James 5:19-20
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 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.
Tag: Brotherly Responsibility
We often wander from the truth. As believers we still have the sin nature dwelling within. We still have the sin nature warring against the new nature given to us by God. When we see that in our lives we are to crucify the flesh and, with the Spirit of God, yield our bodies as instruments of righteousness, rather than instruments of unrighteousness (Romans 6). In the above passage, however, we are also told to come to the side of others who are failing in their walk. The word for “wander” above is the same word Jesus uses in the story of the 99 sheep and the one who went “astray.” Jesus said to leave the 99 and go to the one who wandered off. This is the same reference, here. When we see a brother wander from truth we are to go to them and bring them back, or give them truth to get them back. Paul says something similar in his letter to the Galatian Christians:
Galatians 6:1-2
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
We have a Christian responsibility to reach out to those who may wander, to help them find truth, to restore them back into the truth of Christ. When we do that, the above passage says we save his “soul from death and will cover a multitude” of sins. This is not an option in the Christian faith. Once we come to faith in Christ we have moral obligation to “fulfill the Law of Christ (loving others).” When we love others we will step up and step in when we see them “wandering” from the truth. It is what believers do for each other. It is God’s method to keep us all within His truth. If we fail to speak truth to them, for fear they may reject us, we fail to fulfill God’s Word, we allow them to live in non-truth and we fail to help them escape danger. That is not love.
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