29.08.07
James (15): What does it cost to save one soul? - James 5:19-20
The other day, when I was driving through the city, I was caught behind a 4×4. I’m sure many of you have in traffic queues behind 4×4. But what was strange about this car was that I couldn’t work out whether it has a back windscreen or not – maybe its owner had just cleaned it – it looked just like any other car, but I’m sure it didn’t have a back windscreen. That’s the way it is in the church sometimes – when James says, “if any one of you” in vs. 19 he is speaking to all those who profess to be Christians – they look like Christians, and act like Christians, and speak like Christians – they look as if they have a back windscreen – but they don’t really. They don’t really know the Lord Jesus Christ at all. We’ll see why that is later, but right at the end of James’ letter he is reminding us that not everyone in the church has their eyes focussed on Christ – not everybody is a Christian who says they are. It’s a warning to us all to make sure that we are truly saved and aren’t just going through the motions – and it is an encouragement to us to work with those who think they are Christians, but aren’t really, and bring them to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to see three things tonight from these verses: first, the danger; secondly, the rescue, and lastly, the rescuer.
[A] The Danger
James highlights the ways in which these wandering people are in danger:
1. Being Led Astray From the Truth – perhaps ‘wandering’ from the truth in vs. 19 could be better rendered ‘being led astray from the truth’, showing that there was a danger that some in the church were being positively led away – that perhaps false teachers, persecution, or the love of the world were drawing them away from Christ. The wandering was someone or something actively leading them astray. What is being talked about is a change in mindset – these professing Christians (although they are not real Christians) are no longer believing the truth (if they ever believed it), but rather they believe in lies and fantasies. And that is the danger – how often we know of people who begin their wandering through believing in a lie – the change begins not in behaviour, but in the mind. It’s not that they have doubts – doubts are one thing – and if any of us have doubts we should ask questions and get our questions resolved – it’s that these people have stopped asking questions and stopped wanting to know the right answers. It’s not just that they doubt, but that they want to doubt and they want to find an excuse to be led astray from the truth.
2. Going the Wrong Way – this person’s mind has changed, and as a result, he begins to live in error – the head has moved and the body must follow – and so the NIV talks about ‘the error of his way’ – this person has intellectually turned away from Christ and now his lifestyle follows suit. They stop going to church and they play golf on a Sunday morning instead; they stop giving to the Church and start putting it aside for their next holiday. The head has gone and the body soon follows. And the result is that the person is scarcely anymore ‘one among you’.
He is in grave danger – but then so is our society where so called ‘Christian’ theologians and church leaders think that they can maintain Christian standards of faithfulness in marriage and obedience to the law whilst at the same time denying the authority of the Bible. They have been led astray from the truth – should they wonder then that society is going the wrong way?
[B] The Rescue
This wandering does not need to be the final story. The professing Christian in danger can be rescued. But what is this rescue? James describes it in 3 ways:
1. Bring Back – the word used in the original language for ‘bring back’ is a word we have been familiar with through our studies in the book of Ruth – it is the word for turning back – as Orpah did to Moab and Naomi did to Judah. But in the New Testament it is the word used for ‘repentance’. We should be aiming to bring those who have been led astray and are now living in the error of their ways to repentance – to see that they are wrong. The best way to do that is to show them the brilliance of the glory and the love of Christ Jesus both by your life and by what you say to them about Him, and then watch and pray.
2. Saving the Soul – it is this sentiment which forces us to the conclusion that the person who has been led astray from the truth was never a Christian in the first place – he was never saved to begin with or he wouldn’t need saved again because the Bible says ‘once saved, always saved.’ He never really knew Jesus – but if he strays from the community of professing Christians, to bring him back is not simply to return him to what he was before, but to make him something he wasn’t – to introduce him to Jesus Christ. Yes, you want to get him back, but not so that he’ll fall again, you want to get him back and get him into a right relationship with God. You want to put the back windscreen in. Ironically, it is often when someone who was never a Christian but thought that they were, falls away, that they realise that they were never a Christian at all – and become more open to the message of the Gospel that they are sinners and need Christ. And that’s where you come in – speaking to them about Jesus and showing them genuine Christian love.
3. Covering a Multitude of Sins – the word for ‘cover’ here is the word used in the Old Testament to describe how Noah covered the ark with pitch until all the woodwork was covered and the ark became watertight. That is what happens to us when we are saved – our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus so that God does not see them any longer. But that cannot be said for the person who has never trusted in Jesus Christ – perhaps in their wanderings from the truth, they have committed great sin – even if they haven’t, they have a lifetime of sin which remains open in the sight of God – open to His judgement and wrath. But by turning them around, by saving them, by getting them to trust in Jesus Christ, you are covering their sin – not with your own blood, but with the blood of Jesus. You are saving them from the wrath and judgement of God.
How important it is to rescue such a person – because if we don’t, they will die in their sins. Would we stand by and let a child die if we could intervene to save her life? Why then would we stand by and let this person die an eternal death when we could do something about it?
[C] The Rescuer
The question here is this, ‘who does the rescuing’? Is it the minister, or one of the elders of the church? Is it a senior member or even an older Christian? Who rescues the professing Christian who is being led astray to their own doom? James gives us the answer – he says ‘if someone should bring him back’. That someone can be anyone – not just the leaders or senior members of the congregation – anyone. We all have a responsibility for the spiritual good of those who don’t know Christ but think that they do. You can’t just pawn it off by laying it upon the laps of the leaders, but if you know someone who is going astray, you have a responsibility to bring them back. And the amazing thing about this is, that to them, you are standing in the place of God. It’s really only God that can save a sinner, but by bringing them back and by turning them to Christ, you are standing in the place of God. Choose to be silent, and you condemn them to the consequences of their sin – but speak to them, care for them, love them – and through you, God will save them. How much does it cost to save one soul? It costs your love, your prayers and your action!
The message of James is that we must not be double-minded, with one eye on the world and one eye on Jesus, but if we have both eyes on Him and His glory and love, then we will want everybody in our fellowship to know Him as He is – we will want them to know the joy and forgiveness we know and not to wander in the ways of fruitlessness and sin. James tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus – may his encouragements spur us on to do that very thing and let’s pray for God’s Holy Spirit to strengthen us and show us more of Christ. AMEN