A Final Word On The Importance Of The Brothers Having A Practical Concern For Each Other (James 5:19-20).
All through his letter James has been seeking to ‘convert sinners from the errors of their ways', leading up to his final exhortation to prayer and praise in James 5:13-18. Now he passes on that responsibility to ‘my brothers'. That idea had begun in James 5:18, and the incentive that he now gives is not that they will thereby receive a reward, but that they will be doing eternal good and helping to defeat sin. As we have seen all the way through, God (James 1:17; James 2:23; James 4:4; James 5:7), peace (James 3:18) and eternal life (James 1:12; James 5:20) are to be seen as their own reward (and are indeed precisely what any ‘rewards' will be all about).
We should not see these words as just a postscript. They are a reminder in the face of all James' advice and exhortation throughout that his final concern was that sin might be dealt with in as many as possible so that they might be ‘covered' before God, and they themselves be ‘delivered' (‘saved') by God. He was concerned with their salvation, their being ‘made whole', and his vision was fixed on the work of his Saviour, the Lord, Jesus Christ, Who was to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). Note also how in the face of this concern there is no suggestion anywhere for the need of ritual. It was sufficient that they be turned back to God. By this their sins will be ‘covered'. The Atonement is assumed, for he is confident that all his readers are aware of it. That is why they call themselves ‘Christians'. It is also a reminder that he has not been primarily concerned with writing about the way of salvation for the lost, but about the need for those who professed to be ‘saved' to genuinely experience that salvation. His words were not so much directed at outsiders as at insiders, ‘the twelve tribes of Israel', the new people of God (Galatians 6:16; Ephesians 2:13-22).
Analysis.
· My brothers, if any among you err from the truth (James 5:19 a),
· And one convert him (James 5:19 b),
· Let him know, that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way (James 5:20 a).
· Will save a soul from death (James 5:20 b).
· And will cover a multitude of sins (James 5:20 c).
Note that in ‘a' men err from the truth, and in the parallel a multitude of sins are ‘covered'. In ‘b' one causes another to turn round, and in the parallel he saves a human being from death. And centrally in ‘c' comes the vital purpose of turning men from the error of their ways. ‘Let him know, that he who turns a sinner round from the error of his way.'
That is to be the purpose of all God's people, to turn men from their sins and from the error of their ways (compare the use of the word in Luke 22:32), so that they come back to God and begin to live in accordance with His Law and with His requirements, and is to be especially their concern for any one of their brothers who may have fallen. This is basic to Biblical teaching. The prophets constantly sought to make the people return to God. Daniel declared that, "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3). And Paul urged Timothy to, "Take heed to yourself, and to your teaching, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4:16)."‘Will save a soul from death.'
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin can bring premature death to failing believers (1 Corinthians 11:30) and eternal death to unconcerned sinners. So whatever the state of the one ‘turned round' they will be saved from death, either premature or eternal. But the stress here probably has James 5:15 in mind, recognising that often such a sick man also needed ‘turning round' so that his sins might be forgiven him, and he might then be healed and ‘saved from death'."‘And will cover a multitude of sins.'
To ‘cover' sins is an Old Testament way of speaking of atonement and cleansing, thus his final words bring out the writer's deep involvement in Old Testament ideas (compare Psalms 32:1; Psalms 85:2 LXX, the only other two examples where the Greek word is connected with sin, and there forgiveness, pardon and being ‘justified' are in mind, for sin will not be imputed to them). Those who are turned round will have their sins ‘covered' before God. They will be forgiven, pardoned and have no sin imputed to them. And the aim of God's people is to be to bring about the covering of as many sins as possible, sins which in each person are so many that they can be described as ‘a multitude'. That is why Jesus came, to save His people from their sins'. In the words of Paul, ‘Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound' (Romans 5:20). In these words the heart of James, and his concern for the flock, are laid bare. His aim, like His Lord's, is that they may all be presented before God ‘holy and without blemish', genuinely saved and with their sins forgiven. May that be our concern too.