James 5:15

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. PRAYER. He does not say the oil shall save: it is but the symbol. SAVE - not, as Rome says, "save" the soul, but "the sick;" as the words, "the Lord shall raise him up," prove. So [ sesooken (G4982)] 'made (thee) whole,' Matthew 9:21. AND IF HE HAVE COMMITTED SINS - for not all who are sick are so because of special sins. Here it is one visited with sickness for special sins (1 Corinthians 11:30). HAVE COMMITTED, ...

15. But it must be observed, that he connects a promise with the prayer, lest it should be made without faith. For he who doubts, as one who does not rightly call on God, is unworthy to obtain anything, as we have seen in James 1:5. Whosoever then really seeks to be heard, must be fully persuaded that he does not pray in vain. As James brings before us this special gift, to which the external rite was but an addition, we hence learn, that the oil could not have been rightly used without faith. But since it appears that the Papists have no certainty as to their anointing, as it is manifest that they have not the gift, it is evident that their anointing is spurious. _And if he have committed sins_. This is not added only for the sake of amplifying, as though he had said, that God would give something more to the sick than health of body; but because diseases were very often

12-18 The sin of swearing is condemned; but how many make light of common profane swearing! Such swearing expressly throws contempt upon God's name and authority. This sin brings neither gain, nor pleasure, nor reputation, but is showing enmity to God without occasion and without advantage It shows a man to be an enemy to God, however he pretends to call himself by his name, or sometimes joins in acts of worship. But the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. In a day of affliction nothing is more seasonable than prayer. The spirit is then most humble, and the heart is broken and tender. It is necessary to exercise faith and hope under afflictions; and prayer is the appointed means for obtaining and increasing these graces. Observe, that the saving of the sick is not ascribed to the anointing with oil, but to prayer. In a time of sickness it is not cold and forma...

Verse 15. _AND THE PRAYER OF FAITH; SHALL SAVE THE SICK_] That is, God will often make these the means of a sick man's recovery; but there often are cases where _faith_ and _prayer_ are both ineffectual, because God sees it will be prejudicial to the patient's salvation to be restored; and therefore all faith and prayer on such occasions should be exerted on this ground: "If it be most for thy glory, and the eternal good of this man's soul, let him be restored; if otherwise, Lord, pardon, purify him, and take him to thy glory." _THE LORD SHALL RAISE HIM UP_] Not the _elders_, how faithfully and fervently soever they have prayed. _AND IF HE HAVE COMMITTED SINS_] So as to have occasioned his present malady, _they shall be forgiven him_; for being the _cause_ of the affliction it is natural to conclude that, if the _effect_ be to cease, the _cause_ must be removed. We find tha

AND THE PRAYER OF FAITH - The prayer offered in faith, or in the exercise of confidence in God. It is not said that the particular form of the faith exercised shall be that the sick man will certainly recover; but there is to be unwavering confidence in God, a belief that he will do what is best, and a cheerful committing of the cause into his hands. We express our earnest wish, and leave the case with him. The prayer of faith is to accompany the use of means, for all means would be ineffectual without the blessing of God. SHALL SAVE THE SICK, AND THE LORD SHALL RAISE HIM UP - This must be understood, as such promises are everywhere, with this restriction, that they will be restored to health if it shall be the will of God; if he shall deem it for the best. It cannot be taken in the absolute and unconditional sense, for then, if these means were used, the sick person would always recover...

EXPOSITION JAMES 5:1 DENUNCIATION OF THE RICH FOR (1) GRINDING DOWN THE POOR AND KEEPING BACK THEIR WAGES; (2) LUXURY; (3) MURDER. The whole section resembles nothing so much as an utterance of one of the old Jewish prophets. It might almost be a leaf torn out of the Old Testament. JAMES 5:1 GO TO NOW (see on James 4

AND THE PRAYER OF FAITH SHALL SAVE THE SICK,.... That is, the prayer of the elders, being put up in faith by them, and in which the sick person joins by faith; such a prayer is a means of bringing down from God a blessing on the sick man, and of restoring him to his former health: AND THE LORD SHALL RAISE HIM UP; from his bed of sickness, on which he is laid, and bring him forth to praise his name, and to fear and glorify him. AND IF HE HAVE COMMITTED SINS; not that it is a question whether he has or not, for no man lives without sin, nor the commission of it; but the sense is, if he has been guilty of any sins, which God in particular has taken notice of, and on account of which he has laid his chastising hand upon him, in order to bring him to a sense of them, and to acknowledge them; which is sometimes the case, though not always, at the same time that his bodily health is restored:...

V. THE COMING OF THE LORD AND THE LIFE OF FAITH CHAPTER 5 _ 1. The oppression by the rich and their coming doom (James 5:1)_ 2. Be patient unto the coming of the Lord (James 5:7) 3. The prayers of faith and the life of faith (James 5:13) James 5:1 The two classes whom James addresses stand out very prominently in this final chapter of his Epistle. The rich oppressors certainly are not believers but the unbelieving rich; they are not addressed as “brethren”; but others are in verse 7 and exhorted to patience. Both classes, the unbelieving rich and the believing remnant are confronted by the coming of the Lord. “Go to

The key to this hard passage seems to lie in the climax, the example of Elijah, who in 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:41 ff., is not said to have prayed for drought or for rain. His prayer is in the phrase before whom I stand a life in the Presence, bringing with it an instinctive knowledge of God's will; _cf._ Amos 3:7. The elders, therefore, of a faithful congregation may expect a Divine impulse prompting them to ask for physical recovery when God wills it; we may also believe that such united prayer is a real instrument in God's hands, just as much as the application of remedies like oil (_cf._ Isaiah 1:6;...

THE WORTHLESSNESS OF RICHES (James 5:1-3)...