The Epistle of James
Part 17
Sixteen lessons ago, on May 25, 2003, we began our study of the Epistle of James. Today, we will look at the last 8 verses and conclude this phase of our class together. If you’d like, turn to James 5:13 and read along with me:
Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 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 5:13-20 NASB95)Here’s a quick synopsis of what we just read:
Let’s look at these six commands individually:
Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray.
The Greek word here translated as suffering is kakopatheo (kak·op·ath·eh·o) that means to endure evils (hardships or troubles) or to be afflicted (to experience acute pain, annoyance, embarrassment or distress).
Why do you think James exhorts believers to pray when they suffer? Are they to pray for deliverance from the suffering, endurance through the suffering, both or something else?
In the "something else" category, I’d like to suggest that when we are in difficult circumstances, for whatever reason, that we ask God to allow Jesus to be seen in our life in order to bring glory to Him. In the writings of Paul, it seems clear that it is not those who live lives of prosperity and ease that are "the privileged", but rather those who have been counted trustworthy to suffer as Jesus did.
Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
Not everyone suffers at the same time and none of us suffer all the time. God gives balance in our lives. The mature Christian will sing in the midst of their suffering…anybody can sing when it’s over! Originally, the word for praise meant to play a musical instrument, especially a stringed instrument, but in the New Testament, is seems to refer to singing a song to glorify God.
Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.
This is one of the more misunderstood and controversial portions of the Epistle of James. There are at least three different thoughts that find support here: 1) Full physical health is just a prayer away; 2) The sacrament of Extreme Unction is here illustrated and instituted; and 3) The widely endorsed practice of invoking God (prayer) along with using medicine (anointing).
The key to deciding which, if any, of these thoughts James intended to communicate to his original readers, lies in the meaning of the word sick, but more importantly, is determined by the context in which the word is used. The Greek word is astheneo (as·then·eh·o) and primarily means to be weak, without strength, powerless. Although the word is used in the Gospels to refer to physical maladies, there is nothing that indicates it is exclusively or even primarily used as such. In the Epistles and Acts, astheneo is used to denote weak faith or weak conscience. The context here seems to indicate a spiritual rather than a physical condition. That it should be translated "weak" in verse 14 is clear in that another Greek word kamno (kam·no) in verse15, translated one who is sick, literally means "to be weary." The only other use in the New Testament of that word clearly emphasizes this same meaning: For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:3 NASB95)
I believe that by the word definition and the context James is clearly describing a person who has become discouraged spiritually and encourages that if they will call the elders to come, pray and anoint, they will be healed of their spiritual weakness and be restored to the joy of the Lord. However, after an hour of discussion with Jay, he still feels it’s describing a person who is hopelessly sick physically. In either case, a point upon which we both agree is that the person who is either physically sick or spiritually weak must be the person who initiates the elders coming to pray and anoint. Unless the individual themselves requests the elders to come, it is unlikely that God will intervene. That too is debatable!
…and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
What is James saying here? Is forgiveness conditional…dependent upon confession?
The phrase they will be forgiven is the Greek word aphiemi (af·ee·ay·mee) and means to go away, leave, set free. It should be noted that this is not the same word used in Colossians 3:13 where Paul says believers are to forgive one another just as Christ forgave them. The word in Colossians is charizomai (khar·id·zom·ahee) and means to graciously and freely restore one to another…to show grace. The word found here in James (aphiemi) is the same word used in 1John 1:9 when it says that if we confess, God is faithful and just to forgive. In both 1John and here in James the idea is not that forgiveness is conditional, but the weight (guilt) is not lifted off and taken away until we confess. We don’t get God’s forgiveness by confession, but we don’t "experience" God’s forgiveness unless we confess!
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.
James moves from his specific admonition to call the elders for prayer and anointing to a general exhortation for all believers to confess their sins to one another and to pray together for healing. It seems clear to me that he is referring to spiritual healing, rather than physical, but I acknowledge that here, as above, it could be either or both.
The Greek word for confess is exomologeo (ex·om·ol·og·eh·o) and means to freely and openly acknowledge to another. The context here is the verbalization of wrong doing to a fellow believer with transparent integrity…straightforward admission of "missing the mark" in word, thought or deed.
Why do you think that such "confession" does not happen more often? Have you ever done it? If not, why?
I think that the overriding deterrent is fear of exposure…a lack of assurance of confidentiality. For the first time, I’m beginning to see some practical benefit of this Catholic practice…it "takes away" the guilt and confessor is confident that no one else will ever know.
James follows this last exhortation to pray for one another so that you may be healed with the promise that the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. He cites the Old Testament example of Elijah to support his command.
Does the effective prayer of a righteous man always accomplish what they prayed for?
Paul, who certainly seems like a good example of a righteous man, prayed several times for God to remove the "thorn" in his flesh, but God refused to grant his request and instead assured Paul that His grace was sufficient.
The last sentence in the Epistle of James is a real "bombshell" and I’m not sure we will be able to do it justice in the time we have left…but let’s give it a try.
My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 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.
What does "stray from the truth" mean? Can a person "turn away" and loose their salvation?
Can a believer save his own soul from death by turning a fellow believer back to the truth?
Can a believer "offset" a multitude of his own sins by turning a fellow believer back to the truth?
My own personal (and certainly arguable) position is that it’s easy to get "carried away" when we’re trying to encourage certain Christian behavior…even James could do that!
PS: This is where my notes ended when I published them on Wednesday, before leaving for Thanksgiving with some of our children in Phoenix, but I couldn’t get comfortable with that ending to our study of the Epistle of James. After further study, here are some comments:
I didn’t realize earlier that the last statement found in verses 19-20 could so easily be interpreted two ways…I initially came away with only one thought as reflected by my last two questions. The phrase save his soul can refer either to the believer who has strayed from the truth or the believer who turns the one who has strayed back to the truth. Initially, I only saw the latter possibility, but couldn’t reconcile the idea that a believer could “get credit” for helping another and be rewarded by having his own soul saved and a multitude of his sins covered with the truth that all sins were covered by God’s grace at Calvary. It makes far more sense that James was encouraging believers to restore those who stray in order to save the souls of those who stray and that God’s grace would cover all the sins of those who stray no matter how large the number.
As we come to the conclusion of our study of the Epistle of James, I am settled, at least for now, with the belief that James felt comfortable taking an Old Covenant approach with his exhortations to the saints because of his belief that through the cross, God had provided greater grace (4:6) with the result that believers were now empowered to obey His commands. That belief is still held by many in the Christian church today.
James was very concerned about the community of believers and gave clear instructions about how to achieve practical holiness and spiritual maturity using the Old Covenant approach. His pointed exhortations were designed to stab the consciences and stir the souls of his beloved Jewish brothers. Stand with confidence, serve with compassion, speak with care, submit with contrition, and share with concern. A believer should be what God wants him to be, do what God wants him to do, say what God wants him to say, sense what God wants him to sense, and share what God wants him to share. Spiritual maturity involves every aspect of life.
I believe that it was through Paul that God revealed the New Covenant approach to living as we should: Let Jesus be Jesus in you! With that thought in mind, I hope you will agree with me that God is leading us to study Paul’s letter to the Romans next.