Monthly Archive for January, 2001

James 5:19

Published on January 31, 2001 in James. 0 Comments
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Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back…

Brethren,
 
The wanderer from the truth here is clearly a Christian. This reveals something of the meaning of the previous verses showing that James deals with a Christian out of fellowship and out of phase with God. 
 
James extends a word of encouragement to mature believers who bring fellow Christians back from the brink of spiritual defeat. The word “brethren” connotes a touch of tenderness. 
 
if anyone among you
 
The word “if” indicates that the possibility of a fellow believer straying from the truth is likely to happen. It is very possible for Christians to develop protracted rebellion against God so that he becomes susceptible to divine discipline that might include physical death.
 
Note that the words “among you” refer to the believing community. James has already made the point that Christians develop physical problems due to sin. The person wandering from the truth here is then a Christian. 
 
wanders from the truth,
 
The wanderer here is someone who defects in some sense from the Word of God and goes into a state of rebellion against it. The context refers to reclaiming a believer in a state of deep spiritual decline by prayer (5:16-18). This believer wanders from a living faith. It is possible to form a “dead faith” (Ja 2:18-26). 
 
The word “wanders” means to go astray. We get our English word “planet” from the root of the word “wanders.” A planet wanders around the sun in the sky. James’ concern is for a believer who does not follow a prescribe course of action for the Christian. He goes astray from the Word of God. This believer wanders from Christian truth, truth for the Christian. 
 
and someone turns him back
 
James asks his readers to confront those who wander from the truth and attempt to bring them back to the truth. James argued throughout the epistle that there is a danger in forming a dead faith. If a mature believer brings a rebellious believer back to a living faith, he will save his soul from a dead faith. 
 
The word “turns him back” means to turn about, turn towards. The idea is to return to a point or area where one has been before, with probable emphasis on turning about. A believer in fellowship who turns another believer back to fellowship will save his spirituality from destruction. 
 
PRINCIPLE: Flaws in judgment and in life generally go together.
 
APPLICATION: Love will take the risk of confronting a fellow Christian who gets off track. We need to bring back backslidden believers to fellowship. 
 
Ga 6: 1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”
 
Deflection from truth will cause deflection in behavior. Flaws in judgment and life generally go together. At the root of every practical failure, there is some biblical distortion. Bad habits build on bad principle. We rescue those who fail in the Christian life by redirecting them to the principles of the Word. True conversion for the Christian rests on truth. The longer we stay out of fellowship the further we get from truth. 

James 5:18

Published on January 30, 2001 in James. 0 Comments
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“And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”


And he prayed again,

Elijah has based his second prayer on God’s promise (1 Kg 18:1).  He prayed the second time 3 and ½ years later.  This is the story of the prophets of Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.  Elijah boldly prayed because He unwaveringly put his confidence in God’s ability to respond to his prayer (1 Ki 18:2,42-45).

and the heaven gave rain,

Elijah’s prayer ended a three year, six month drought (Lu 4:25).  The duration of this drought is more precise than the 1 Kings 18:1 account. 

and the earth produced its fruit.

God concurred with Elijah’s prayer.  Prayer is part of God’s plan for accomplishing His desires in time and space.  Prayer can open the gates of heaven. 


PRINCIPLE:  People of prayer are bold before men and humble before God. 


APPLICATION:  God wants us to take Him into our confidence so that He can sovereignly respond to our needs.  He so designed this world that we need Him and need to lean on Him.  Bold believers are people of prayer who put confidence in a God who answers prayer. 

1 Jn 5: 14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

James 5:17b

Published on January 29, 2001 in James. 0 Comments
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”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 land for three years and six months.”


and he prayed earnestly

Literally, “he prayed earnestly” is “he prayed with prayer.”  The redundancy of “prayer” makes this an emphatic prayer.  Elijah sought the audience of God, not man. 

that it would not rain;

The purpose of Elijah’s prayer was to bring back the rebellious people of God into fellowship with their God.  Drastic problems require drastic actions. 

Israel was deep into idolatry.  God destroyed the 450 prophets of Baal in the end.  They had to admit that God was God (1 Kg 18:39).                                                                           

and it did not rain on the land

God answered Elijah’s prayer.  God does not answer the prayer motivated by sinful desire or twisted purposes.

Ps. 66: 18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart,

            The Lord will not hear.”

for three years and six months

Elijah’s prayer ended a 3 and ½ year drought (1 Kg 17:1; 18:1, 41-46; Lu 4:25).  By knowing the will of God, he understood the purpose of his prayer. 


PRINCIPLE:  Effective prayer revolves around God’s purposes and promises.


APPLICATION:  God is in the business of enlisting us in His will.  We share with God’s purposes by prayer.  We should pray about God’s purposes in the world such as evangelism.  God uses prayer to move in us as well as through us.  Prayer changes us, not God.  Prayer does not persuade God to do something He is not willing to do.  Jesus prayed, “Not my will be done, but your will be done.” 

 Elijah prayed in God’s will so God answered him.  He did not spend extended time in prayer but simply prayed within God’s plan.  This involves finding God’s will.  Finding God’s will depends on knowing the principles of the Word.  That is why the Word of God commands us to pray “in the Spirit” and “according to the Spirit.” 

There is a correlation between sin and sickness.  Those who enter into protracted sin may come down with some illness or suffer an accident.  When we acknowledge our sin and confess that our sin took Jesus to the cross, God engages His forgiveness that is already possible by the death on the cross.  Sometimes God even heals the person who confesses his sin and yields himself to the Lord. 

James 5:17

Published on January 28, 2001 in James. 0 Comments
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”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 land for three years and six months.”


James now illustrates the power of prayer from an incident in the life of Elijah (5:17-18).

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours,

God answered the prayer of a man just like us.  We do not need to be special spiritual people for God to answer prayer.  Elijah had all the frailties we do. 


PRINCIPLE:  God hears and answers our prayers in spite of our human frailty. 


APPLICATION: God hears and answers our prayers in spite of our human frailty.  Many of us think that we cannot be great prayer warriors like some about whom we hear, but this passage says that answered prayer is the privilege of every Christian. 

Abraham, Moses, Daniel and Mary were people just like us.  We will have our moments but so did Elijah and any other person who engages in the great task of prayer.

Ac 10: 26 “But Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man.’”

Ac 14: 15 “…and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them…’”

James 5:16c

Published on January 27, 2001 in James. 0 Comments
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“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”


The effective,

Prayer for defeated believers is “effective” prayer.  “Effective” means to have power, to put something into operation.  We get our English word “energy” from the Greek word for “effective.”  The idea is operational prayer energized by the Spirit.  These prayers are efficacious or operational.  Prayer is ineffective unless God energizes it.  The effect produced in the praying person such as in the case of Elijah (5:17), is a power operating in the will of God. 

fervent prayer

There is no word for “fervent” here.  We do not impress God with fervency, “Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, please do this.”  Translators get the word “fervent” from the word much in the Greek.  The “much power” of a righteous man [a leader walking in fellowship with God] gets his prayers answered because he is in the will of God. 

of a righteous man

The spiritually strong have strong prayers.  They can intervene for others who cannot intervene for themselves.  The “righteous man” here is the Spirit-filled and mature leader, an “elder” or leader of the local congregation (5:14).  It is the prayer of a leader in the will of God that gets answers to prayer for a believer in deep decline.  

avails much

Certain prayers have power but other prayers do not.  “Avails” means accomplishes “much.”  It avails much because it is effective.  Prayers of righteous leaders are operational.  Weak prayers from weak people do not produce much but strong prayers from spiritually strong people accomplish much.  Prayer is a powerful force.  A congregation is never more threatened than by sin within. 

Nu 11: 2 “Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched.”

God will not void the prayers of a righteous man.  The “effective,” “fervent” prayer is powerful prayer.  There is effectiveness in the power of prayer. 


PRINCIPLE:  Prayers of leaders who walk with God are operational toward God because those prayers are in the will of God. 


APPLICATION:  The prayer of a leader in a local church who walks with God has much power and is operational in God’s eyes.  This leader can save a believer from the sin unto death (5:20).  The believer with the sin unto death is more than a carnal Christian; he is a rebellious believer in deep spiritual decline, opposing the authority of God for his life. 

Ja 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.”

In order for a believer to be saved from the sin unto death, he must repent of his deep spiritual decline by accepting the authority of the prayer of the leader.  By changing his mind toward his rebellion, he opens himself to freedom from the sin unto death.  The effective prayer of a mature leader brings this believer back in line with the will of God.  There is a need for interdependence between followers and leaders of a local church. 

Mutual care for one another is the way we combat spiritual discouragement and downfall.  Weak prayer comes from the spiritually weak; strong prayer comes from the spiritually strong.  We need mature leaders to help us through sinful obsessions.  Confession of sin to mature leaders will deliver us from the grip of sin. 

James 5:16b

Published on January 26, 2001 in James. 1 Comment
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“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”


and pray for one another,

Not only should Christians confess sin against each other but they should pray for one another so that God would heal them.  We can come to the place where we cannot pray for ourselves and need the prayer of mature leaders who walk in fellowship with God.  When a believer in need admits that need and accepts the help of a Spirit-filled leader, he is on the road to recovery.  The leader extends grace to the believer in decline; he does not put a proposal of penitence on him. 

Ga 6: 1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness [inwrought grace – I receive grace so I should extend grace], considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

that you may be healed.

The word “that” introduces a purpose clause.  The purpose of praying for each other is that there would be spiritual healing.  The word “healed” does not always necessarily imply physical healing.  Here it refers to restoration to spiritual wholeness as well as physical healing, the sin unto death. 

Hebrews uses “healed” of spiritual restoration (He 12:12-13).  Peter uses this word for healing from sin (1 Pe 2:24).  The usage in this verse probably refers to forgiveness.  God can heal the sin of unrighteous behavior.  Matthew uses “healed” for spiritual healing. 

Matthew 13: 15  “For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

            Their ears are hard of hearing,

            And their eyes they have closed,

            Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

            Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.”


PRINCIPLE:  Transparency and acceptance go hand in hand. 


APPLICATION: Confession of sin should stay within the sphere of the sin.  Private sin requires private confession and public sin requires public confession.  Public sin is anything that brings reproach on the body of Christ [the church].  We confess private sin privately and public sin publicly.  It does not profit the Christian community to hang dirty wash in public.

We should confess private sins privately.  Transparency and acceptance go hand in hand.  Confession of sin should not go beyond the sphere of the sin.  Openness toward sin creates a cleansing in the soul.  An open, caring, mature church is a healthy community.  It is a place where Christians should be able to take their masks off and let others know their true needs. 

Pr 28: 13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper,

But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”

True fellowship depends on openness and trust.  Isolation creates its own danger.  It is much easier to compartmentalize sin if we do not share it.  Sharing creates accountability to us as well as others.  Secret sin is difficult to cure. 

Confession is not an absolute but an offer to bless those who are out of orbit with the Lord. 

James 5:16

Published on January 25, 2001 in James. 4 Comments
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Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
 
Verse sixteen springs from verse fifteen. 
 
Confess
 
The word “confess” means to confess or admit openly or fully. “Confess” comes from three Greek words: to say, same, and out. The idea is to speak out about something you agree is wrong. The readers of James needed to confess their sins of rebellion (5:15) openly to one another; otherwise, they would end in divine discipline. 
 
your trespasses
 
A “trespass” is not the same as a sin. A trespass is a violation of the rights of someone else. It means to cross the rights of someone else. Hatred will root in the souls of others if we do not deal with wrongs we did against them. There is danger of people developing irreconcilable attitudes in this. This believer committed the sin unto death (5:20). 
 
to one another,
 
We do not have to confess our sins to an intermediary or priest. We do, however, have the right to confess sins to mature Christian leaders [“elders:]. 
 
PRINCIPLE:  Confession of sin keeps spirit, soul and body healthy. 
 
APPLICATION: Protracted, unconfessed sin will eventually undermine the soul and even cause physical illness. We need mature leaders to help us get out of this spiral. Sometimes confession of sin will heal physical illness, especially sin that is directly related to sin. In this case, the issue is primarily spiritual, not physical. 
 
Confession of sin can keep spirit, soul and body healthy. This is no absolute guarantee for physical healing because sin can cause permanent ravaging of the body. Sometimes God chooses not to heal physical illnesses. 
 
Acknowledging our sin is the first step in spiritual restoration. Confession is not penance. Jesus did the penance for us on the cross (1 Jn 1:7). His blood keeps on cleansing us from sin, not our self-punishment. It is Christ-punishment, not self-punishment that sets us right with God. 
 
Our part is simply to acknowledge our part in what took Jesus to the cross. We cannot have forgiveness without the shedding of the blood of Christ (He 9:22). “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

James 5:15b

Published on January 24, 2001 in James. 0 Comments
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“And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”


and the Lord will raise him up.

The context appears to teach that James has both spiritual and physical healing in view.  The “Lord” raised him up; the person who prayed did not raise him up.  God does something here – He respects the biblically based prayer by bringing the believer back from a desperate situation. 

And if he has committed sins,

The “if” indicates that this believer of his own will went into rebellion.  He sinned without confession over time.  He accumulated the sin unto death by this unconfessed sin. 

The tense of the word “committed” in the Greek means this believer committed this sin in the past with the result that he remains unrepentant of that sin.  We can translate this phrase in this way, “And if he has been committing sins.”  This is persistent rebellion against God’s Word.  He is a person who refuses to confess and repent of his sin.  He is in a state of rebellion against God. 

Ps. 32: 5 “I acknowledged my sin to You,

            And my iniquity I have not hidden.

            I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,

            And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Pr. 28: 13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper,

But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”

1 Jn 1: 9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The “sins” of this phrase are special sins – sins that caused this believer to go into protracted spiritual decline. 

he will be forgiven.

Forgiveness goes with spiritual recovery.  We can start over with God’s blessing.  God holds no grudge against us.  The word “forgive” means to send away.  God sends our sin away. 


PRINCIPLE:  Sin can cause physical sickness.


APPLICATION:  A number of passages in the Word of God show that sin causes sickness (De 28:22,27; Jn 5:14; 1 Co 11:30).  This only occurs when a believer in rebellion to the Word of God refuses to confess his sin over a protracted period.  Rebellion against God can produce sickness and even premature death. 

It is important that we acknowledge our sins and not to use other people as patsies for our sin.  We sin from our own free will; therefore, we do not blame others for our sin.  If we do, we may draw the sin unto death unto ourselves.”

Ps 51: 2  “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

            And cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,

            And my sin is always before me.

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,

            And done this evil in Your sight—

            That You may be found just when You speak,

            And blameless when You judge.”

Personal sin does not necessarily result in physical illness but it can cause physical illness under special circumstances.  We cannot say that a physically healthy Christian is so because he is free from sin.  We can say that there are times when Christians enter into flagrant rebellion against God, that God puts that believer under physical divine discipline.  That is the “if” in the phrase “if he has committed sins.” 

1 Co 11: 30 “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep [died]. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.”

God killed Ananias and Sapphira because they lied to the Holy Spirit.  They dropped dead instantly. 

We cannot conclude that if God does not heal a sick person that it is because of sin in his life.  Jesus healed sinful people.  He said, “Go and sin no more.”  Healing does not depend necessarily on the absence of sin.  Sin can lead to sickness. 

James 5:15

Published on January 23, 2001 in James. 0 Comments
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“And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”


 And the prayer of faith

The Greek has a definite article before the word “faith” making it refer to a structure of belief.  The prayer based on biblical faith will save the spiritually sick.  That is why it is necessary to call “elders” [spiritually mature] to pray for the spiritually and physically sick believer.  Prayer should always proceed from the faith. 

The “prayer of faith” is always “in the name of the Lord” (5:14).  That is a clear-cut limit to the prayer of faith.  God has no obligation to heal except within His will.  There are two qualifications to this prayer: 1) ask in faith and 2) in the name of the Lord. 

will save the sick,

The prayer of faith by the elders will restore the sick.  The word “sick” does not refer to physical illness but spiritual sickness—to waste away, to suffer, be distressed, fatigued or afflicted.  It is an unusual Greek word.  The idea is to gradually lose one’s motivation to accomplish some goal – to become discouraged, tired or give up. 

The only other occurrence of this word is in Hebrews 12:3 and does not refer to physical illness but to divine discipline due to sin in one’s life.  This person wastes away due to his sin. 

He 12: 3 “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

The restoration here is spiritual restoration of defeated Christians.  The word “save” means restore [to spiritual wholeness]. 

The phrase “has committed sins” is more substantiation that the subject of this verse is spiritual restoration.  The Word of God does not teach that all physical illness is the direct consequence of personal sin.  On the other hand, spiritual defeat is the direct result of protracted personal sin. 


PRINCIPLE:  There is no obligation on God to answer every prayer.


APPLICATION:  There is no obligation on God to answer prayer in every instance of sickness.  Do we give our children everything they ask?  We do not try to meet all of their demands for that would not be healthy for them.  We give them what is good for them. 

Paul could not heal Epaphroditus (Ph 2:27) and he left Trophimus at

Miletus sick (2 Ti 4:20).  Neither could he find healing for his own physical illness [some think that is was an ophthalmic illness].

2 Co 12: 9 “And He said to me,  ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Christian leaders do not have limitless ability to heal sick believers.  If they did, why would they not heal everyone in sight? 

James 5:14b

Published on January 22, 2001 in James. 0 Comments
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“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”


anointing him with oil

The question about “anointing” here is whether this is ceremonial anointing or simply an application of oil medicinally.  It first appears that this passage is teaching that the elders can physically heal sick believers but this is out of agreement with the context.  The context deals with believers under persecution.  This person is physically sick because of his sin. 

James here uses the more basic term rub with oil not the term for ceremonially anoint.  Our word in this verse is the ordinary word, not the ceremonial word for anointing.  It was usual that people of the first century applied oil to sick people.  However, it is not anointing but prayer that heals the sick. 

in the name of the Lord

Spiritual leadership is to minister “in the name of the Lord.”  The word “name” refers to God’s essence.  All spiritual ministries must be consistent with the essence of God’s character.  Later James says that if one of the spiritually weak commits sins, God would forgive his sins indicating that this is a spiritual problem not a physical problem. 

The Bible does not teach that all sickness is the direct result of sin but the Bible does teach that some physical illnesses are due to extensive unconfessed sin.  The answer for spiritual failure is “confession” (5:16). 

Ps. 32: 5 “I acknowledged my sin to You,

            And my iniquity I have not hidden.

            I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’

            And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Pr. 28: 13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper,

But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”

1 Jn 1: 9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”


PRINCIPLE:  God guarantees the healing of spiritually sick people. 


APPLICATION:  Some take the false doctrine of “extreme unction” from this passage.  The idea of extreme unction is to gain grace by the anointing of oil administered at death in order to gain God’s approbation or favor.  There is nothing in this passage that supports that idea. 

Again, neither does this verse teach that elders can heal physically sick people.  It teaches that they can heal spiritually sick people.  Confession of sin will deliver us from the power of sin.  If we allow sin to control us over long periods of time then God may use divine discipline on us. 

Some sickness is due to our sin and some God designs to glorify Himself.  Not everyone who gets sick has a spiritual problem.  There are some things better than physical healing.  God does not always heal the sick.  If that were so, then there would be no deaths. 

God designed that Paul have an eye disease (2 Co 12:9f).  He allowed Timothy to have stomach problems.  We all wait for the redemption of our bodies.

Ro 8: 23 “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”

The context of this verse is the sin unto death (5:20).  This verse is the last call of the Lord before committing the sin unto death.  We can shun the sin unto death by confession of sin.  We can address only certain physical illnesses by dealing with spiritual issues.  Prayer can only heal a sick believer in deep rebellion against God.