THURSDAY
Yesterday and today we are looking at the biblical basis for saying “I’m sorry” to one another. In James’ epistle we see a direct imperative to confess our sins to each other.
James 5:13–16 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 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. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
The big idea of this passage is, as Blomberg and Kamell write, “Christians should deal with suffering, sickness, and sin by intercession with God and intervention in the lives of fellow believers. Sometimes sin will be one of the direct causes of suffering or sickness and sometimes it will not. When it is, confession becomes crucial. In all situations, prayer proves powerful.” - Craig L. Blomberg and Mariam J. Kamell, James, vol. 16, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 239.
There is a lot to unpack here and a lot that can be misunderstood. A full study of this text is beyond the scope of what time allows for today, but I will make some brief comments to help bring clarity. In verse 14 sick could refer to a spiritual malady as well as a physical. In this sense James would be talking about a sickness of the soul, sin (lust, bitterness, anger, greed, etc.) Paul uses this term to refer to those who are “weak” in faith in Romans 14:2. If taken in the spiritual sense it would ease a lot of the difficulties with this passage. However, every major translation interprets this as a physical malady. So I am inclined to pause and reflect a long time before viewing this as a spiritual sickness of the soul. “Pray over him” is the main verb, while “anointing” is a participle. So the primary action the elders are to do is to pray for the sick person. The oil is a ritual symbol that indicates the person is set apart for God’s special attention and care. It emphasizes God’s presence with the person and His election of them. It does not possess any power in itself to heal and there are many texts that talk about praying for the sick without mentioning anointing oil. So it is not required it seems, but it should also not be eliminated. This prayer and anointing is to be done “in the name of Jesus” emphasizing that it is only through God’s power and will that the person is healed.
In vv. 15-16 James brings up the possibility that the persons illness may be caused by some sin. If sickness is taken in the spiritual sense, this statement is obvious. However, if it is taken in the physical sense then it brings up the possibility that in some cases sin can lead to physical illness. This seems to be the case in 1 Cor. 11:30 when Paul warns that many of them are sick, ill and even have died because they are taking communion in an unworthy manner, ie. not being willing to sacrifice one’s privilege for those less privileged (all of these could be interpreted as spiritual illness, weakness as well). In v. 15 James writes, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.” Elsewhere in James the word translates “saves” always refers to spiritual salvation, giving credibility to the argument that he is referring to a sickness of the soul. The imperative to “confess our sins to one another” conflicts with the Roman Catholic doctrine of confessing our sins only to a priest for absolution. This seems to reinforce the “priesthood of believers” doctrine taught by the Reformers.
This passage of course brings up difficult questions of healing and sickness if it is interpreted as referring to physical sickness. Sickness can be caused by underlying sin but not always. We shouldn’t go mad trying to think of a sin that led to every sickness. God will reveal those if they are the cause. Most sickness is the result of generally living in a fallen world. Furthermore, healing is always at the will of the Lord. Praying a certain way or with anointing oil is not a magic spell that forces God to heal.
That said, what should we do? We must balance our surrender to the will of God with the imperatives to pray with faith. We must believe that can can heal, and will ultimately heal in the new creation, when we pray. There should be a practice of anointing with oil in the church as an act of obedience and reminder of our election by God and his presence with us. We should reach out to one another to pray for one another when we are sick. We should feel free to call the elders of the church to come and pray for us. When we pray we should explore the possibility of unrepentant sin as the cause of this sickness. We should commit to a regular practice of confessing our sins to a trusted brother or sister in Christ for the health of our soul (for sure) and even for our physical health.
Zooming in on the imperative that we ought to confess our sin to one another. Again, this is in the context of healing for physical or spiritual ailments (I’m not quite sure how to interpret this text at this point. I need to look into it further.) Regardless, confession sins to one another should be a part of maintaining a healthy soul. This process of confessing our sins to one another will lead us to say “I’m sorry” to the one we have sinned against.
Additional Content
Reflection
Do you have a trusted brother or sister in Christ whom you can confess your sins to? If you don’t pray on it and find someone you can do this with.
In our Christianese vernacular, find an accountability partner.