James 5:14-15

‘Is any 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 him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him.

The third injunction concerns those who are sick. Note that this comes third in the list. Primary in the world of the spirit are those who are undergoing trial for His sake. Second are those who declare His praise. But then we come to the sick.

And what must they do? They are to call in the elders of the church. There are a number of reasons for that. The first is in order to obtain the spiritual assistance of the church through its leadership so that the oneness of the church might reach out to the sick, and so that they might receive spiritual comfort. The second is in order to call in true and reliable praying men. The third is that as duly appointed leaders they will have been given special authority in prayer by the Lord on behalf of the church for which they are responsible. The fourth is because they will be strong in faith. And these godly men are to pray over the sick person, and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. But what does the oil do' It is a sign that they are acting in the Name of Christ (compare Mark 6:13. Jesus Himself never anointed men with oil). It is a sign that the person in question is being separated off to God. It is an indication that if they have slipped they are being restored to their dedication, and that if they have not slipped they are being rededicated to the Lord. It is bringing God into the action. And it a sign that the whole church are identifying themselves with them. This is the meaning of anointing in the Old Testament. It also in the New Testament connects with the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27). Note that the anointing with oil to heal links them with Mark 6:13 and therefore indicates that ‘the Lord' here is ‘the Lord, Jesus Christ'. They are acting in His Name.

And what will happen then? ‘The prayer of faith will save the sick.' The word ‘save' means ‘make whole'. They will be made whole in soul and body. Their sickness will be healed, for ‘the Lord will raise them up', but even more importantly their inward man will be forgiven, for ‘if they have committed any sins they will be forgiven them'. So the healing is for both body and soul. (Compare Jesus words to the man ‘borne of four' in Mark 2:1, ‘your sins are forgiven you -- rise and walk'). Note the concern for the whole man. This is no indiscriminate healing. Examination will also have been made into the spiritual condition of the sick person. (But note that he is not being prepared for death, he is being prepared for being made whole).

This was written at a time when the church still expected that God would undoubtedly heal in response to believing prayer, indicating the early date of the letter. James is in no doubt that the person will be healed. But once the first ‘signs of the Spirit' had ceased, and the church had become firmly established, healing became more a matter of waiting on the will of God. Healings still occurred but not so regularly. Similarly we pray now that God's will may be done. Yet there is no question but that if God's people were to act on this more, and with greater expectancy, more would be restored (even medical authorities confirm the benefit in the process of healing of believing prayer. There is no suggestion in this, however, that we should not seek medical attention, for that is one of God's means of healing). But we must beware of those who make claims beyond what proves to be true, and must remember that Paul at least had to endure in faith, rather than be healed (2 Corinthians 12:8). In the end we must accept the sovereignty of God.