Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 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.
Jesus saves those who believe in Him. That is a bedrock principle in the Bible. That is what He said in John 3:16 and many other texts in John’s Gospel. Yet James says that if we “turn a sinner from the error of his way [we] will save [his] soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” That is upside down. Now we do the saving and the people we save are those who turn from their sinful ways, not those who believe in Jesus.
One way to understand these verses is that James is saying that repentance is a condition of escaping eternal condemnation. For example, Davids comments,
James, then, concludes with the purpose of his work. He does not discuss sins simply to moralize or condemn. He discusses sin to point out to erring community members the results of their behavior and to bring them to repentance. He hopes to save them from damnation and procure forgiveness for their sins (James, p. 201).
That view is the view you will find in most commentaries. For example, Moo writes, “It is by sharing with James the conviction that there is indeed an eternal death, to which the way of sin leads, that we shall be motivated to deal with sin in our lives and in the lives of others” (James, p. 251).
Do you remember the question that the Lord Jesus asked Martha? He asked, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26b). He was asking her if she believed that whoever believes in Him will never die spiritually (John 11:26a). He said nothing about repentance and turning from evil ways. He spoke only of believing in Him. That is why one of the cries of the Reformation was Sola Fide, by faith alone. The words by faith alone mean that one is born again by faith only, not by commitment, obedience, repentance, or perseverance.
The commonly held view of James 5:19-20 is impossible.
The correct interpretation is so simple that a child could see it. The issue here is not saving an unbeliever from eternal death. The issue is saving a straying believer from premature physical death. James spoke of “anyone among you.” That is, he was writing about any fellow believer in their local churches.
Throughout the letter James calls them brethren and beloved brethren. He says that the readers had been born again (Jas 1:18). He referred to their faith in Christ (Jas 2:1).
Hodges comments are simple and easy to understand:
Thus a Christian’s efforts for the restoration of his brother to the pathway of obedience are life-saving in scope. If successful, he will save a soul (psyche: “life,” “person”) from death. But he will do more than that, since a restored sinner receives the gracious forgiveness of God. Thus the many sins created and multiplied by a man who turns away from God are all removed from view when that man turns back to God. The word rendered cover here (kalyptō) means “conceal.” The restored sinner’s multitude of sins are now out of sight through the pardon he has received. And the loving brother who turns him back is credited not only with the preservation of his fellow Christian’s life, but also with making him clean, as if his efforts have removed from view all the unsightly moral disfigurements which sin creates. (Though, of course, only the Lord actually cleanses anyone.) Thanks to such personal involvement, the formerly erring Christian is both physically alive and spiritually clean (James, p. 120).
Anyone who has been a believer for years has known other believers who have strayed. Unfortunately, many parents have suffered when one or more of their believing children have gone to the spiritual far country. We do not write off these straying believers as having lost their salvation or proving they were never born again. We pray for them. We seek to bring them back to fellowship with God (Luke 15:4-7) and to save them from premature death (Jas 5:19-20).
Keep grace in focus and you won’t be misled by well-meaning but wandering commentators.
