To Encourage You

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.”

Much that we read in the book of James is a differentiation between true believers and those who might say they are believers, but are not.  He describes true faith as that which endures trials.  He tells us that true faith will be characterized by obedience to God’s Word.  He addresses the language of a true believer and tells us that “if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless” (James 1:26-27), i.e., it may very well not be the real thing.  He talks about the great sin of partiality and prejudice that can crop up within the church.  He describes how a love of this world and its riches while at the same time failing to love our neighbor are additional signs of false faith. Such sober warnings about those who are self-deceived fill his letter from one end to the other. But as he comes to his final words, what does he leave us with?  

It’s the words above which show his heart.  You see, as we read this letter from James, we can get the impression that it’s condemnatory.  We can see it as a means to identify false believers and nothing more.  Certainly, his words can and should be used to examine our own hearts and bring conviction if the marks of a false believer describe us. But what if we see that our lives show marks of genuine faith? Should we just walk away proud of ourselves with an attitude of the self-righteous Pharisee who prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get’” (Matthew 18:11-12)?  Well, if that’s the case, we might need to do some more self-examination, for that’s not the attitude that James would leave us with. Rather, it is a heart for those who have wandered from the truth, that they would be brought back from their wandering.  This could be a true believer who has wandered away, or it could be an unbeliever who has been deceiving himself or herself about their faith.  It could also be one that never professed any faith in the first place.  Whatever the case, the Christian’s heart should be that of the One we claim to follow, for didn’t Jesus tell us that His whole reason for coming to this earth was “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10)?   

In Luke 15 Jesus gave us the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.  In each of these parables He points to the Savior’s heart to have that which was lost to be found.  He points to the father of the prodigal son who rejoiced when his son turned back to him, rather than reject him for how he had so grievously sinned. So, is that your heart?  Do you have a heart for those who have wandered from the truth or for those who have never heard it? If so, what are you doing about it? Are you reaching out to them with the love of Christ that marks His true followers, and are you using your tongue to share the gospel of Truth that is the means whereby God has ordained to “save (one’s) soul from death and . . . cover a multitude of sins”?  

You see, in these last words from James we see one more mark of a true believer. It will be a concern for those who don’t know Christ, a concern that moves that person to action.  We will pray for the lost. And we will desire, like the apostle Paul, that others would pray for us “that words may be given to (us) in opening (our) mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel . . . that (we) may declare it boldly (for that is how we) ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19-20).  

May God give us His heart for those who don’t yet know Him, this One Who “so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).