James 5:20

Verse 20 Let him know that he that converteth.

The honor of saving a soul from death. What death? Oh, my soul, it is not temporal death. This all must see. This kind of death has passed upon all flesh. No, so; but spiritual death, eternal death. Saving the erring, inducing him to seek for pardon again, restoring such a one to the divine favor, and thus saving him from eternal death. What a heavenly work; what a godlike act ! How great the honor! The ability to accomplish such a work as this is incentive enough to any righteous soul to make the effort whenever an occasion should offer.

And shall hide a multitude of sins.

Here we are liable to make a mistake. It is not that the worker of such a good act in restoring an erring brother will thereby have many of his own sins covered. I know this thought is occasionally retailed. This is not correct. This can not be the case in the economy of God, but the idea is that the restored one, however many the sins he has committed may be, has them all covered or forgiven, through the pious efforts of the loving one who induced him to return to his duty by repentance, confession and prayer. His return to God and his loyalty to Christ were accomplished by the earnest entreaty of a loving brother, and, on his return, God pardoned or canceled his sins, though they were a multitude. The phrase simply means what David expresses in Psalms 32:1-11 :: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."