Saving Souls from Death

April 10

Read: James 5:16-20, Gal 6:1-2

Saving Souls

“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.” (James 5:19,20)

“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.” (Gal. 6:1,2)

It is easy to overlook the way that God uses one another in the life of faith. Then every once in a while you come across passages like these. The picture of going after and bringing back one who is “wandering off” is a powerful one… and the outcomes are even more stunning: “will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” I can hardly think of a more weighty result.

God chooses to use his people so intimately in HIS WORK that we end up sharing in the joy and outcome of what Jesus is doing. Jesus says as much in his prayer to the Father right before he dies:

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22,23)

What an honoring and blessing that our “big brother Jesus” would welcome us into the work that only he can do, namely “saving souls from death” and taking care of sin! We obviously do not have the power to do that as humans … we are NOT the ones saving people; but the biblical truth is that God involves us in such a way that it changes the eternal trajectory of another person’s life!

This is Christian community worked out. It means paying enough attention to those around you that you would actually notice if they were wandering off. It doesn’t mean just making note of their “wandering” either…  It means caring enough about someone else that you would step off your path and go after them. This takes energy. This takes effort. It is messy and dangerous. (cf. Gal. 6:1,2) It means walking with them back to the “straight path” of the Lord. (cf. Matt. 7:13) Finally, notice how it is described as “wandering”. Wandering is what happens when we don’t know where we are going. Wandering is what happens when we don’t pay attention. Wandering is the sort of thing that little kids do. May we keep our eyes on the lookout for one another. May it be increasingly harder for us to allow each other to wander!

What a great ending to such a pragmatic book of the bible! James leaves us with the mission of looking out for one another and actively bringing each other back from the wandering we are all so prone to do at times… it is nothing short of “saving souls from death and covering sin” ! Love you guys. - JDP