James 5:16

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of. righteous man can accomplish much." "Therefore" -We have here. connecting link with what has been previously stated. The Greek word translated "therefore" is not found in some Greek manuscripts but it is found in many. James has already linked healing and confession of sins together in James 5:15. While every physical disease is not the direct result of our sins, some can be traced to sins which are kept hidden and persisted in. The guilt which sin produces in the human heart can cause. lot of physical, mental and emotional damage. In the book "None of These Diseases", the author has. chapter entitled, "Upset Mind-Sick Body". He points that anxiety, probably places more stress on the heart than any other stimulus, including physical exercise and fatigue. Through such things as worry, anger and guilt we can literally make ourselves sick. Man wasn't designed by God to be. vessel to carry around guilt. See Psalms 32:1; Psalms 38:1 for. good description of how unforgiven sin can make us miserable, physically and mentally."confess your sins" -"Confess"-'to confess forth, freely and openly" (Vine p. 764). "Be in the habit of confessing your sins" (Roberts p. 220). James here uses the present imperative of continuous action. "We are not to wait until we are ill to do so" (Roberts p. 220). Unfortunately, at times we wait until our guilt is so unbearable, and suffer needlessly before we are willing to repent. Too many of us think that we can live with and get by with some sin in our lives. "Sins"-(KJV "faults"), "false step, transgression, sin" (Arndt p. 621).

Points To Note:

1. "Because sin is so pervasive in human life, there is continual need for both spiritual sensitivity and appropriate action where sin has been committed" (Kent pp. 191-192). 2. Draper notes, "'Confession' in the original language comes from. Greek word meaning 'to say the same thing' or 'to agree with'. When we confess sin to God, we are agreeing with God's assessment of our lives. We say the same thing God says to us" (p. 164). 3. Hence when we confess our sins we need to be honest and call such things what God calls them. In addition, it doesn't do any good to overstate the case and say things like, "I'm just no good,. can't do anything right, others would be better off if. were dead". Because such statements are not what God thinks about us. "to one another" -"reciprocally, mutually" (Thayer p. 28); "each other, mutually" (Arndt p. 39).

Points To Note:

1. Carefully note that James 5:16 is not teaching an arrangement in which confession is purely one way, i.e. one person does all the confessing and all the time. It is assumed that all Christians will commit sin from time to time (1 John 1:8). 2. From other passages we learn that we especially need to confess our sin(s) to the person we have wronged (Matthew 18:15). That our confession is to be as public as the sin committed. There is nothing inherently in the word "confess" itself which indicates whether the confession is public or private, or how public or how private.. believe that Matthew 18:15 can be used to demonstrate that the confession needs to be only as public as the people who know about the sin. 3. Other people don't have the inherent power to grant forgiveness (Acts 8:22), and yet there are times when we might feel that we need the prayers and encouragement of others to overcome. particular sin. In this case we might pick. strong Christian whom we could trust, who would pray with us and help us to overcome. particular temptation (Galatians 6:1). In the context of James 5:1. the elders of the Church would constitute. group of individuals who would be qualified by their wisdom and experience to give us spiritual encouragement.

Auricular Confession"When sinning has occurred, the confession required here is not to. priest but 'to one another'" (Kent p. 192). The Private confession of sins before the priest alone was made compulsory by the Fourth Lateran Council (1215 A.D.). Auricular Confession is based on. couple of wrong assumptions: A. The priests are the successors of the Apostles, when in reality the Apostles had no successors (Acts 1:20; 1 Corinthians 15:8). B. Jesus gave the Apostles inherent authority to decide human conditions for forgiveness, i.e. how many and what and which good works were needed to be performed for such and such sin? The truth is that the Apostles revealed the divine terms of forgiveness (John 20:21), which are faith, repentance, confession and baptism for non-Christians, and prayer and repentance for Christians (1 John 1:8). Note that the confession in James 5:16 includes. mutual obligation. Roberts notes, "The Roman Catholic doctrine of Auricular Confession has no support from the passage. In the first place, 'elders' here does not refer to. priestly set of workers. Elders here are not given power to absolve. sinner or to set conditions on which he may be forgiven. The only conditions of forgiveness are those laid down in the gospel of confession and repentance….Finally, 'to one another' means that any brother chosen may rightly hear the confession and make intercession (Galatians 6:1)" (p. 221).

Discipleship Partners

Another abuse of this passage is seen in what has evolved from the Crossroads Movement, to the Boston Movement, to the Discipling Movement, to the International Churches of Christ Movement. Whether they are called Prayer Partners or Discipleship Partners, the concept is the same. Wherein. Christian is set over you and it is your duty to confess to that specific Christian all your sins, and yet that Christian doesn't confess any of their sins to you. In this system there is another abuse, that is, the sins you confess are not kept in confidence and forgotten, rather they are relayed up the chain of command. Kent reminds us, "This passage is not sufficient warrant for an indiscriminate and continuing baring of the soul to others, with perhaps the temptation to outdo one's comrades in the number or magnitude of things confessed. It does suggest that specific wrongs should be made to those who have been wronged, and that sinfulness that was public and has tainted the whole church should be confessed before the church" (p. 192). "and pray for one another" -that is, keep on praying for one another. "Praying one for another is the key to what God wants to do in our lives. It is hard to be mad at someone for whom we are praying. It is hard to be unkind and cynical toward someone we are praying for" (Draper p. 164). Paul often requested prayers from his brethren on his behalf (1 Peter 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; see Acts 12:5; Acts 8:20). "so that you may be healed" -the word "healed" is used of both spiritual and physical healing. Forgiven sin can certainly help. person feel physically better, one might even live longer if they get rid of the guilt, but the healing here is probably more in the line of being healed from your sins. Woods notes, "An impenitent person would not likely call for the elders of the church….God will not bestow his blessings upon those who insist on maintaining. barrier between themselves and him" (p. 306). In this section it is at times hard to distinguish physical and spiritual healing and that might have been intentional on God's part. For it is very hard to sin without that affecting you in some physical sense. The world has bought into the myth that we can remain physically and emotionally healthy while spurning God. That our physical, emotional and mental health is completely unrelated to our spiritual health."The effective prayer" -"effectual fervent prayer" (KJV); "in its working" (ASV). "to display activity, show oneself operative" (Thayer p. 215). "to work in, be active, operative" (Vine p. 232). "Prayer" -"a seeking, asking, entreating, entreaty" (Thayer p. 126); "primarily. wanting,. need, then asking, entreaty, supplication" (Vine p. 200). "Used of. specific kind of prayer, an earnest entreaty for something" (Roberts p. 221)."of. righteous man" -that is. person who is right with God. This letter has already helped us to define such. person. They patiently endure under trials (James 1:2); ask God for wisdom (James 1:5); pray with confidence (James 1:6-8); are quick to listen, in control of their tongue and anger (James 1:19-20); humbly accept the teachings of Scripture (James 1:21), are doers of the word (James 1:22ff) and so on. God has made it clear that He isn't impressed with the prayers of the hypocritical (James 1:6-7; Isaiah 2:1; Proverbs 15:8; Proverbs 15:29)."can accomplish much". "effectual fervent prayer" (KJV); "Great is the power of. good man's fervent prayer"(TCNT); "has great power in its effects" (RSV); "An upright man's prayer, when it keeps at work, is very powerful" (Wms); "Powerful is the heartfelt supplication of. righteous man" (Wey). means: "to be able, can" (Thayer p. 309); "to be of force, to be effective, capable of producing results" (Vine p. 90); "have power, be competent, be able" (Arndt p. 383); "Has much force, present active" (Robertson p. 66). "great force" (Woods p. 307). "Be powerful or mighty, and then to prevail, to win out" (Roberts p. 222).

Points To Note:

1. Thus. prayer that can accomplish much must first be prayed by. righteous individual. In addition, such. prayer can accomplish much because it is. working prayer, an earnest prayer,. prayer that is the result of someone who is earnestly petitioning, praying, entreating, the action of prayer with is actively and persistently engaged in (Luke 11:5; Luke 18:1; Matthew 15:21). An effectual prayer is then. persistent prayer and hence. very fervent prayer. "a righteous man's praying has great effect when he prays" (Kent p. 193). Draper notes, "A man whose life is. holy life, whose life is consumed with the desire to love and serve God, who walks with and lives for God, will have power in prayer. We have no power in prayer if we have no righteousness in life" (p. 165). Remember, the true power doesn't merely lie in the prayer, but in the God to whom we pray. 2. This verse and others make it clear that thought God knows what we need before we pray (Matthew 6:8), lukewarm, doubting, insincere, hypocritical and apathetic requests are an insult to God and will not be answered. If we aren't truly serious and intent upon that for which we pray-then why should God take such. request seriously? "The action of prayer must be earnestly and persistently engaged in. God does not want to interpret our own desires and thoughts; he wants us to express them. Prayer is often an unused asset" (Roberts p. 223).