Saving a Soul from Death

Today we come to the final verses of the book of James and the conclusion of the Apostle’s exhortation to the church. Unlike most of the other letters in the New Testament, James does not end with personal greetings but with guidance for what to do if someone in the church “wanders from the truth” (James 5:19–20). His instruction may seem abrupt, but his words make good sense in context. James has been explaining the right way to respond to our trials and tribulations, and sometimes a professing Christian under the pressure of suffering will abandon the faith entirely or embrace false teaching. Thus, a word regarding what to do in such cases fits this section of James quite well.

What are we to do when we see someone wandering into soul-damning error? We are to seek to bring that person back to the truth, which today’s passage assumes. James no doubt had the teaching of Jesus in view when he wrote the last words of his epistle. Our Lord makes clear that there is great rejoicing whenever a shepherd goes after a sheep that has gone astray and rescues it from danger (Matt. 18:10–14). The shepherd rejoices, of course, because the sheep is back safe in the fold. James does not mention rejoicing explicitly, though we may assume its presence in his words implicitly. Instead, James stresses that when we bring a sinner back from his wandering, we save that person’s soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Of course, James does not mean that we literally save souls ourselves but means that the Lord is pleased to work in and through our efforts to change hearts and bring reconciliation. John Calvin comments that it is “not that we can bestow salvation on them; but that God by our ministry delivers and saves those who seem otherwise to be nigh destruction.”

Stories of successful rescue missions thrill our souls, and rightly so. But the greatest rescue mission in history is God’s saving His people from sin, death, and Satan. In His kindness, our great Lord has granted us a part to play in this mission as we reach out with compassion and truth to those who have wandered from the truth, reminding them of the gospel and pleading with them to return. No enterprise is more worth our time than this, and the rescue has everlasting implications. Calvin writes, “Nothing is better or more desirable than to deliver a soul from eternal death; and this is what he does who restores an erring brother to the right way.”