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James 5:14-15
14 Is [astheneo] any [tis] sick [astheneo] among [en] you [humin]? let him call [proskaleomai] for the elders [presbuteros] of the church [ekklesia]; and [kai] let them pray [proseuchomai] over [epi] him [autos], anointing [aleipho] him [autos] with oil [elaion] in [en] the name [onoma] of the Lord [kurios]:
15 And [kai] the prayer [euche] of faith [pistis] shall save [sozo] the sick [kamno], and [kai] the Lord [kurios] shall raise [egeiro] him [autos] up [egeiro]; and if [kan] he have [o] committed [poieo] sins [hamartia], they shall be forgiven [aphiemi] him [autos]. KJV-Interlinear
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. NASB
Throughout the book of James, the study has been on the application of wisdom. This is not a book of the study of physical illness, and how to overcome a fever or broken arm.
Sick, ‘astheneo,’ means to be feeble, weak, and impotent. And as applied to the soul, means to be out of fellowship and living in a state of sin as opposed to the spiritual state in fellowship.
A broken bone, a cancer, a fever or any physical ailment or handicap will not prevent you from being saved or even restored to fellowship. James is writing this book to believers, not unbelievers, so salvation is not in view here. Most of what we have covered thus far, deals with your mental attitude and whether or not you are in fellowship.
Your spiritual life exists only while you reside in fellowship, not while you are under the influence of the sin nature.
The elders of the church, is a reference to mature believers, or those believers who have some spiritual understanding under their belt, and know what fellowship is and what it is not.
The anointing is the prayer offering which is acceptable to God. Anointing, is when a person pours oil or some type of perfume over the one being anointed. The one being anointed is the sick one, the stinking one, or the one who lives in sin. So the symbolism here is to pour prayers of value and aroma in behalf of the one who is under sin, in order to clean up the smelly one, and make him presentable and acceptable to God.
This is not real oil or perfume. Sin can only be covered up by confession, and only because Christ went to the Cross and received the judgment in our behalf for all of our sins. But, Christ did not acquire forgiveness of our sins, thus the confession requirement. Confession is mandated by God, and also gives us a training and self-discipline routine for functioning in our spiritual life.
In verse fifteen, the prayers offered by the elders, serve to restore (save) to fellowship, the person being prayed for.
And the Lord will ‘raise’ him up, or ‘lift from ruin’ or to ‘restore’ into fellowship and the spiritual life, from the state of living under the sin nature.
And here is the purpose of the prayer. Since we cannot know the spiritual state of anyone, then we may or may not know of their sins. So, if they are already in fellowship, then no foul, no harm. But if they are not in fellowship, then God restores them into fellowship, and in effect gives them a boost in their life and spiritual life, whether or not they know of the prayers.
Now, to whom does this apply? Well, most folks get all stupid and call for everyone to pray for them. And if you can call for others to pray for you, then you are well capable of praying for yourself. So pray for yourself, confess your sins and move on in your spiritual life.
The prayer of others does not make you grow up.
The prayers of others may get you into fellowship, but you are not their first responsibility, and no one can monitor your sins, better than you. Only you can stay on top of your own thoughts, etc.
So, this is not intended for you, who already know and understand the confession and fellowship concept.
But there are those who may not understand or may be stubborn and just ignore their spiritual life, or perhaps they cannot function in their spiritual life because of an actual illness.
For example a person in a coma, is in a state which none of us can understand. They cannot go to Bible class, and they have obvious handicaps in learning. If you know of such a person, then by all means, pray to the Father on their behalf, a confession, so that at least while in a coma, God will restore them into fellowship. When you both get to heaven, then you will learn what good you accomplished for them.
As for others? Perhaps you have a family, and children that are just not interested in the Bible. They are young and they have ‘better’ things that interest them for the moment. So recall our study in Job. Job made the confession offering in behalf of his children because they partied so much. Here is the principle.
You may need to pray the confession, for your family members. This does not make them grow up spiritually, but it does get them into fellowship for at least a while. And all blessings coming from God, come only to those who are in fellowship. So there is your help.
As a spiritually growing believer, you possess powers that you did not realize that you had. The apostles healed others, Jesus healed others, and while they performed actual physical healings, the principle being taught applied to the soul, not to the physical ailments. Jesus healed many thousands, but those people came to get physically healed, not spiritually healed, so their physical healing did them no good. They did not learn the lesson.
For a detailed study of confession, refer to the 1 Jn. study.
You not only have a responsibility to yourself for monitoring your own mental attitude, but you can also look to others, without interfering in their life, or being condescending, or critical of them, and in the silence of your prayers (without being self righteous), you can open the door of Gods opportunity for them.
Then perhaps, one day, this prayer help will serve to open up their eyes so they can function on their own, in their own spiritual life.
