Is any sick among you? let him call to [him] the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of [the] Lord;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and the prayer of faith shall heal the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be one who has committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.
The sick believer has called for the elders, and they have prayed over him and anointed him with oil. Two questions now press on every reader: whose faith heals him, and which forgiveness does James promise a sick man?
A reader might credit the elders' office, or the oil. The verse puts the power somewhere else.
William KellyIt is remarkable. The inspired writer encourages honour to the elders, yet he attaches healing power not to their official place or special skill, but to prayer — prayer made effective through faith. He says, "And the prayer of faith will save (or heal) the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up." What a contrast with the gloomy superstition that sends "a priest" to absolve him and give him the last rites, because it treats his death as certain! For if he recovers, he will need the same hateful parody all over again.
What does it mean to be "saved" here?
Leslie M. GrantIt is the prayer of faith, not the anointing, that saves the sick. This salvation, of course, is the delivering of a person from his sickness.
The sick man is the one prayed for, not the one required to produce faith.
F. B. HoleNotice that the faith belongs to those who pray — that is, to the elders. The verse says nothing about the faith of the sick man. Still, we may infer that he has some faith in the matter, at least enough to send for the elders, as this Scripture directs. We may also infer, from the words that follow in verse 16, that he would confess his sins, if indeed he has committed any.
Those who pray must also judge whether they can pray in faith at all:
Leslie M. GrantNo doubt in every case some spiritual discernment would be needed, to judge whether we could pray in faith. This would involve not only the sin committed, but the circumstances and the motives behind it.
James does not say the sick man has sinned. He says if he has.
C. H. MackintoshThe "if" shows that the sickness might not have been sent because of any particular sin.
That single word marks off the one case where the promise rests on solid ground:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHealing is sure in one case only: when the sickness does not come from bodily weakness, as with Timothy, or from the hardship of devoted Christian service, as with Epaphroditus, or from any other natural cause. It comes instead as a chastening from the Lord for some specific sins committed. Once he confesses those sins and puts them away, the chastening stops.
The cross settled a believer's standing before God long before this sickness came.
J. N. DarbyThere are two kinds of forgiveness in the ways of God. Eternal justification, taught in Romans 4 and Hebrews 10, is the blessed portion of those who believe in the power of the blood of Christ. Their sins are no longer counted against them. God took up the question of their sins at the cross. He has finished with them forever, and He will never remember them again. But there is also the government of God. It is the government of a Father — a holy Father, who loves His children too well to let them walk badly.
So when the illness lifts, the discipline itself has ended:
J. N. DarbyThis discipline had shown itself in the chastening — that is, in the sickness. Once the sickness goes, the discipline is over and the sins are forgiven.
One point here turns on grammar.
William KellyThe true rendering of the clause holds a fine and notable point. The sins stand in the plural; the forgiveness stands in the singular. It is right that each and every sin should be judged in turn; but grace gives the forgiveness in full.
The promise has a setting: the sick "among you", inside the company of God's people.
The Bible TreasurySo this Scripture gives no warrant for a popular system of half-miraculous cures handed out to all and sundry. Sickness among God's people stands on special ground.
Writers note one reason the practice is rare today: the elders of the church are hard to identify. God's power, though, has not changed:
J. N. DarbyThe outward order of the assembly is lost, but the power, love, and faithfulness of the Lord are unchanged... it is not godliness to doubt the power of Christ, if God gives faith to use it.
- Prayer heals. Not the oil, not the office, not the ritual — believing prayer heals the sick.
- Their faith, his healing. The faith in view belongs to those praying. The sick man's part is to call for them and own his sins.
- "If" guards it. Sickness may or may not come from a specific sin. Illness is never proof of guilt.
- Forgiveness restored, not first granted. James promises the lifting of a Father's discipline. The cross already settled the eternal pardon.
- Among God's own. The promise belongs inside the company of God's people, at the sick one's call — never a platform for public cures.
Confess therefore your offences to one another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. [The] fervent supplication of the righteous [man] has much power.
Someone is sick, someone is weighed down by sin, and the verse tells them to open their hearts to each other and pray — with healing promised. It raises three questions at once: who do we confess to, how far does the healing reach, and why does one person's prayer carry weight with God?
This confession runs between believers, and it runs both ways. One writer points out that no office stands in the middle of it:
J. N. DarbyWe may note that it is not confession to the elders that is spoken of. That would have been confidence in men — official confidence. God wants divine love at work in everyone. Confession to one another shows the condition of the church. God wants a church where love reigns. He wants believers so near to Him that they can treat the wrongdoer with the same grace they have found in Him.
Another writer sees the silence about elders as deliberate, guarding souls from superstition:
William KellyScripture carefully avoids urging confession to the elders. I have no doubt this is the far-seeing wisdom of God. He loves souls and hates superstition.
This call does not depend on any official order being in place, so it survives every breakdown:
J. N. DarbyHowever ruined the state of God's church may be, we can always confess our faults to one another and pray for one another, so that we may be healed. This needs no official order in place. It does need humility, trust between believers, and love.
The word "therefore" ties the confession back to sickness. On this reading, the illness in view is traceable to particular sins:
Arno Clemens Gaebelein"Therefore, confess your sins to one another... that you may be healed." This shows clearly that the sickness in view comes from specific sins. When the sins are confessed and judged, grace steps in, and God in mercy heals.
Commentators differ on how far "healed" reaches. Some widen it beyond the body:
Leslie M. GrantSo it is fitting for believers to confess their offences to one another, as matters that need prayerful help. The healing here may be mainly recovery from illness. But spiritual recovery is just as necessary.
The verse is not permission to tell anyone anything. Its wording sets limits:
A. J. PollockBut this is limited to two cases. One is a Christian who has wronged someone, going to that person to ask forgiveness. The other is a burdened heart opening up to some "righteous man" whose prayers it wants... It does not teach a Christian confessing to an unbeliever. It does not teach confessing in a group meeting where many present may not be believers at all.
Even within those limits, applying it calls for judgment:
F. W. GrantEvery general rule has its exceptions. More than that: every principle needs wisdom in how it is applied. Nothing removes that need.
One writer questions the older wording "the effectual fervent prayer... avails much" as saying nothing at all:
The Bible TreasuryTo say that an "effectual" prayer accomplishes much says nothing new. If it is effectual, then of course it works... The key points of the Scripture are probably these. (a) The one praying is a righteous man. (b) His prayer is energetic — not a half-hearted, lazy performance, but the prayer of someone who means it... (c) Prayer of this kind really does have much power.
The power is not in the words but in the standing and nearness of the one praying:
J. N. DarbyThe man who is righteous in practice, by grace, is near to God. He has nothing to settle with God about his own sin. Unsettled sin would keep his heart at a distance. His heart is free instead to come near to God, in keeping with His holy nature, and to pray for others.
Because of this, character and answered prayer cannot be separated:
F. W. GrantThe power of prayer is never separate from the character of the man who prays. Yet God is compassionate, and He can hear any man in his hour of desperate need.
- Confess — confession goes "one to another," never to an official. Confession to elders would put trust in men instead of letting love work among all.
- Mutual — this needs no office and no order. It stands even when everything else has broken down. All it asks is humility, trust between believers, and love.
- Healed — where sickness follows specific sins, confession and self-judgment open the way for God to heal in mercy. Writers differ on whether spiritual recovery is also in view.
- Careful — it covers wrong done to another. It covers a burdened heart opening up to one whose prayers it wants. It does not cover telling a mixed crowd.
- Righteous — the power belongs to the man with nothing unsettled between himself and God. His heart is free to plead for others. Prayer's power is never separate from the character of the one praying.