What does the Bible say about rescuing people from the consequences of their sins?

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Supposing a person goes altogether wrong, and is positively surprised into what is plainly evil, what then? Still the Holy Ghost presses that the spiritual should "restore such an one in the spirit of meekness." A very weighty word indeed. For, first, in case of a fall, through want of watchfulness and dependence upon God, we learn who are most adapted to meet the need. It is the obligation of all in a general way; but who are those that the Holy Ghost urges to deal well with such a case? "Ye which are spiritual." Now it does not follow that he who is born of God is spiritual. To "live in the Spirit" is a very different thing from being "spiritual." A spiritual person not only lives, but walks in the Spirit. Of course, he has the infirmities of other men, and may at times show nature; but in an obvious way, taken as a whole, through the grace of God, he has learnt to judge, not to spare self, to detect, especially in himself, departure from the Lord, and to own it frankly and humbly before God. In consequence of this habitual self-judgment, there will be far greater tenderness in dealing with sin in others. They may have a keen discernment; but where it comes to that which is real and most serious — which perhaps many would give up as making the case hopeless, and think that the person could not be a Christian at all — they, knowing more of the subtlety of the flesh as well as of the grace of God, are able to count upon His goodness, and are the very persons to deal with the evil and to restore that soul. So that you will always find in cases that call for gracious handling, it is for the spiritual, not those that are the most used themselves to trip, not those that are apt to indulge the flesh and depart from the Lord. These men some might think the most likely to deal pitifully with such as stumble; but on the contrary, those are called for who walk circumspectly and in self-judgment, as a general rule, and who are thus kept from slipping, through habitual leaning on a faithful Lord; because the very power that preserves them from going astray is what gives them to understand the grace of God and to use that grace for others. Accordingly these are told to "restore such an one in the spirit of meekness."

Galatians 6:1 instructs us: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." It is in a spirit of meekness that the erring one is to be dealt with and not in any spirit of being better than he. Notice that the aim is noted here as restoration.

p380 * I thank you much for your account of Ireland. I had heard of dear -'s departure. I had heard, too, that the world had enticed away her husband, and, I trust, this may have awakened his conscience and heart. I feel such cases as -'s overwhelming. I ask myself why such things occur, for there have been one or two - if anything in myself, or in the ways and teaching of brethren even, to give occasion to what we all abhor. It is well we should judge this. I have no doubt as to the utter dishonesty of ordinary evangelical teaching, nor do I hesitate a moment on the need or glory or truth of simple full grace and salvation. It cannot be separated from Christ's glory, nor Christ from it. It is a part of eternal truth. I know the stupid objection of unconvinced and self-righteous sinners was alleged against Paul's doctrine, and that Peter had to say, "As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness." All this is foreseen of God. But, I ask myself, Is there any check in practice or doctrine overlooked, any one-sidedness in the way of putting it? That in the late revival, not among brethren as much as elsewhere, but generally, there was unscriptural language, I judge, as to repentance and sanctification. The reaction against error over-stepped the bounds of scripture, but I think there must be more than this - something in our ways, in mine it may be, that God judges. I have seen that God has never allowed any allowed evil in brethren to be hidden, and I can thank Him for it; while elsewhere it is hushed up. Still it is very sorrowful that the Lord should be grieved, and those we love dishonour themselves and Him; He can restore, that is the comfort, I trust he will poor -. I am sure He is righteous in all His ways, and such falls are not the beginning of departure from Him, not sudden, but the result - I would trust, the end - of departure from Him. Still I would trust that in a certain sense he was taken in a fault, and our part is to restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering ourselves. Judgment on evil is all right, but the restoration of the sinner is the object of divine love; he will never, nor any one, be restored till the origin of the evil be judged. Christ does not reproach Peter with denying Him, but does say, "Lovest thou me more than these?" - he will have to judge all that led him away from God. If we go down into Egypt, we have no altar till we get back to the one we had at the first, when God brought us to worship Him where our tent and our altar were in the land of promise.

The greatest care, tenderness and wisdom are needed in cases such as you refer to. A man may be “overtaken in a fault” as in Galatians 6. In an unguarded moment a person may be led to take more stimulant than he ought, and perhaps he may seem to be the worse for drink. Should such an one be hastily thrust out of the assembly? Assuredly not. He should be lovingly and tenderly admonished by “the spiritual” who alone know how to do it. He should be carefully looked after, not for the purpose of finding accusation against him, but to “restore” and deliver him thoroughly from the effect of his “fault.”

"Fault" is, we judge, a most defective rendering of the original word in this scripture. It is the same word, for example, as is translated "offences" in Romans 4:25, "sins" in Ephesians 1:7, and "trespasses" in Ephesians 2:1. This last word - trespasses - is the one which is most frequently given in our translation as the equivalent of the Greek term; but we incline to the opinion that "offences" would be more accurate. Another thing has to be borne in mind - that in the passage in Galatians, in the case supposed, it is not a state or condition described, but one who has been taken, or overtaken, with an offence, one who has been surprised by a sudden temptation, into which he has fallen. It is thus not a course of sin, but an act, a failure under some seduction or allurement of the flesh through unwatchfulness. It is concerning such a case - not an uncommon one, alas! among the saints of God - that the apostle gives directions as to treatment. First, he charges those who are spiritual with the responsibility of restoration. A spiritual man is one who is formed by the Spirit, controlled by and walking in the Spirit. (Gal. 5:16-26.) The spiritual, therefore, are a class, sad as it is to say it, and it is to this class the apostle here speaks, and this makes it very plain that it is nothing short of presumption for "carnal" Christians (1 Cor. 3:1-4) to meddle with discipline, or to seek to recover the erring. In the next place, the state of soul in which the spiritual are to meet their responsibility is indicated. They are to proceed in the spirit of meekness, considering themselves lest they also be tempted. (Note that in the first part of the verse it is, "you who are spiritual" - it is in the plural; but in the actual work of restoration the apostle passes over to the singular, because it is individual service.) Meekness is allied with humility almost always in the Scriptures because blended in the example of our blessed Lord. It can only be shown out in those who are in the place of nothingness before God; then meekness in the presence of others will be the consequence. It is that blessed spirit of gentleness, fed with divine love, which expresses itself in quiet unresisting patience, whatever the provocation that may be encountered. This could only be the fruit of divine power through the Holy Ghost. And, as a help to this state, such a one must consider himself lest he also be tempted; for, if he should be, he might make a worse failure. Oh for more of this blessed grace of meekness, combined with the recollection of what we are, that we are only kept moment by moment by God's omnipotent power, for He alone is able to keep us from falling! We will not add more now except to point out that, as an encouragement, the apostle directs our eyes to the example of Christ. Both in life and in death He was the great Burden-bearer; this was the law of His life when here. In like manner we are to be burden-bearers; in the power of the Spirit we are to go down under the burdens even of those who have fallen into some offence, and bear them up on our hearts before God, that, in the combination of intercession and of the ministration of grace, we may be used for their restoration.

Now the epistle ends as practically as it begins. While games has given urgent exhortation as to our obeying the truth of God, yet now he faces the fact that saints do not always take such exhortation to heart. If this is the case, however, and one wanders from the truth, there is good work that another can do. By means of the truth itself, one may help in the recovery of another. This principle applies whether the wanderer has never been saved in the first place, or whether he is a believer. If by grace we are able to convert (or turn around) a sinner from the error of his way, this both saves a soul from death, and hides a multitude of sins, He is speaking herd of physical death, just as in Ezekiel l8:4: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." The term "soul" is used for the person, rather than the entity within him, also called "soul." Compare also 1 Pet.3:20. Indulging in sin may lead one to a premature grave, as 1 John 5:l6 shows us. Also, when one sin is indulged, it is practically bound to lead to what is worse, "a multitude of sins." The Lord give His saints diligence to engage wholeheartedly in this good work of both caring for souls, and covering sins. As though not to take away the force of this, nothing is added by way even of a closing sentence.

The apostle closes with one word of mingled exhortation and encouragement: "My brethren, if any one among you err from the truth, and one restore him, let him know that he that turneth back a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins." It is the restoration of a believer, but who has wandered from God, that is contemplated here. The word used in our common version, "one convert him," naturally tends to make us think of that which we ordinarily call conversion now. But the Lord talks, as we know, of Peter's conversion when he too had erred from the truth, and the Lord's grace brought him back. In the language of James, if, not in the epistle to the Hebrews, a converted man may be a sinner still; and, as we know, the saving of a soul from death does not necessarily mean a salvation from death eternally, but from that judgment of God which we have seen instanced in Corinth, where many were weak and sickly among them, and many slept. In this way, a multitude of sins would be covered, not simply by the love that individually covereth sins, of which we read elsewhere, but by the labor of that love for the restoration of a soul, which is the sure way, in the government of God over His people, for a multitude of sins to be covered.

Verse 19. Finally, James adds an exhortation to encourage our hearts to seek the blessing of others. He who brings back a sinner from the error of his ways is not only the means of saving that soul, whether it be a sinner walking in his sins, or a Christian walking badly, but also of hiding a multitude of sins. That the soul of an unconverted man should be saved is simple; in the case of a Christian pursuing an evil way, he is at least arrested in the road which leads to perdition.

151 But this second point calls for a little more explanation, and it is not without importance. Sin is hateful in the sight of God; He sees everything. When we think of the state of the world, we understand how wonderful is His patience. Now the conversion of a sinner removes all his sins from before the eyes of God. As though they were cast into the depths of the sea, He sees them no more; as it is written. They are immediately cancelled. It is in this sense that "love covereth a multitude of sins." They are no longer there as an object hateful to God. If we do not forgive the sins of a brother, the enmity remains before God as a wound in the body of believers, something that is not healed. When forgiven, love is the object that presents itself before God - a thing pleasing to His heart. Thus when the sinner is converted - brought back, the love of God finds its pleasure in this, and the offending object is removed from His sight.

There is also the activity of love towards those who err. If any one departs from the truth, and they bring him back by grace, let it be known that to bring back a sinner from the error of his ways is the exercise — simple as our action in it may be — of the power that delivers a soul from death; accordingly all those sins which spread themselves in their odious nature before the eyes of God, and offended His glory and His heart by their presence in His universe, are covered. The soul being brought to God by grace, all its sins are pardoned, appear no more, are blotted out from before the face of God. The apostle (as throughout) does not speak of the power that acts in this work of love, but of the fact. He applies it to cases that had happened among them; but he establishes a universal principle with regard to the activity of grace in the heart that is animated by it. The erring soul is saved; the sin is put away from before God.

Ought we to be less interested in each other than the angels are interested in us? Surely not. And especially since we may do what they cannot do. They cannot restore the backslider; as far as we know they have no part in this work, but we ought to wash one another's feet (John 13), and "if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself lest thou also be tempted" (Gal. 6:1). But suppose there is a backslider who secretly mourns his departure from the Lord, but finds his brethren, as be supposes, coldly indifferent towards him, who thinks, perhaps, that no one is concerned about him. Let me say to him, "Though men seem careless of your welfare, the angels are not; they are interested, and they are interested because their Lord is. The restoration of your soul to the joy of salvation and communion with the Saviour is of deep concern to them because they know that this is the Lord's desire and because the Lord's glory is involved in it. Banish at once from your mind the thought that nobody cares, and let the angel's words, 'and Peter,' speed your feet along the way of repentance to the Saviour who has not ceased to love and care for you, and whom through grace you still love or you would not be secretly grieving about the loss of His company and the joy that it gives.