Opening the Scriptures
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized [Jesus], and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” ~ Luke 24.31-32 NIV
Prayers & Encouragement (James 5) # 11
When a Christian Wanders (2)
David Anguish
The following comments relative to James 5.19–20, quoted in part one of our study, summarize its importance:
Helping bring back wayward Christians securely into the “fold” may constitute one of the most neglected responsibilities of the church today. One thinks of God’s heart for such “little ones,” as disclosed in Matthew’s account of the parable of the lost sheep (Mt 18:10–14). Many churches, particularly growing ones, count only the number of visitors, new members, converts, those baptized, and so on, but never notice how many disappear out “the back door” (Blomberg and Kamell 2008, 252).
To review, James 5.19–20 must be understood in the context of James’s emphasis on the threat to spiritual maturity posed by trials and temptations (cf. 1.2–15). Specifically, they can lure the believer to be a friend with the world and enemy of God, a circumstance brought about by failing to consistently resist the devil and submit to God (4.4, 7). Believers who follow that course can wander, a reality to which James expects the community of faith to respond (cf. 5.16 and “my brothers” in 5.19).
Verse 19 envisions the contingency (note the word, ἐάν, ean; “if”) that will require the church’s action. Like the planets that appeared to the ancients as wandering stars, a believer who succumbs to the world’s lure (cf. 1.14) can “wander [πλανάω, planaō] from the truth.” When that happens, “someone” needs to actively seek to “turn him back” (ἐπιστρέφω, epistrephō) to the course of unwavering faith.
The Required Action
Verse 20 concludes the admonition with the repetition of the word epistrephō and an emphasis on the positive result that follows the effort to bring back the wanderer. As in verse 19, the person who is acting is indefinite: “whoever brings back,” literally, “the one who turns back” (ὁ ἐπιστρέψας, ho epistrepsas), an aorist active participle. The situation envisioned is serious: the object of the rescue effort is a “sinner” (ἁμαρτωλὸν, hamartōlon) who, literally translated, is in “his wandering way” (ἐκ πλάνης ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ, ek planēs hodou autou). The ESV’s “his wandering” is preferable to “the error of his way” in other translations (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV); the latter is not incorrect, but it does somewhat obscure James’s use of the word planēs in the verse (for comparable concerns about departure, cf. Eph 4.14; 1 John 4.6).
The result of the effort to bring back the wanderer is spelled out in the last part of verse 20: the one who rescues him “will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (for the latter phrase, cf. Prov 10.12; 1 Pet 4.8; also Pss 32.1; 85.2; note that the phrase envisions a covering of sin, not a cover up of sin).
The crucial question of the verse is exactly whose soul is saved and whose sins are covered. James’s wording is ambiguous and can be taken in three ways: (1) Both phrases could refer to the one who does the rescuing. (2) Both could refer to the one being rescued. (3) One phrase could refer to the one who does the rescuing and the other to the one being rescued.
In favor of the first and/or third options is the presence of Scriptural examples of God’s servants being blessed for their efforts to bring sinners to God. In Daniel 12.3, the prophet is told that, “those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” In 1 Timothy 4.16, Paul urges Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Some see Ezekiel 3.18–21 as the most directly related to James 5.20 since, in that text, the salvation of the prophet is specifically connected to whether he warns the people about the dangers of sin:
"If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul” (Ezek 3.18–21).
Consideration of passages like these led William Barclay to favor the third option in his translation of James 5.20: “he who has turned a sinner from his wandering way will save his brother’s soul from death and will hide a multitude of his own sins” (Barclay 1976, 154). But, aside from the terminology of sin and return, the situations envisioned in Ezekiel and James are not parallel. As McCartney writes, Ezekiel’s “saving of his own soul is predicated on his obedience in giving the warning, not on the repentance of the persons warned, whereas James is linking the saving or covering to the actual return of the erring believer” (McCartney 2009, 264).
When we consider the context of James 5, the second option listed above is to be preferred. James has been writing about confession and forgiveness (vv. 13–16). The wanderer needs to be brought back precisely because he has not continued to walk in faith. Accordingly, James’s goal is to see him brought back to a life of unwavering faith. It is the wanderer’s soul that will be saved, the wanderer’s many sins that will be covered.
That does not mean, however, that no benefit comes to us when we lead a wanderer back. If nothing else, by engaging in the effort to bring him back, we will “find ourselves drawn back closer to God’s grace and righteousness” (Blomberg and Kamell 2008, 249). Our own commitment to an unwavering friendship with God in faith will be reaffirmed and strengthened.
Activating James's Appeal
To revisit the comments with which we began, why does the teaching of James 5.19–20 “constitute one of the most neglected responsibilities of the church today” (Blomberg and Kamell 2009, 252)? Perhaps it’s because so few texts say what it does; indeed, even in James, this is the first time the idea is mentioned. And there are, after all, so many other important matters that demand our attention.
But we should at least consider the possibility that the failure to practice the teaching of this passage may be traced to an absorption of contemporary cultural priorities. In a “live and let live” world where individualism is extolled and sin is downplayed, to actively interject ourselves into the lives of someone who has wandered from the truth is not just uncomfortable; it’s bad form. Better to focus on our own relationship with God and leave others to their own choices. But in light of this letter’s emphasis from start to finish, is that the correct course for a people committed to “seek first the [reign] of God” (Matt 6.33)?
Conclusion
As he concludes his analysis of our text, Douglas Moo writes as follows:
If James is indeed something of a sermon in epistolary form, these last two verses are an appropriate conclusion. Not only should the readers of James “do” the words he has written; they should be deeply concerned to see that others “do” them also. 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 (Moo 2000, 251).
Works Cited
Barclay, William. 1976. The Letters of James and Peter. rev. ed. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster.
Blomberg, Craig L., and Mariam J. Kamell. 2008. James. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. ed. Clinton E. Arnold. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
McCartney, Dan G. 2009. James. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Moo, Douglas J. 2000. The Letter of James. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
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An Additional Thought on James
“By calling James ‘practical’ some mean it simply enforces our own cultural values. such could not be farther from the truth. James is a thoroughly impractical book in that he challenges our assumptions at every turn. He condemns human wisdom and is pessimistic of the ability of humans to reform themselves. He is hopeful, however, of God’s transcendent power in the believer. By calling on his readers to receive ‘wisdom from above’ (James 3:17), he fights wordliness in the church by calling Christians to wait patiently for the Lord’s return. If we feel comfortable with the teaching of James (or rather, with the teaching of Jesus, since he is the original source of James’s teaching), then we have probably misunderstood it. It is a radical, counter-cultural message that the church today needs to hear and do.”
~ Gary Holloway. 1996. James and Jude. The College Press NIV Commentary. Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Company, 23
Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible quotations are from the ESV
(All emphasis in Bible quotations added by the author)
Permission is granted to reprint original materials with the credit line, “Reprinted from David Anguish, ‘Opening the Scriptures,’ April 14, 2026”
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