{"id":4980,"date":"2015-07-07T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=4980"},"modified":"2015-07-04T15:34:34","modified_gmt":"2015-07-04T22:34:34","slug":"james-520-a-converted-sinner-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/james-520-a-converted-sinner-2\/","title":{"rendered":"James 5:20 – A Converted Sinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

let him know that the one turning a sinner from the<\/em> error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

We need to proclaim the truth of God to all people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Sinner” is translated from the Greek word hamart\u014dlos<\/em>, from the verb hamartan\u014d<\/em>, meaning “to miss the mark” or “to sin.” The word hamart\u014dlos<\/em> refers to a person whose life is characterized by sin, one who is constantly sinning.<\/p>\n

The word translated “soul” is psuch\u0113<\/em> (or psyche<\/em>), which is a derivative of the verb psuch\u014d<\/em>, meaning “to breath.” Hence, it refers to the immaterial portion of man.<\/p>\n

The Greek word kalupt\u014d<\/em> is translated here as “cover.” This word means “to envelop or wrap around, like the bark of a tree.” That is, it means “to completely cover over” or “to hide.”<\/p>\n

“Multitude” is from pl\u0113thos<\/em>, which is derived from the verb pl\u0113th\u014d<\/em>, meaning “to fill.” Hence, pl\u0113thos<\/em> means “fullness” or “a very large number.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Though the previous verse speaks of those who have known the truth (believers) and have turned away from it, this verse seems to be talking about the conversion of the unsaved. Let’s see why this is so. In the previous verse James addressed his audience as “brothers.” He also said in the previous verse, “… if any among YOU should stray …” referring to someone who is part of this group of brothers.<\/p>\n

In this verse he starts out with, “let HIM know …” The “him” referred to is the one who causes the conversion, that is, the brother. The next part of this verse literally reads, “… the one turning back a sinner from his wandering way shall save a soul from death …” James is not talking about saving a body from death, but a soul. He is not talking about physical death, but spiritual death. So, either he is proposing that a Christian can lose his or her salvation, or he is talking about an unsaved person. The key can be found just a few words earlier, “… he who converts a sinner<\/strong> from …” This refers to a person whose life is characterized by sin, not a born-again Christian. As the Apostle John teaches us:<\/p>\n

Everyone remaining<\/strong> in Him does not sin. Everyone sinning has not seen Him nor known Him. (1 John 3:6<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Now you may say, “But everyone sins, even saved Christians!” And you are correct. What John is talking about (as is James) is a person who continually, or habitually, sins. Now, of the one who does not abide<\/strong> (or remain) John says:<\/p>\n

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained (continued) with us. But they went out<\/em> so that it might be revealed that they are not all of us. (1 John 2:19<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

In other words, James is telling us that there are people who call themselves Christians who know the truths of God’s word but who have never truly submitted to the will of God. These who have called themselves “brothers” have wandered away after erroneous doctrines. James tells us that if we bring them back to the truth and to a saving faith, we are doing a great work (actually, God is doing a great work through us) in the plan of salvation!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Application<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

We need to reach out, not just to those who have never heard the message of salvation, but also to those who have heard the word but have turned away. We will not reach them through fighting and arguing. We must reach out to them with the Word of truth proclaimed graciously, in love, for God’s glory.<\/p>\n

In God's service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n
\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

let him know that the one turning a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Truth to Learn We need to proclaim the truth of God to all people.   Behind the Words “Sinner” is translated from the Greek word hamart\u014dlos, from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3548],"tags":[3645,3643,3644,1396,1398,2836,3642,2835],"class_list":["post-4980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-5-james-ministry-of-grace-translation","tag-cover","tag-harmartolos","tag-kalupto","tag-multitude","tag-plethos","tag-psuche","tag-sinner","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-1ik","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4981,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4980\/revisions\/4981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}