April 26 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 116—James 5:19–20

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.

Devotional:

God's Word assures us that our faithful Savior will lose none of those whom the Father has given him. But in our day, many distort this teaching to assure themselves that if they simply "walk the sawdust trail" or "sign on the dotted line" and merely profess faith in Christ then they'll have "fire insurance" from ever going to hell, no matter what. In his Parable of the Sower, however, our Lord Jesus warns us against being either "stony-ground hearers" or "thorny-ground hearers" (Matt. 13:1–22). Moreover, throughout the book of James, God warns us against a sham faith which is merely talk and is fruitless and rootless and dead. It is not saving faith.

Along that line, in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and Hopeful discuss a character called Temporary. Temporary represents those who at some point show strong interest in the things of the Lord but later backslide and turn away from the Lord.

How can this be? Why are there "temporary" Christians? Christian and Hopeful note that first, notwithstanding the fact that some feel guilty for their sin and fear its penalty, their hearts are never really changed. Second, they fear what other people think of them so much that it overcomes any desire for heaven or deliverance from sin and hell. Third, consequently they're ashamed to be associated with a religion which is held in contempt by the world. Finally, in order to stifle their guilt-feelings and fears of God's wrath, they harden their hearts. Christian put it in a nutshell,

"Though the consciences of such men are awakened, yet their minds are not changed."

In other words, a temporary Christian has never really had his heart (mind, emotions, and will) supernaturally transformed by God himself. "Unless one is born again [or born from above], he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The temporary Christian has never been truly born from above; he has never been genuinely converted.

Verse 19 says, "if anyone among you wanders from the truth…" In other words, God says that it is possible for church members, for professing Christians, to stray. Some of those may be "temporary Christians" who have never been born from above and converted. Some of those may be genuine Christians who are really born again but who backslide for a time. Only God really knows for sure. What we know for sure is that God calls us to show concern for one another. "My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 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."

Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.