James 5:19-20 NLT

[19] My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, [20] you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

As we come to these last two verses of the book of James, let’s reflect a moment about to whom he wrote this letter and why.  He wrote the letter to those in the twelve tribes of Israel who believed in Jesus.  In other words, he wrote to fellow Jewish followers of the teachings of Christ.  His letter was one of encouragement to those who were being persecuted for their faith.  It was also a letter of instruction to overcome false teachings and one to correct sinful behavior in the lives of the Jewish believers.  He did not just write a big “Hang in there;” he also wrote a “Let’s get this right.”

With that in mind, James concludes his letter by giving one final admonition, which involves wandering away from the truth of the good news about Jesus.  If someone errs from the truth, he or she can be brought back to the truth.  And the individual who brings the wandering one back will save that person from death and cause sins to be forgiven.  Sometimes this wandering away or erring is referred to as backsliding in modern terminology.

Based on what James writes at the end of his letter to his fellow Jewish believers, and taking into context his entire letter, an individual follower of Jesus can, through false teachings or continued sins, wander from the teachings of Jesus.  If this happens, a fellow believer can, and in my opinion should, try to show the person how to correct that error that has occurred.  By doing so, the person can be brought back into following Jesus in truth.

The term exhorter is used by some to describe a person who encourages others to believe in Jesus, to repent of sins and to ask for forgiveness for those sins.  He or she is a follower of Christ who tries to lead people to having faith in Jesus and living by His teachings.  I suppose an individual who attempts to help a believer who has strayed away to return to the truth of the gospel could be called an exhorter, also.  Jaydon the Exhorter; Susan the Exhorter—sounds like a good title to have attached to your name.

Now comes a very important concept presented by James.  By helping someone who has erred to return to correctly following Jesus, the one who helps him or her return to following the truth will save a death from occurring and will facilitate the forgiveness of many sins.  According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word “death” that appears in James 5:20 is the Greek word thanatos, which means, in the widest sense, death comprising all the miseries arising from sin, as the loss of a life consecrated to God and blessed in him on earth, to be followed by wretchedness in hell.  The basic meaning is that separation (whether natural or violent) of the soul and the body by which the life on earth is ended.

Since physical death is something we all will have to face one day, one way or another, it would seem logical that James is referring to spiritual death in his last statement in Verse 20.  His whole letter has the intent of helping people to have faith in Jesus and to live in truth.  I think it is very appropriate that he ends his letter with a statement about how helping others live in truth will prevent their spiritual death and have their sins forgiven.

We have come to the end of our study of the book of James.  The next time you hear or see the title “Ten Minutes With…” the topic of study will be the Old Testament book of Malachi.  I look forward to seeing you in the comments as we continue these lessons when we start the series entitled “Ten Minutes With Malachi.”  Allow me to invite you to like our FB page and to subscribe to my YouTube channel.  You’ll find a transcript of these lessons at WestvilleAG.org.