James 5:19-20
"My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:19-20).
Our faith in Jesus Christ is the wellspring of our motivation, for what we do and say originate from hearts that are in tune with the Holy Spirit who resides within us.
We simply cannot escape the fact that when we admit we are sinners, repent for our mistakes, and place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, our eternal salvation is secure and our identity permanently changed.
We are no longer bound by our flesh, but set free by the Spirit of God with a clear understanding of what level of obedience is expected from us, just as the believers of old were told.
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free'" (John 8:31-32).
What a powerful statement! To "abide" simply means to dwell, to rest, and stand firm or stationary for an indefinite amount of time.
When we consider what this one word means in context to what Jesus is saying, we discover that our purpose in life is to firmly submit our will under the authority of Scripture every day of our lives, and rest in the assurance that His Word is absolute truth and worthy to be revered, trusted, and applied unconditionally.
For if we do not our moral compass is distorted, our tolerance of sin weakened, and truth becomes a relative term easily swayed by popular culture because we are choosing to remain enslaved by our flesh.
"Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed'" (John 8:34-36).
This statement directly follows Jesus' command to abide in His Word and reminds us that we have the power to choose. For we are no longer enslaved to our sin and held captive by its stronghold, because Christ died for our sins and freed us from our bondage.
Therefore, we choose each day to follow God's Word which flows from our identity in Christ or we dismiss it, just as our brothers and sisters in Christ do as well. However, it is our universal ability to empathize with the struggles each one of us experiences which James highlights in the culmination of his letter.
Of all the concluding admonitions James could have chosen after the immense amount of wisdom he bestowed, his final commentary focuses on protecting his brethren and affirming the importance of true, Biblical community.
His statement is truly profound because it assumes we have not only heard the points he has made over five chapters, but prioritized self-application above all else.
It is safe to assume when James penned these words, the Spirit reminded him of life-changing wisdom Jesus spoke in his presence.
"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:3-5).
Make no mistake, our ability to help others in their spiritual walk is absolutely and unequivocally influenced by our choice to first apply God's Word in our own faith relationship with Jesus. For the health of our Christian faith community hinges upon what we define as our foundation of truth, and our willingness to remove specks and logs from our own eyes before helping others.
Therefore, the key to applying personal "speck and log removal" is simple: Resist temptation and avoid sin.
"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:12-14).
In other words, sin's dominion over us was destroyed when Jesus rose on the third day. His death and resurrection allowed us the opportunity to choose freedom over slavery, and we have chosen to admit our inability to save ourselves by accepting Christ's free gift of grace. However, many of us have wandered to one degree or another from the saving truth of Scripture.
Consider the many ways James highlights where we have personally drifted from the truth of God's Word in our spiritual walk:
James 1:2-18 - "Testing of Your Faith" - Do I consider my trials as joy? Have I asked God for wisdom, by faith, without doubting? Have I remained steadfast during trial, not blaming God for my plight, but recognizing Satan's deception?
James 1:19-27 - "Hearing and Doing the Word" - Am I quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger? Have I put off wickedness and received God's Word into my heart? Am I actually doing what God says, or simply agreeing in theory without personal application?
James 2:1-13 - "The Sin of Partiality" - Am I favoring the powerful and wealthy over the poor? Does my social status hinder me from helping those in need? Do I judge the economic status of others by alienating myself from them? Am I loving my neighbors as myself? Am I showing mercy to others just as Christ shows me?
James 2:14-26 - "Faith Without Works is Dead" - Do I believe my works save me in any way or have any impact on whether I enter heaven when I die? Do I recognize that true, saving faith is identified by righteous works from a thankful heart? Am I doing good works to earn favor with God for selfish gain?
James 3:1-12 - "Taming the Tongue" - Do I have complete self-control over the words which come out of my mouth? Do I speak words of blessing or cursing to those around me? Do I recognize that what flows out of my mouth originates from my heart? Do I understand the emotional weight and impact my words truly have on others?
James 3:13-18 - "Wisdom From Above" - Am I wise in my own eyes? Do I have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in my heart? Am I boastful? Do I sow seeds of peace through my righteous behavior, or dissension through my sinful actions?
James 4:1-12 - "Warning Against Worldliness" - Do I allow fleshly passions and desires within my heart to direct my behavior? Is my life identified by God's grace and mercy, or my personal accomplishments? Am I too often prideful? Do I seek opportunities to humble myself daily? Do I speak even the slightest amount of evil against my brothers and sisters in Christ?
James 4:13-17 - "Boasting About Tomorrow" - Do I believe I can predict the future with certainty? Do I think I know more than I actually do? Do I believe I am in control of my life's trajectory, or does the Lord have full control? Do I know what God's Word says is the right thing to do and fail to do it?
James 5:1-6 - "Warning to the Rich" - Is my personal value defined by material possessions or economic achievement? Do I take advantage or manipulate others in order to advance my personal gain? How important is my financial portfolio to my future? Am I spiritually rich by sharing God's blessings throughout my life with others less fortunate?
James 5:7-12 - "Patience in Suffering" - Am I enduring persecution for living out my Christian faith and defending what the Bible says? Am I grumbling when I see others prosper while I struggle through trials and tribulations? Am I patient to trust in the Lord when my logical mind says to take matters into my own hands? Are my own words trusted by others?
James 5:13-20 - "The Prayer of Faith" - Do I unconditionally believe God's Word is absolute truth? Do I believe God answers prayer according to His sovereign will and not mine? Do I apply Scripture's instruction to confess my sins to others and seek the Lord's guidance, wisdom, counsel, and intercession through prayer? Am I speaking truth in love to win lost and wandering souls to Christ?
The reality of our existence is simply this: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
No one can examine all the aforementioned personal application questions James provokes and not admit he/she has missed the mark. We are all wanderers, because we choose to sin and consequently choose to suffer for the decisions we make and actions we take.
Therefore, it is foolish to assume we are not also the recipients of James 5:19-20, just as we are called to admonish our brothers and sisters in Christ by speaking truth in love and coming alongside one another in trials.
For we minister to others and are ministered to as well in return. We hold others accountable to God's Word and are held accountable in judgment by it. We remove specks and logs in others by first removing our own.
We recognize just as the classic hymn, "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing" declares, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love," because we never forget who we were before Christ and who we are today as born-again followers of Jesus. And that is the heart posture we must take if we are to truly understand what James is conveying to conclude his letter.
Bottom-line, we pursue those in our lives who have fallen away and are wandering aimlessly because we know what it's like to be in their shoes, and that understanding allows us to be used by God as instruments of His grace and mercy to those we love.
May we never forget the transformation God has done in our hearts so that we might minister to those around us who desperately need intervention and revival in their lives.
