James 5

James 5:1

IX. THE RICH AND THEIR COMING REMORSE (5:1-6) In one of the most searching and piercing sections of his Letter, James now launches into a denunciation of the sins of the rich. The words fall like hammer-blows, blunt and unsparing. In fact, the denunciation is so strong that these verses are seldom preached on. James is here seen in the role of a prophet of social justice. He cries out against the failure of the rich to use their money for the alleviation of human need. He condemns those who have become rich by exploiting their workers. He rebukes their use of wealth for self-indulgence and luxurious living. Finally, he pictures the rich as arrogant oppressors of the righteous. 5:1 First he summons the rich to weep and howl because of the miseries which they were about to experience. Soon they would meet God. Then they would be filled with shame and remorse. They would see that they had been unfaithful stewards. They would wail over the opportunities they had missed. They would mourn over their covetousness and selfishness. They would be convicted about their unfair employment practices. They would see the sin of seeking security in material things rather than in the Lord. And they would shed hot tears over the way they had indulged themselves to the full. James mentions four cardinal sins of the rich. The first is the sin of hoarding wealth. 5:2 Your richest goods are ruined, says James, your hoard of clothes is moth-eaten; your gold and silver are tarnished. Yes, their very tarnish will be the evidence of your wicked hoarding and you will shrink from them as if they were red-hot (JBP). The Bible never says that it is a sin to be rich. A person, for instance, may inherit a fortune overnight and certainly he has not committed any sin in thus becoming rich. But the Bible does teach that it is wrong to hoard riches. The Lord Jesus expressly forbade the hoarding of wealth. He said, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mat_6:19-21). James speaks of wealth in four forms: riches, garments, gold, and silver. In Bible times, wealth was generally in the form of grain, oil, and other produce: clothing, gold, and silver. Perhaps when James says Your riches are corrupted, he means that the grain had become wormy and the oil had become rancid. The point is that these things had been hoarded to the point where they were spoiled. They could have been used at one time to feed the hungry; now they were worthless. Your garments are moth-eaten, he says.

This doesn’t happen to clothing that is in regular use. But when the closet is so crowded with garments that they are used very infrequently, they are subject to moth damage. To James it is morally wrong to hoard clothes like this when so many people in the world are in desperate need. 5:3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you, and will eat your flesh like fire, he continues. Gold and silver do not rust, but they do tarnish and become discolored, and under unfavorable storage conditions, they could conceivably corrode. Instead of putting their money to work, feeding the hungry, clothing the destitute, providing medicines for the sick, and spreading the gospel, the rich were saving their money for a rainy day. It benefited no one, and eventually rotted away. Corrosion, speaking of disuse and decay, will be a condemning testimony against the rich. If this was true of the rich people of James’ day, how much more true is it of believers in our day? What will be our condemnation if we have had the means of spreading the gospel and have failed to use it? If we have hoarded material things when they might have been used in the salvation of souls? The expression their corrosion … will eat your flesh like fire means that their failure to use their riches for the good of others would cause them the keenest suffering and remorse. When their eyes would at last be opened to see the cruelty of their selfishness and greed (costly jewelry, elegant clothing, luxurious homes, high-priced cars), it would be a scalding, scorching experience. 5:4 The second sin James attacks is acquiring wealth by failure to pay proper wages. The laborers who mowed the fields were deprived of their rightful pay. Though the workers might protest, they were quite helpless to get redress. They had no one on earth to plead their cause successfully. However, their cries were heard by the Lord of Sabaoth (Hebrew for hosts). He who commands the armies of heaven is strong on behalf of earth’s downtrodden masses.

The Lord God Omnipotent will help and avenge them. Thus, the Bible condemns not only the hoarding of wealth but the acquisition of wealth by dishonest means. In addition to the sin of paying inadequate wages, James could also have mentioned falsifying income tax returns, cheating on weights and measures, bribing local inspectors or other officials, false advertising, and falsifying expense accounts. 5:5 Next James denounces the luxurious living of the rich. Expensive jewelry, elegant clothes, epicurean foods, and palatial homeshow could they squander their wealth on self when multitudes were in desperate need? Or to bring it down to our own day, how can we justify the affluence and extravagance of the church and of Christian people? We live in a world where thousands die daily of starvation. Over half the world’s population has never heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. In such a world, how can we justify our sports cars, limousines, speed boats?

How can we spend the Lord’s money in expensive hotels, in high-class restaurants, in any form of self-indulgence? The clear teaching of the Scriptures, the appalling need of the world, the example of the Savior, and the simple instinct of compassion tell us that it is wrong to live in comfort, luxury, and ease as long as there is a single soul who has not heard the gospel. Those who live in pleasure and are unrestrained in luxury are likened to those who nourish their hearts as in a day of slaughterlike animals, fattening themselves just before their execution, or like soldiers who spend their time looting when others are perishing around them. 5:6 The final charge against the rich is that they condemned and murdered the just, and he did not resist them. Some think that this just, righteous one is the Lord Jesus. However, His death was brought about by the religious rather than by the rich. It is probably best to think of the just as representing innocent people in general. James is thinking of the rough, highhanded way in which rich people have characteristically behaved toward their subordinates. They have condemned them by false accusation, by harsh language, and by threats. They have killed them, not directly perhaps, but by overworking and underpaying them. The innocent offered no resistance. To protest might result in further brutality, or dismissal from their job.

James 5:7

X. EXHORTATION TO PATIENCE (5:7-12) 5:7 James now turns to believers who were being oppressed, and encourages them to be patient. The motive for patience is the coming of the Lord. This may refer either to the Rapture or to Christ’s coming to reign. Both are used in the NT as incentives to patient endurance. The farmer illustrates the need of patience. He does not reap on the same day that he plants. Rather there is a long period of waiting. First there must come the early rain, causing the seed to germinate. Then at the end of the season is the latter rain, needed to bring the crop to successful fruition. Some see in this reference to early and latter rain a promise that the blessings of Pentecost at the beginning of the Church Age will be repeated before the Lord’s Return, but the overall tenor of NT Scripture seems to discourage such an expectation. However, there is nothing to forbid our looking for a faithful remnant of believers on fire for God and bent on world evangelization. What better way to welcome the returning Savior? 5:8 The wrongs of earth will be made right when the Lord returns. Therefore His people should be patient, like the farmer. Their hearts should be established with the certainty of His coming. 5:9 During times of persecution and distress, it is not uncommon for the victims to turn against one another. It is a curious twist of human nature that in times of pressure we build up wrath against those we love most. Hence the warning: Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. This verse has a voice for servants of the Lord working together under trying circumstances. We should not let resentment build up. After all, the Judge is already at the door! He knows what we think. Soon we will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account. We should not judge lest we be judged. 5:10 The OT prophets are brought forth as an example of suffering and patience. Note that suffering precedes patience. Tribulation produces perseverance (Rom_5:3). As explained previously, patience in the NT means fortitude or steadfastness. Because of their faithfulness in declaring the word of the Lord, the prophets were persecuted unmercifully. Yet they endured as seeing Him who is invisible (Heb_11:27, Heb_11:32-40). 5:11 We look back upon prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel with a great deal of respect. We honor them for their lives of zeal and devotion. In this sense we call them blessed. We agree that they were right and the world was wrong. Well, we should remember that they went through great trials and sufferings, and that they endured with patience. If we want to be blessed, it is only reasonable to conclude that we will be called upon to do the same. Job is a fine example of perseverance or fortitude. Few if any men in the history of the world have ever suffered so much loss in so short a time as Job. Yet he never cursed God, or turned from Him. In the end, his endurance was rewarded. God revealed Himself, as He always does, to be compassionate and merciful. If we did not know what James calls the end intended by the Lord (the final issue or result which the Lord brings to pass), we might be tempted to envy the wicked. Asaph was jealous when he saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psa_73:3-17). The more he thought about it, the more perturbed he became. Then he went into the sanctuary of God and understood their latter end. This dispelled all his envy. David had the same experience. In Psa_17:15 he describes the portion of the believer in the life to come. In view of this, it pays the believer to be steadfast. In Job’s case, the end intended by the Lord was that God gave him twice as much as he had before (Job_42:10-15). 5:12 Impatience in times of trial is also manifested in swearing. Here it is not a question of profanity, or cursing, primarily. Neither is it a matter of taking an oath in a court of law. The practice forbidden is the thoughtless use of the Lord’s Name or some other name to attest the truthfulness of one’s speech. The Christian should not have to swear by anyone or anything, either in heaven or on earth. Those who know him should be able to depend on the fact that his Yes means Yes and his No means No.This passage could also be applied to forbid such needless expressions as For heaven’s sake, As God is my Judge, By Jove and such minced oaths as gee (contraction for Jesus), gosh and golly (slang for God). Lest you fall into judgment , says James, perhaps thinking of the third commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain (Exo_20:7).

James 5:13

XI. PRAYER AND THE HEALING OF THE SICK (5:13-20) The theme of the closing verses of the Epistle is prayer. The word occurs seven times, either as a noun or verb. 5:13 In every circumstance of life, we should go to the Lord in prayer. When in trouble, we should approach Him with earnest entreaties. In times of rejoicing, we should lift our hearts to Him in praise. He wants to be brought into all the changing moods of our lives. We should see God as the first great Cause of all that comes to us in life. We should not look into what Rutherford called the confused rolling of the wheels of second causes. It is defeat to allow ourselves to be victims of circumstances, or to wait for our circumstances to change. We should see no hand but His. This is one of the most disputed portions of the Epistle, and perhaps of the entire NT. It brings us face to face with the place of healing in the life of the believer today. Before looking at the verses in detail, it should be helpful to review what the Bible teaches about sickness and healing.

EXCURSUS ON DIVINE HEALING

1. Christians agree that all sickness is, in a general way, the result of sin in the world. If sin had never entered, there would be no sickness.
2. Sometimes sickness is a direct result of sin in a person’s life. In 1Co_11:30, we read of certain Corinthians who were sick because they participated in the Lord’s Supper without judging sin in their lives, that is, without confessing and forsaking it.
3. Not all sickness is a direct result of sin in a person’s life. Job was sick in spite of the fact that he was a most righteous man (Job_1:8). The man born blind was not suffering for sins he had committed (Joh_9:2-3). Epaphroditus was sick because of his tireless activity in the work of the Lord (Phi_2:30). Gaius was spiritually healthy but apparently physically unwell (3Jo_1:2).
4. Sometimes sickness is a result of satanic activity. It was Satan who caused Job’s body to be covered with boils (Job_2:7). It was Satan who crippled the woman in Luk_13:10-17 so that she was bent double, unable to straighten herself up: This woman … whom Satan has boundthink of itfor eighteen years (Luk_13:16). Paul had a physical infirmity caused by Satan. He called it a thorn in the flesh … a messenger of Satan to buffet me (2Co_12:7).
5. God can and does heal. In a very real sense, all healing is divine. One of the names of God in the OT is Jehovah-Rophekathe Lord who heals you (Exo_15:26). We should acknowledge God in every case of healing. It is clear from the Bible that God uses different means in healing. Sometimes He heals through natural bodily processes. He has placed within the human body tremendous powers of recuperation. Doctors know that most complaints are better by morning. Sometimes He heals through medicines. Paul advised Timothy, for instance, to use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities (1Ti_5:23).

Sometimes He heals through deliverance from underlying fears, resentments, self-preoccupation, and guilts, all of which produce illness. Sometimes He heals through physicians and surgeons. Jesus explicitly taught that sick people need a physician (Mat_9:12). Paul spoke of Luke as the beloved physician (Col_4:14), which certainly recognizes the need of doctors among Christians. God uses doctors in the ministry of healing. As Dubois, the famous French surgeon said, The surgeon dresses the wound; God heals it.6.

But God also heals miraculously. The Gospels contain many illustrations of this. It would be incorrect to say that God generally heals in this way, but neither should we say that He never does. There is nothing in the Bible to discourage us from believing that God can heal miraculously today. 7. Yet we must also be clear that it is not always God’s will to heal. Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus (2Ti_4:20). The Lord did not heal Paul of his thorn in the flesh (2Co_12:7-10). If it were always God’s will to heal, some would never grow old or die! 8. God has not promised to heal in every case; therefore, healing is not something we can demand from Him. In Phi_2:27, healing is spoken of as a mercy, not something which we have a right to expect. 9. While it is true in a general sense that healing is in the Atonement, yet not all the blessings that are in the Atonement have been given to us yet. For instance, the redemption of the body was included in Christ’s work for us, but we will not receive it until Christ comes for His saints (Rom_8:23). At that time also we will be completely and finally healed of all diseases. 10. It is not true that failure to be healed indicates a lack of faith. If it were, this would mean that some would live on indefinitely; but no one does. Paul, Trophimus, and Gaius were not healed, and yet their faith was virile and active.

5:14, 15 Returning to James 5, we see how it fits in with what the rest of the Bible teaches about healing: Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.If these were the only verses in the Bible on healing, we would assume that a Christian could be assured of healing from every illness that comes in life, if he met the conditions listed. However, we have already seen from other Scriptures that it is not always God’s will to heal. Therefore we are forced to the conclusion that James is not talking about every kind of illness, but only about a certain form of sickness, that is, a sickness which is the result of certain specific circumstances.

The key to understanding the passage is found in the words And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Healing in this section is connected with the forgiveness of sins. Here is a man who has committed some sin, probably involving the testimony of the local church. Shortly afterward he is stricken with illness. He realizes that this sickness is a direct result of his sin. God is chastening him in order to bring him back into fellowship. He repents of his sin and confesses it to God. But since the sin has also involved the public testimony of the assembly, he calls the elders and makes a full confession to them as well. They pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. This prayer of faith saves the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up. It is a definite promise of the Lord that where sickness is a direct result of sin, and where that sin is confessed and forsaken in the manner described, the Lord will heal. Someone will say, How do you know that the man has committed sins and that he is brought to the place of repentance and confession? The answer is that the closing part of verse 15 speaks about his sins being forgiven. And we know that sins are forgiven only as a result of confession (1Jo_1:9). Someone else will object, It doesn’t say he has committed sins. It says if he has committed sins. This is true, but the whole context has to do with confession of sins and the restoration of a backslider. Notice the following: Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The drought mentioned in verses 17, 18 was a judgment of God on Israel because of sin. It was lifted after they returned to the Lord, acknowledging Him as the true God (1Ki_18:39). Verses 19, 20 clearly deal with the recovery of a backslider, as we shall see. The entire context of Jam_5:13-20 implies that the healing promised by God is for a person whose sickness is a result of sin, and who confesses the sin to the elders. The responsibility of the elders is to pray over him, anointing him with oil. Some interpret the oil here as signifying the use of medicinal means, since oil was a form of medicine in the days when James was writing (Luk_10:34). Another view is that the ritual use of oil is meant. This view is strengthened by the words in the name of the Lord. In other words, the anointing was to be done by His authority and in obedience to His word. Oil was sometimes used by the apostles when effecting miraculous cures (Mar_6:13). The healing power was not in the oil, but the oil symbolized the Holy Spirit in His healing ministry (1Co_12:9). Some will object that the ritual use of oil is inconsistent with the Age of Grace, with its de-emphasis on ceremonies and rites. However, we do use the bread and wine as symbols of Christ’s body and blood, and we use water in baptism. Also women use head coverings in the assembly as symbols of their submission to man. Why then should we object to the ritual use of oil? In response to the prayer of faith, God will heal the person. It is a prayer of faith because it is based on the promise of God’s word. It is not at all a question as to how much faith the elders have, or how much faith the sick man has. The elders can pray with complete assurance because God has promised to raise up the man when the conditions described have been fully met. To summarize, then, we believe that verses 14, 15 apply to a case where a person is sick as a direct result of some sin. When he realizes this and repents, he should call for the elders of the assembly and make a full confession to them. They should then pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. They can pray for his recovery in faith, since God here promises to heal the man. 5:16a Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. A casual reading of this statement might give the impression that we are to tell other people all about our secret sins. But that is not at all the thought! Primarily James means that when we sin against someone else, we should be prompt to confess this sin to the person we have wronged. Also we should pray for one another. Instead of holding grudges and allowing resentments to build up, we should maintain ourselves in fellowship with others through confession and prayer. Physical healing is linked with spiritual restoration. Notice how James links together confession, prayer, and healing. It is a clear intimation of the vital connection between the physical and the spiritual. Man is a tripartite beingspirit, soul, and body (1Th_5:23). What affects one part of him affects all. In the OT, the priest was also the physician. It was he who diagnosed leprosy, and it was he who pronounced it cured, for instance. By thus combining the offices of priest and doctor in one person, the Lord indicated the close tie between the spirit and the body. The field of psychosomatic medicine recognizes this link and searches for personal problems that might be causing physical troubles. But modern medicine does not have the remedy for sin. Deliverance from the guilt, defilement, power, and penalty of sin can come only on the basis of the blood of Christ, and through confession Godward and manward. More often than we are willing to admit, illnesses are caused by sinsuch sins as gluttony, worry, anger, an unforgiving spirit, intemperance, jealousy, selfishness, and pride. Sin in the life brings sickness and sometimes death (1Co_11:30). We should confess and forsake sin as soon as we are aware it has come into our lives.

All sins should be confessed to God. In addition, sins against other people should be confessed to them as well. It is vital for our spiritual health and good for our physical health. 5:16b-18 Tremendous power is made available through a good man’s earnest prayer. Do you remember Elijah? He was a man like us, but he prayed earnestly that it should not rain. In fact, not a drop fell on the land for three and a half years. Then he prayed again; the heavens gave the rain, and the earth sprouted with vegetation as usual (JBP). This incident is recorded in 1 Kings 17:1-19:10. Ahab was king of Israel at the time. Through his wife Jezebel, he be came a worshiper of Baal, and led the people into this vile form of idolatry. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him (1Ki_16:33). It was a direct result of sin that drought came upon Israel for three and a half years. Then Elijah had the famous contest with the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel. When the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the altar, and the water, the people were convinced, and they turned back to the Lord. Elijah prayed again and the drought ended. The example of Elijah is given as an encouragement to us to pray for those who have sinned and wandered away from fellowship with God. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much or, as someone has paraphrased it: The prayer of a man whose heart is right with God works wonders.

Lest we be tempted to think of him as belonging to a higher creation than ourselves, James reminds us that Elijah was a man with the same kind of frail flesh. He was a mere man, subject to the same weaknesses and infirmities as other men. 5:19, 20 In the preceding verses we have seen the elders of the assembly being used in the restoration of a sinning saint. And we have seen Elijah being used in the restoration (partial and temporary) of a backsliding nation. Now we are exhorted to give ourselves to this far-reaching ministry. Verse 19 describes a Christian brother who has wandered away from the truth, either in doctrine or in practice. Another brother makes this a matter of fervent, believing prayer, and thus lovingly turns him back to fellowship with God and with his brothers and sisters in Christ. How immense is the significance of this ministry! First of all, he will save his erring brother from dying prematurely under the chastening hand of God. Secondly, he will cover a multitude of sins. They are forgiven and forgotten by God. Also they are forgiven by fellow believers and veiled from the gaze of the outside world. We need this ministry today. In our zeal to evangelize the lost, perhaps we do not give sufficient attention to those sheep of Christ who have wandered from the fold. Once again James has been prodding our consciences with regard to various areas of the Christian life. He has been asking us, for example: Do you lay up treasures on earth? Are your business methods strictly honest? Your income tax return, for instance? Do you live luxuriously, or do you live sacrificially so that others may come to know the Savior? When you sin against another person, are you willing to go to him and apologize? When you become ill, whom do you contact firstthe doctor or the Lord? When you see a brother fall into sin, do you criticize him or try to restore him? And so we come to the end of this practical, brief Epistle. In it we have seen faith on trial. We have seen faith tested by the problems of life, by unholy temptations, by obedience to the word of God. The man who says he has faith has been challenged to exhibit it by avoiding partiality or snobbishness and to prove it by a life of good works. The reality of faith is seen in a person’s speech; the believer learns to yield his tongue to the lordship of Christ. True faith is accompanied by true wisdom; the life of envy and strife is exchanged for that of practical godliness. Faith avoids the feuds, struggles, and jealousies that spring from covetousness and worldly ambition. It avoids a harsh, critical spirit. It avoids the self-confidence which leaves God out of life’s plans. Faith stands trial by the way it earns and spends its money. In spite of oppression, it manifests fortitude and endurance in view of the Lord’s Return. Its speech is uniformly honest, needing no oaths to attest it. Faith goes to God in all the changing moods of life. In sickness, it first looks for spiritual causes. By confession to God and to those who have been wronged, it removes these possible causes. Finally, faith goes out in love and compassion to those who have backslidden. Your faith and mine are on trial each day. What is the Judge’s verdict?