The Epistle of James - Godly Values
Part 42 - The truth
James 5v19-20
12th April 2019
James ends his letter with these words:
James 5v19-20
My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth, and someone should bring him back,
remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and
cover over a multitude of sins.
Clearly, he's talking about Christians. He calls them brothers and says, "if one of you should wander from the truth".
Throughout his letter, James has emphasised not only godly living, but godly values - godly thinking. As early as 1v5, he urges us to pray for wisdom. In 3v13 he says "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life", showing that godly living is the result of godly thinking. In 4v4 he says criticises his readers' motives, saying "friendship with the world is hatred towards God". Now, right at the end of this wonderful letter, James talks about the very serious situation of those who "wander from the truth".
James could have written "wander from the Lord" or "wander from the church" or "wander from godly living" but he talks instead about wandering from godly thinking. Doctrine matters; If we get our thinking wrong, we will get everything wrong.
Paul also understood this very well. He expressed his feelings about it very clearly in his letter to the churches in Galatia. They had turned away from the pure Gospel, and Paul wrote:
Galatians 3v1a
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?
Galatians 4v8-9
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back
to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
Galatians 4v20
how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!
As Jesus says in the parable of the sower (Luke 8v4-15) some people wander away when things get difficult, because they have no root (Luke 8v13). They don't really understand or accept Biblical teaching, so when trouble comes they don't persevere. And trouble does come. And some people wander away because they're distracted by life's worries, riches and pleasures (Luke 8v14). They don't think Biblical teaching is very important.
When a Christian turns his back on the Bible, it's a tragedy. If we disregard Biblical teaching, then sooner or later we will stop living a godly life. And unless we receive help, we will turn our backs on the Gospel, on Jesus and on the church as well.
But when a Christian turns away from the things of God, there remains hope that he will come to his senses.
If a member of your church wanders from the truth, it may be possible that you can bring him or her back. What a wonderful ministry that would be. Jesus said a shepherd will leave ninety-nine sheep to search for one (Luke 15v3-7). He wants us to care for each other like that. If we know somebody who has wandered from the truth, we must look for a way to bring him back.
Let's never forget those who have left us in a less than positive way. Let's pray for them, and ask God to bring them back, and ask God to give us an opportunity to help them find love and peace and faith again, because we'll save them from death.
(I believe that all those who are truly Christians will all live forever. None of us will die ultimately. I don't believe none of us can die. I believe none of us will die. I believe God will send someone to bring us back. We are all capable of losing our salvation, but we won't, because God will make sure we don't.)
And you might be part of the means by which God helps one of your brothers or sisters to keep their salvation. You will save him from death. And you will cover a multitude of sins because all the things he did after he left - or even before he left - will be forgiven and dealt with by God when he comes back in repentance.
And I hope your church will not bang on about how he used to live, but just welcome him back, cover over the sin, and restore him to full fellowship.
There are tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of people in Britain who are Christians, but have wandered away from the truth. They're not in church, they're not reading their Bibles, they're hardly praying, they're not living the Christian life. They find living in sin and doubt more comfortable - or they think they do. If we can win just one back for Jesus, what a wonderful thing that would be. The faith is so important; it's a matter of eternal life and eternal death.
So let us draw near to God in prayer, let us pray for one another, let us forgive one another's sins, and let us seek to help the Christians who are really struggling to hold onto Jesus, in His Holy Name. Amen.