mature, ...
[Think, sinner]
... it brings forth death.
[Think, save him from this death]
... 19 This you know, my beloved brothers. ...
[Meaning, they are already saved people]
But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness,
[Think turning from the error of their ways]
... in humility receive the implanted word, ...
[Think, the truth]
... which is able to save ...
[sozo in the Gk.]
... your souls ...
[psuche in the Gk.]." James 1:19-21
This makes sense to us when we recognize that save and souls and death are all contextual words that James' uses in his way of speaking of the harshness of sin and its consequences for the wandering sinner. Notice that James also speaks of the implanted word here. The implanted word is synonymous with the truth of our James 5:19-20 passage at the end of the epistle. So earlier here in 1:19-21, James preaches that we are to work throughout our saved lives by the same word implanted to avoid that other progression he just warned about of lust giving birth to sin, and finally maturing to death, of James 1:14-15. The rescuing effect comes from being effectual doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude yourselves. Taking this parallel over to our passage in 5:19-20, we see that James is talking about the same progression of sin, which is the progression that is found in the context of his own letter. It is the poetic way that James preaches. The important fact of the matter is that people do not really die each time they sin do they? The fact that Christians are alive proves the truth of that statement in a tangible way. James, (writing an early epistle to the Israelite Christians of the dispersion) is reflecting Old Testament language--language that the Israelites will readily understand--language as is found in Proverbs 28:18 and 19:16;
"18 Whoever walks blamelessly will be saved, but he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall." Proverbs 28:18 NKJV
"He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless of conduct will die." Proverbs 19:16
So, what we have seen this morning is that the death mentioned in James 1, and James 5, is not actually real physical death, nor is it some kind of spiritual death, but the death is a descriptive metaphor meant to be the strongest language possible to convey the ruinous result of a life of sin. James has been making the same point throughout the whole epistle, but as a skillful fine artist, he has been making the point in different ways, including here at the end of his painting in our final passage under study.
We spent a lot of time on some technical details concerning this passage this morning. We did so, because it is very important to understand what James means even though James uses language that can be wrongly interpreted to mean that people can lose their spiritual salvation. I urge all of us to put into practice what James has preached. Whenever you know of someone who has strayed, is straying, or seems like they are about to stray from the truth, don't look the other way. To look the other way is not true love according to the Royal Law. The world winks at sin. But, while the world is winking, the sin is destroying lives and dishonoring God. By the same token, don't gossip. Don't condemn either. Our job is different. We are God's ministers for the moment that are meant to convict our brothers and sisters with the truth, which is the word of God that the Holy Spirit will use when He uses you. This is the essence of the royal law that James has been preaching. The perfect law of liberty also gives us the liberty to turn our brothers and sisters from the error of their ways. We really must not make any mistake about this. Turning our brothers and sisters from the error of wandering from the truth is a beautiful action that demonstrates the Law of love at work in our lives. It is where you do your service to God by doing service to your brothers and sisters in Christ. And that's what we want. As we finish up with James, I want to encourage all of us to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit has shown us. Let's be about belief backed by believers behavior. Let's love the Lord God with all of our heart, and love our neighbor as Christ loves us.
