Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 5:19

"My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one convert him;" — James 5:19 (ASV)

It is clear from the words “my brothers” that James addresses this last exhortation to believers. It is also apparent that he speaks of the possibility that one of them may “wander from the truth.” Verse 20 gives reason to believe that the truth from which the wanderer turns is the saving truth of the Gospel. James’s purpose in these closing verses is to encourage Christians to make an effort to bring the wanderer back. Two worthy results of such an accomplishment are cited. First, it will “save him from death.” That this cannot be physical death may be inferred from the literal translation of the Greek text: it “will save his soul from death”; thus, it would seem that spiritual death is in view. Since Scripture teaches that once a person is regenerated he or she can never be lost, it may be assumed that his hypothetical wanderer is not a genuine believer. He is one who has been among the believers and has made a profession of faith, but his profession has been superficial. To bring him to genuine faith in the truth saves his soul from eternal death and covers his “many sins”; the wanderer’s sins will never be held against him again. As difficult as it may be to win such a person to saving faith, the eternal results make it infinitely worthwhile .