Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Why Doesn’t God Heal Everyone?!
The Questions
1) What kind of healing is spoken of in verse 15?
2) What role does prayer play in this passage?
3) How does healing relate to turning a “sinner from the error of his ways”? (verses 19-20)
James 5:13-20
Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. 17 Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.
19 My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
Original Intent
1) What kind of healing is spoken of in verse 15?
This is the end of James’ letter, and unlike Paul, James lacks the succinct, logical flow Paul possessed in his letter writing. James’ letter is full exhortation to live out the everyday Christian life with wisdom from God as it applies to every situation. In conclusion, his last few instructions are thrown in as final, parting words of command and encouragement and appear a little disjointed, so it takes a little more care to properly parse and understand them. In verses 13-14, his primary focus is to call every believer back to the anchoring relationship with God regardless of circumstance. In verse 15, his goal is for the church to see the connection between the prayer of faith and the healing of the heart, which is wicked and wholly sinful and irredeemable apart from Christ’s offer of forgiveness. We know this because of the specificity of the Greek words James used in this particular sentence and the structure he employs. “The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” The Greek word for “save” is “sozo”, which is used when speaking of eternal salvation of the soul from the consequence of sin, which is death as in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”. This is not a physical healing, but a spiritual one. In addition, the Greek word for “raise” is “egeiro”, which is used when speaking of raising the spiritually dead heart to life as seen in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, “(But God) made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with Him…”. This is clearly speaking of being raised to life in Jesus from spiritual death, not being healed from physical sickness. As final evidence of this interpretation, the sentence structure itself points to one undeniable conclusion in the final word of the sentence, “so he will be forgiven.” (verse 15)
2) What role does prayer play in this passage?
As verses 13-14 point out, our time on earth is full of varying circumstances. We will not always be happy, nor sad. We will not always be sick, nor healthy. Regardless of circumstance, James reminds us of our one unchanging constant, God, and the believer’s access to Him. We are not instructed to pray so our circumstances can be manipulated to our liking, rather we are called to pray as a reminder of our anchor. Whether we are happy, depressed, diagnosed with cancer, vomiting with the stomach flu, or dancing on cloud nine with excitement, we are called back to prayer because our relationship with God is critically paramount in relation to everything else around us. He will anchor our hearts, keeping us tied fast to His good heart so we are not tossed to and fro by emotion or situation.
3) How does healing relate to turning a “sinner from the error of his ways”? (verses 19-20)
According to the Westminster Catechism, “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Enjoying Him forever is rooted in loving and obeying Him, which, as a result, brings Him glory as His Spirit does His work through us in our everyday lives. As James closes out his letter of practical, everyday wisdom for the Christ-follower, he ends with what is arguably the most deeply satisfying way to bring God glory, by turning sinners away from death. This isn’t accomplished by a single, well-timed conversation where we lay out the details of the gospel. This is to be the pattern of our everyday lives, day in and day out. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Matthew 28:19-20) James’ instruction isn’t limited only to those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus, but he also includes the holy calling to address sin within the family of those brothers and sisters who already claim the name of Jesus, but are stuck in sin.
Everyday Application
1) What kind of healing is spoken of in verse 15?
How deeply each of us longingly ache for a world where physical suffering and pain are eradicated! No more death! No more tears! No more pain! Every one of us would shout YES to a world like that! This is God’s heart for us as well, and it was His original design for His creation, but because of sin, everything was destroyed as we became separated from God. The effects of sin are felt in the brokenness of our bodies from sniffles to cancer to depression and everything in between. Hope is not lost, however! God uses even this desperately broken world, and our bodies, to make us aware of a much more severe problem, the lostness of our hearts apart from Him. If we die from cancer, but our hearts are safe with Jesus because we’ve trusted Him with our souls, our bodies will be healed for eternity in Heaven with Him. If we die from cancer while our hearts are stuck in sin, unredeemed by the God who loves us because we have stubbornly chosen to live for ourselves instead of our Maker, we will spend eternity apart from God. In this case, neither our hearts, nor our bodies, will experience healing. This is truly tragic! As you experience sickness and suffering around you, let it remind you of the state of our hearts without Jesus. Let it urge you to turn to Him for salvation and to tell others of His hope and forever healing!
2) What role does prayer play in this passage?
Take a few minutes to consider when you are most likely to pray, thinking through both the everyday, normal life scenarios as well as the big events in life like birth, death, tragedy, or success. Does your prayer life ebb and flow based on outward circumstance in the grand scheme of life? When do you most commonly pray in the everyday? Is it like breathing in and out? Do you pray most often at mealtime? With a child? Or maybe it isn’t really something you think much about at the everyday level. Assessing your current prayer life is a first step in fostering growth in prayer. We must accurately define reality before we can move forward in the direction we want to go. What do you wish your prayer life was like? Do you wish you had a deeper connection to God? Like James’ examples of when to pray, begin taking every opportunity in regular life to speak with the Lord. He is always present and always listening! The more we practice constant prayer, the richer our relationship with God will be, and the more stable our lives will become.
3) How does healing relate to turning a “sinner from the error of his ways”? (verses 19-20)
If you have given Jesus your heart, trusting the full weight of your eternity to Him and His finished work on the cross, then you are called to this mighty work of calling sinners to truth. This is the ultimate healing! If this is part of our chief end and purpose on earth, we should be intentional and diligent in fulfilling it! Make a list of those who are sin-sick, and don’t forget to include yourself on that list. Who has the Lord put in your circle who don’t yet know Jesus? Pray for them; pray for the healing of their sin-sick hearts. Pray for opportunity to love them like Jesus and to speak boldly of His love for them. Who do you know as a brother or sister fellow-believer in Christ that is stuck in a particular sin? Pray for them; pray for the healing of their sin-sick hearts. Pray for opportunity to lovingly share of God’s truth and calling in their lives. Are you aware of your own sinful tendencies? Ask a trusted believing sister in Christ to walk alongside you, be transparent with her, and confess sins with her as you both pursue the healing of your hearts in Jesus!
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Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Why Doesn’t God Heal Everyone?!
Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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