Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

acknowledgment of the significance of the 100% man is once again refreshing
(Rom. 11:14; 1 Cor. 7:16; 1 Tim. 4:16)! The 100% God never cancels out
the 100% man. In fact, as I stated already, it enlists it. As I mentioned earlier,
human instruments are God’s Plan A, and he does not have a Plan B as a
back-up or fall-back position.
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b. Coverage of Sins (5:20c)
At this point a second promise enters into the picture. The conversion/return
of the sinner by means of believers will cover sin, in fact, a whole gamut of
sins. The first promise, recorded in James 5:20b, was aimed at the wanderer.
But what audience does the second one address? When a conversion/return
takes place, sins are covered, removed from sight, buried, and forgotten. Sin,
of course, cannot be covered except by the blood of Christ. Only this blood is
the indispensable “objective” cause to that effect. However, conversion is the
equally indispensable “subjective” means to that end.
The context indicates that the returnees are those who strayed from the
truth. They may be members of the Christian community, who were unbelievers
at heart, showed that by straying and now are converted. They also
may be believers who strayed and came back in repentance. It is most likely
that James’ words cover both categories. But even if he focuses only on the
second one, it is fully applicable to the first one as well. In the words of one
commentator, “The Greek word used here to describe the turning away of a
sinner from his error (5:20) is the general New Testament word for ‘conversion’
(epistrepho). Thus Christ said of the reclamation that Peter would experience
after his denial of Christ: ‘And when you have turned back [i.e. converted],
strengthen your brothers’ (Lk. 22:32; see also Rom. 11:14; 1 Cor.
7:6; 1 Tim. 4:16). It is used both of the first conversion to Christ (Acts 3:19)
and of the subsequent ‘conversions’ from backslidings: in other words, any
significant turning point in our spiritual lives in which the redeeming power
of the gospel is experienced. The Christian life may be punctuated by a number
of such episodes of wandering away from truth and ‘conversion’ again
back to Christ’s ‘straight and narrow way.’ And as long as there are times of
wandering and spiritual laxness in our lives, there will be, by God’s grace, revivals
of true faith in our souls” (Keddie, 224). In each of these instances, as
James 5:20b indicates, a soul is “saved from death.” This clearly applies to
the returnees.
But what about the second promise? Whose sins are covered and what
does this “covering” entail? Both issues need to be settled.
Regarding the first issue, does James in this context mean the sins of
those who admonish (the rescuers), or of those who obey the admonitions