19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James had been talking to us about the impact our words have on others - often negative. In yesterday's passage he focused on the positive impact we can have on one another with our words through prayer. This concluding paragraph again focuses on our positive impact: speaking words of truth to one another. You never know, James says, when you care enough to confront a member of your fellowship with their error, when God will use that act of love to bring that person back from his wandering from the truth and heading down the wrong path. Of course, it is never us who saves another person; only Christ can do that, but we can have the privilege of planting the seed of the truth of God's Word into one another's lives and be used of Him to make a positive difference
The last phrase of this passage has caused a lot of discussion among theologians throughout the centuries: will cover a multitude of sins. How does this action of helping to lead a person gone astray back to the right path do this? Whose sins are covered? Probably both. The one who was going astray will end up not committing a number of sins they would have, and the loving believer who helped them will have done something to "make up for" a lot of sins he or she had committed with their mouths. This, of course, is not saying that our sins and good deeds are put in a balance to see which we have done more of, but only that when looking at our lives, as we grow more like Christ, we should see our mouths doing more good, and less evil. Who can you use your mouth to help today?
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