<p>5:20 <i>Let him know, that he who turns back a sinner from the error of his way, he shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins</i>- &quot;Convert&quot; here means literally 'to revert'. It is used in the New Testament particularly of the conversion of the Jews- i.e. a reverting of their hearts to the true spirit of their father Abraham (cp. Lk.1:17). Interestingly, Is.6:10 and Acts 28:27 talk of the Jews refusing to be sensitive to the word preached in the first century, and therefore not being healed- both physically and spiritually. This background of the word 'convert' nicely fits the context of James in its associating the ecclesia with the apostate Jewish world by which they were influenced, and warning that unless they were more sensitive to the word they would not be healed. By the same token those who did speak forth the word to try to convert their brethren were being classified along with Christ and the apostles, who also spoke the word to try to convert the Jews.</p>
<p>&quot;If... one convert him, let him know...&quot; sounds as if the brethren were not consciously trying to win converts- yet James encourages them that their conscious 'preaching' of the word to their wayward brethren and praying for them were all to the same effect as preaching, seeing that these brethren were spiritually dead anyway. By re-awakening them to a truly spiritual life they were saving their soul from death. The 'soul' here may mean the body or life, in the sense that ultimately acceptance at the judgment seat would mean that their &quot;soul&quot; or life would not die; however, it is more likely that the soul here refers to the spiritual record of the believer. The language of preaching- i.e. conversion and saving souls- is being used here about the upbuilding of brethren. The same style is found in Dan. 12:3: &quot;They that be wise (Heb. 'teachers', i.e. prudent guides) shall shine as the (stars)... and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars&quot;. 1 Thess. 1:8 similarly speaks of the word of the Lord sounding out from the Thessalonian ecclesia- in the sense that all the ecclesias near and far were inspired by their evident faith. Thus it was their spiritual example to others that was their sounding out of the word. Another example is Phil. 2:15 speaking of the ecclesia witnessing as lights in the world to &quot;a crooked and perverse nation&quot;. A closer examination of this passage shows that this was through their holding forth the true word of life to the Judaizers amongst them. The specific nation referred to cannot be the Roman world in general, but rather the Jews. This suggestion is clinched by the fact that Paul is here quoting Dt. 32:5, which is describing the apostate among the ecclesia in the wilderness as &quot;a perverse and crooked generation&quot;.</p>
<p>Thus Paul like James is using the language of preaching, to describe how they should work through the word and prayer to build up the apostate amongst the new Israel during their wilderness walk to the Kingdom. Likewise Acts 20:7 speaks of Paul &quot;preaching unto&quot; the Troas ecclesia in his breaking of bread exhortation. The language of preaching being used in upbuilding existing believers may help explain why Paul sometimes speaks to believers as if he is imparting basic doctrine to them; thus &quot;Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep&quot; (1 Cor. 15:51) was written to believers. Writing to the same ecclesia a while later there is more of the same: &quot;As though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God&quot; (2 Cor. 5:20).</p>
<p>The exact parallel of these verses in James is found in 1Pet. 4:7,8: &quot;The end of all things is at hand: be therefore sober, and watch unto prayer (for each other, we may imply from the James parallel). And above all things have fervent love (cp. fervent prayer, James 5:16- through which true love can be expressed) among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins&quot;. This parallel shows that fervent prayer for each other spiritually is the way fervent love is shown. Converting the erring brother will &quot;hide a multitude of sins&quot;, alluding to Prov. 10:12: &quot;Love covers all sins&quot;. True love is therefore shown by loving rebuke, rather than turning a blind eye. Truly &quot;the end of all things is at hand&quot; for us, as never before. There is a special need in our last days to show these qualities of true love to each other. We have to seriously ask ourselves personally whether we have that degree of selfless concern for the spiritual welfare of each other that we would climb mountains to find the solace conducive to prayer; to have our face between our knees in the intensity of our pleading with God, for the sake of our brother's spiritual growth.</p>
<p>Elijah and the brethren of the first century did this for men who were far gone in their declension; how much more motivated should we be for our far less errant brethren? Many of us do not have the fear of sin, both in ourselves and in our brethren, which leads us to such intensity of effort either for others or for ourselves in our own weaknesses. Surely each of us needs to assimilate more the idea of striving for God's glory in the conquest of the flesh. But this is the high challenge of the letter of James- to drive ourselves onwards to an altogether higher and fuller spirituality, which by its very nature concerns itself with the triumph of others in the day of judgment to the same extent as we care for our own.<br />
Our &lsquo;conversion&rsquo; of people doesn&rsquo;t just mean that we teach them true doctrine and see them baptized; the priests were to &lsquo;turn&rsquo; [s.w. &lsquo;convert&rsquo;] believers away from the life of sin and behind the way of God (Mal. 2:6 LXX, applied to all of us in James 5:19).&nbsp;</p>
<p>The book of Malachi stresses what the priesthood <i>should</i> have been like, compared to what it actually was. Indeed, many of the Old Testament prophecies against Israel are specifically aimed at the priests. The priests should have followed the example of the early descendants of Levi: &quot;The law of truth (God's word- Jn. 17:17) was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity&quot; (Mal. 2:5,6). These words are alluded to in James 5:20 concerning how we, as the new &quot;royal priesthood&quot; (1 Pet. 2:9) should turn our brethren from the error of their ways. This covenant was given on account of Eleazar's going in among the people to slay them, and thereby turning many others away from iniquity. He was not just showing an iron fist to those who were being disobedient; his real role was to turn men away from sin. As the future priests, our role will also be to execute the judgments written; but it will be to the end of bringing men to appreciate the seriousness of sin, and to turn them away from it. To this end, &quot;the priests lips should <i>keep</i> knowledge (i.e. they shouldn't apostatize from it), and they should seek the (meaning of the) law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts&quot; (Mal. 2:7) by reason of accurately speaking forth His word. The priests were to use their knowledge of God's word to turn the people away from sin. If we have a real hate of sin and a true love of God's righteousness, we ought to have a burning wish to take the Gospel to the kids in the tower blocks, to the call girls and drug addicts. Yet we are frustrated by the knowledge that somehow they are deaf to God's word. The joy of the Kingdom is that we will be able to speak forth the word with convicting power within the community we rule over, and to see its very real effect.</p>
<p>The Lord spared Aaron because of Moses' intercession for him (Dt. 9:20); and this is perhaps the basis for James' appeal to pray for one another, that we may be healed, knowing that through our prayer and pastoral work for others, we can save a man from his multitude of sins and his soul from death (James 5:20). The very ability we have to do this for each other should register deeply with us. And in response, we should live lives dedicated to the spiritual welfare and salvation of our brethren.&nbsp;</p>