Don't Judge Me, My Sin is My Business
The World offers us a philosophy of sin completely counter to the truths of Scripture. The world says, "My life is my business. If I don't hurt anyone, what should it concern you? Leave me alone!"
To which James responds in the prominent place of the closing words:
James 5:19–20 (ESV) My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 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.
To which James responds in the prominent place of the closing words:
James 5:19–20 (ESV) My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 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.
It is our job to "Pastor" each other away from sin.
And notice how sin happens. James says someone FIRST "wanders from the truth!" That's the essence of all sin. "Did God really say?" said the Devil to Eve in the beginning of the end! To lose a grip on truth is to lose the battle with sin. Truth and life belong together.
The solution? We need to help defend the truth for each other. Watching for how we think, react and respond to God's Word. It is our responsibility and God commends those who take care of their brothers.
Notice the result of such care: we "save a soul from death". These are the stakes: Life and death. The truth we lose first is the essential consequence of sin God gave from the beginning. "You shall surely die." This is the deception of ever sin. It won't cost us. Yet it does. Forgetting so we start to repeat after the serpent: "I shall not surely die." We've lost truth, and we start to wander.
The second result: "cover a multitude of sins." What is the meaning of "cover"? It is not concealment as that of paint but one of payment. If you were unable to pay a bill and someone stepped in to provide payment, it would "cover" the cost. What is James doing? He's bringing us back to the most precious truth of all. Jesus paid it all. We don't ransom people, Jesus does. We covers ours.
So what do we learn? Wandering from the truth is not simply a moral detachment from God, it is a theological detachment. It is losing sight of what Jesus did at the cross to pay our price. When we start to lose sight that we are saved by grace, we wander into sin either of degradation or self-salvation. Both are equally vile and deceptive. Only Jesus can save. Only Jesus can cover. Only Jesus is THE Truth.
Anyone can lead someone to this conclusion. This is the commission of every Christian, not just the Elders of verses 14-15. Because this was the calling of our Lord Jesus. To seek and to save that which was lost.
PRAYER:
Father, help me to see Jesus' death as the perfect substitute for me and provision for my sin. Help me to remember grace. Help me not to wander. And when I seek to bring others back, please help me only bring them back to Jesus. Not me, not the church. Jesus.
And notice how sin happens. James says someone FIRST "wanders from the truth!" That's the essence of all sin. "Did God really say?" said the Devil to Eve in the beginning of the end! To lose a grip on truth is to lose the battle with sin. Truth and life belong together.
The solution? We need to help defend the truth for each other. Watching for how we think, react and respond to God's Word. It is our responsibility and God commends those who take care of their brothers.
Notice the result of such care: we "save a soul from death". These are the stakes: Life and death. The truth we lose first is the essential consequence of sin God gave from the beginning. "You shall surely die." This is the deception of ever sin. It won't cost us. Yet it does. Forgetting so we start to repeat after the serpent: "I shall not surely die." We've lost truth, and we start to wander.
The second result: "cover a multitude of sins." What is the meaning of "cover"? It is not concealment as that of paint but one of payment. If you were unable to pay a bill and someone stepped in to provide payment, it would "cover" the cost. What is James doing? He's bringing us back to the most precious truth of all. Jesus paid it all. We don't ransom people, Jesus does. We covers ours.
So what do we learn? Wandering from the truth is not simply a moral detachment from God, it is a theological detachment. It is losing sight of what Jesus did at the cross to pay our price. When we start to lose sight that we are saved by grace, we wander into sin either of degradation or self-salvation. Both are equally vile and deceptive. Only Jesus can save. Only Jesus can cover. Only Jesus is THE Truth.
Anyone can lead someone to this conclusion. This is the commission of every Christian, not just the Elders of verses 14-15. Because this was the calling of our Lord Jesus. To seek and to save that which was lost.
PRAYER:
Father, help me to see Jesus' death as the perfect substitute for me and provision for my sin. Help me to remember grace. Help me not to wander. And when I seek to bring others back, please help me only bring them back to Jesus. Not me, not the church. Jesus.
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