James Chapter 5 — Commentary and Notes on Verse 16

    Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

    The word Therefore shows that this instruction is to be inferred from what was said before. There is a connection between the verses, for he wants the particular fault acknowledged so that they might pray more effectively for each other.

    There is a connection between pardon and confession. The apostle says, hewillbeforgiven, and then Thereforeconfessyoursins. See similar passages in Proverbs 28:13 (“whoever confesses and renounces [his sins] finds mercy”) and 1 John 1:9 (“If we confess …”). This is the best way to find pardon; what is condemned in one court is pardoned in others. God has made a law against sin, and the law must be obeyed; sin must be judged in the court of heaven or in the court of conscience, by God or us. In confession the divine judgment is anticipated (1 Corinthians 11:31-32); this is the best way to honor mercy. When we are aware of many sins, mercy is all the more glorious. God wants pardon obtained in a way in which there is no merit; justice may be glorified by confession but not satisfied. We cannot make satisfaction to God, and therefore he requires acknowledgment. “I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt” (Jeremiah 3:12-13).

    This is the most rational way to settle our comfort; our griefs are best eased and mitigated if we express them. All passions are allayed by giving vent to them. David roared when he kept silence, but “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). Besides, this is the best way to bring the soul to dislike sin. Confession is an act of mortification. It is as it were the vomit of the soul; it breeds a dislike of the sweetest morsels when they are found in what is loathsome. Sin is sweet when we commit it but bitter when we remember it. God’s children find that their hatred is never more keen against sin than when confessing. So then, come and open your case to God without guile of spirit, and then you may seek your pardon. David makes this a reason for his confidence: “blot out my transgressions.… For I acknowledge my transgressions” (Psalm 51:1, 3 KJV).

    Resolve to practice confession; it is irksome to the flesh but salutary and healthy to the spirit. Guilt is shy in God’s presence; the Lord is dreadful to wounded consciences. But look at it this way: confession is the only way to seek your pardon. Gracious souls only want pardon God’s way. “Lord, give me repentance, and then give me pardon,” says Fulgentius.

    But you will say, “We confess and find no comfort.” I answer, it is because you are not as honest with God as you should be; you do not come with a necessary clarity and openness of mind. David says the only people who have the comfort of pardon are those “in whose spirit is no deceit” (Psalm 32:2). Usually there is some sin at the bottom that the soul is loath to disgorge, and then God brings trouble. David lay roaring as long as he followed Satan’s advice. Moses had a secret sore that he would not disclose. He pled other things—inadequacy, lack of elocution; but worldly fear was the main reason for his reluctance. That is why God gently touched his secret sore: “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead” (Exodus 4:19). He had never pleaded concerning this, but God knew that was the interior problem. It is the same with Christians. Usually there is some sin at the bottom, and that is why God continues to trouble them. That is why it is best to take David’s course: “I recounted my ways and you answered me” (Psalm 119:26). He told God everything, and then God gave him the light and comfort of grace.

    Confessyoursinstoeachother. This clause has been applied in various ways. The Roman Catholics make it the basis of auricular confession, but that is absurd, for then the priest must confess to the penitent as well as the penitent to the priest. James is speaking about reciprocal confession; therefore some of the more honest Roman Catholics have disclaimed this text.

    Others apply it to hurts caused to other people; just as the sick person must reconcile himself to God so that he may recover, so he must reconcile himself to his neighbor whom he has wronged or offended. But sins covers more than just hurts caused to other people.

    Some understand this to mean those sins in which we have offended by joint consent. For example, when a woman has consented to a man’s lust she must confess her sin to him, and consequently and reciprocally he must acknowledge his sin to her, so that they may by mutual consent open themselves to repentance. But this interpretation and application of the words is too narrow.

    I believe the apostle is speaking about those sins that most wound the conscience in sickness as its particular cause. That is why he speaks of this confession in connection with healing and prayer, for this is how we can most easily help other people move toward actions of spiritual relief, such as applying suitable advice and offering appropriate prayers. Things spoken at random are not usually so effective.

    There is a time for confessing our sins not only to God, but to each other. I will not digress into controversy, but I shall briefly show the evils and inconveniences of the sort of confession that Roman Catholics require and the times when we must confess to each other.

    (1)      The Roman Catholic sacrament of penance obliges people, at least once a year, to confess to a priest all the sins they have committed since the last time, with all the details. No one is exempt from this law—neither prince nor king, not even the Pope himself. They place a great deal of merit and opinion on this. The truth is that this is the great device by which they keep the people loyal to them; knowing the people’s secrets makes them feared all the more.

    Now what we disprove in this is:

    a.      The absolute necessity of it. Confession to other people is only necessary in some cases; in others confession to God may be enough. That, indeed, is necessary: see 1 John 1:9.

    b.      Requiring such a precise and accurate enumeration of their sins, with all the details, makes it one of those insupportable burdens that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear. In short, this scrupulous enumeration is nothing but a rack to the conscience, invented and exercised without any reason. No one’s memory is so happy as to answer what is required (Psalm 19:12).

    c.      Their making it part of a sacrament instituted by God. They argue this from this passage but wretchedly. One of the most modest of their own writers, Gregory of Valentia, lists many Roman Catholics who say the basis of it is only in universal tradition, though indeed it was instituted twelve hundred years after Christ, among other superstitions, by Innocent III.

    d.      The way it is practiced, and its consequences, rightly make it odious. It is tyrannical, dangerous to the security and peace of princes, betraying their advice, and hazardous to everyone. The practice is profane, as is clear from the filthy and immodest questions that the confessor is to ask, mentioned in Bucharadus, Sanchez, and others.

    (2)      We are not against all confession, as the Roman Catholics say we are. Besides confession to God, we hold that many sorts of confession to other people are necessary. For example:

    a.      Public confession. This may be by the church in ordinary or extraordinary humiliation. The congregation was to confess their sins over the head of the sacrifice (Leviticus 16:21). For one part of the day they read the law, and for another part of the day they confessed (Nehemiah 9:3). This is confession by the church. It is also necessary to have confession to the church.

    This may be before admission to the church, when people solemnly disclaim the impurities of their former life, professing to walk in the future as befits members of the church: “Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him” (Matthew 3:6). The apostles, too, when they received members into the church, required the profession of faith and repentance, though there was not that scrupulous and narrow prying into their hearts and consciences that some people practice. John did not take a particular confession from every one of the multitude—it was impossible. So we read in Acts 19:18 that “many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds”; that is, they solemnly disavowed their former life and practice.

    Secondly, this public confession may come after admission to the church, when there are public scandals (for the church does not judge secret things). But those scandalous acts that are faults against the church cannot be remitted by the minister alone; the offense being public, the confession has to be public too. The apostle says of the incestuous Christian that his punishment was “inflicted on him by the majority” (2 Corinthians 2:6). And he tells Timothy that “those who sin are to be rebuked publicly” (1 Timothy 5:20), which Aquinas refers to as ecclesiastical discipline. Now this was to be done partly for the sinner’s sake, that he might be brought to greater shame and conviction, and partly because of those outside, that the community of the faithful might not be represented as an ulcerous, filthy body, and the church not be thought to be a receptacle of sin but a school of holiness. And therefore, just as Paul shook off the viper, these were to be cast out and only received back when they solemnly acknowledged their sin. Thus Paul says, “a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough” (1 Corinthians 5:6; see also Hebrews 12:15, “that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many”). These passages mean not so much the contagion of their bad example as the taint of reproach and the guilt of the outward scandal by which the house and body of Christ was made infamous.

    b.      Private confession to other people. First, to a wronged neighbor, which is called turning to him again after giving offense (see Luke 17:4) and is prescribed by our Saviour in Matthew 5:24, “Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother.” God will accept no service or worship from us until we have confessed the wrong done to others. So in this passage we are told to confessyoursinstoeachother. In disagreements there are offenses on both sides, and everyone will stiffly defend his own cause.

    Secondly, this confession may be made to people with whom we have consented in sinning—for example in adultery, theft, etc. We must confess and pray for each other. It is necessary in love to invite those who have shared with us in sin to fellowship in repentance.

    Thirdly, this confession may be made to a godly minister or wise Christian under deep wounds of conscience. It is foolish to hide our sores until they are incurable. When we have unburdened ourselves to a godly friend, conscience finds a great deal of ease. Certainly they are then more able to give us advice and can better apply the help of their counsel and prayers to our particular case and are thereby moved to more pity and commiseration. This will not only tell us generally how needy people are but will uncover their sores. It is indeed a fault in Christians not to disclose themselves and be more open with their spiritual friends when they are not able to extricate themselves out of their doubts and troubles. You may do this with any godly Christian, but especially to ministers who are solemnly entrusted with the power of the keys and may help you to apply the comforts of the Word when you cannot yourselves.

    Fourthly, when in some special cases God’s glory is concerned. For example, when some great judgment seizes upon us because of a previous provocation, which is made plain enough to us in gripes of conscience, it is good to make it known for God’s glory. Thus David, when stung in conscience and smitten with a sudden conviction, said, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). When Achan was marked by lot, Joshua advised him, “My son, give glory to the LORD.… Tell me what you have done” (Joshua 7:19). Thus when divine revenge pursues us until we are brought to some fearful end and punishment, it is good to be open in acknowledging our sin, that God’s justice may be cleared visibly; for in this God receives a great deal of glory, and people receive a wonderful confirmation and experience of the care and justice of providence.

    Andprayforeachother. Note that it is the duty of Christians to relieve one another by their prayers. You will see that John, at the end of his first letter, gives the same charge: “If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life” (5:16). That is, God will pardon him and thereby free him from everlasting death. Because particulars affect us more than general considerations, let me tell you:

    (1)      We must pray for the whole community of saints, every member of Christ’s body—not only those we are familiar with, but those we are not acquainted with. “Keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). This common stock of supplications is indeed the church’s treasury. Paul prays for those who had never seen his face: “I am struggling … for all who have not met me personally” (Colossians 2:1). A Christian is a rich merchant who has his prayer partners in various countries, some in all places of the world, who deal for him at the throne of grace; and by this means the members of Christ’s body have communion with one another, even though it is at a distance.

    (2)      It is our duty to pray especially for those to whom we are more closely related, as Paul in Romans 9:3 prays for his own countrymen. Similarly we should pray for our family and relations, that they may be converted and be dear to us both humanly and in the Lord, as Onesimus was to Paul (Philemon 16). We should also pray for the particular assembly of the faithful we belong to. The minister should pray for his people, and the people for one another (see Ephesians 3:12). Certainly we do not do this as much as we should.

    (3)      More especially yet, we should pray for magistrates (see 1 Timothy 2:1-2) and officers of the church. As far as magistrates are concerned, this is the best tribute you can pay them. And with ministers, the importance of their work calls for this help from you. In praying for them you pray for yourselves. If the cow has a full udder, it is good for the owner. How passionately Paul calls for the prayers of the people: “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30). Let us not stand alone and strive alone! Therefore you should, as Tertullian says, “besiege heaven with a holy conspiracy.”

    (4)      The weak must pray for the strong, and the strong for the weak. There is no one who should not do so. When there is a lot to do, you make your children do their share, as did even the busy idolaters in Jeremiah 7:18 , “The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough.” All played a part. It is like that in the family of Christ. No one can be excepted: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’” (1 Corinthians 12:21). God delights to put us in debt to each other in the body of Christ, and therefore he will not bless us without the mutual mediation and intercession of one another’s prayers, for this is the true intercession of saints. And so in a sense the living saints may be called mediators of intercession.

    But chiefly the strong, and those who stand, are to pray for those who have fallen; that is what this passage means. Oh, that we would pay attention to this neglected duty! Not praying for others is unloving; not to expect it from others is pride. Do not stand alone; two, indeed many, are better than one. Joint striving mutually for the good of each other makes the work prosper. Especially, my brothers, pray for those in the ministry. Our labors are great; our corruptions are strong; our temptations and snares are many, possibly all the more for your sakes. Pray that our hearts may be made tender toward you and fitter to give your souls reproof, comfort, and counsel. Pray that we may have wisdom and faithfulness and speak the Word of the Lord boldly. So also pray for one another.

    Sothatyoumaybehealed. This word is a general one and implies freedom from the diseases of either soul or body, and both fit the context. He is speaking of sins and sickness indiscriminately. If you understand this of bodily healing, with respect to sickness, you may note:

    Note1. God wants a particular confession of the very sin for which he brought on the sickness before he heals you. But chiefly I understand this healing spiritually: confess, and the Lord will purge you from your sins and heal the wounds of your conscience. This is what healing means elsewhere in Scripture, such as in Psalm 41:4, “Heal me, for I have sinned against you”; or 1 Peter 2:24, “by his wounds you have been healed.”

    Note 2. Sin is the soul’s sickness. There are many resemblances:

    (1)      The soul is disordered by sin, just as the body is put out of sorts by sickness.

    (2)      Deformity. Of all diseases mentioned in the law, sin was represented by leprosy, which most deforms the body.

    (3)      Sickness causes pain, and sin causes a sting in the conscience and horrors at the time of death (1 Corinthians 15:54-56).

    (4)      Weakness. The more sin there is, the more inability and feebleness for any work of grace. The apostle says, “we were still powerless” (Romans 5:6)—weak, sickly souls that could do no work; this is how we were in the state of nature. Indeed, after grace there is still daily feebleness; we never have perfect health until we reach heaven.

    Hence you see there is a general resemblance between sin and sickness.

    Theprayerofarighteousmanispowerfulandeffective. This is added by way of encouragement. In this sentence there are three things:

    (1)      The prayer is described as powerful. The word in the original is so sublime and emphatic that translations cannot reach the height of it. It has been translated in various ways—for example, as ordinary, daily prayer (but without any reason), or as prayer wrought in us by the Holy Spirit. The KJV translators, not knowing what expression to use, translated it by two words, “effectual fervent.” The phrase really means a prayer wrought and excited; and so it implies both the efficacy and influence of the Holy Spirit, and the force and vehemence of an earnest spirit and feeling.

    A true prayer must be an earnest, fervent prayer. The ancient sign of acceptance was setting fire to the sacrifice. Success may be recognized by the heat and warmth of our spirits. Prayer was symbolized by wrestling. Compare Genesis 32:26 with Hosea 12:4; certainly that is the way to prevail. Thus it is likened to the man who would take no denial (Luke 11:8); what the KJV translates “importunity” [and the NIV “persistence”] is “impudence” in the original Greek. Acts 26:7 says that the tribes of Israel served God “earnestly”; the word means “to the utmost of their strength.” Under the law the sweet perfumes in the censers were burnt before they ascended. Look to your feelings; get them fired by the Holy Spirit, that they may rise toward God in devout and religious flames. It is the usual sign of good that you will prevail with God like princes. Luther said, “Would to God I could always pray with such ardor, for then I would always have this answer: ‘Your request is granted’” (see Matthew 15:28).

    Be earnest and fervent, then, even if you cannot be eloquent. There is language in groans, and sighs are articulate. The child earnestly wants its mother’s breast when it cannot ask for it in words. Only beware that your earnestness does not arise from worldly desires and concerns. The sacrifices and perfumes were not to be burned with strange fire. When your censers are fired, do not let the coal be taken from the kitchen but from the altar. God has undertaken to satisfy spiritual desires but not worldly desires.

    In prayer we must be very diligent to work our hearts to the duty; thus the word indicates a prayer wrought and driven with much force and vehemence. It is said of the apostles that “they all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14). The phrase means the sort of perseverance that is kept up with much labor and force. It is no easy thing to pray and to work a lazy, dead heart into a necessary height of affection. The weights in a clock always run downward, but they are wound up by force; “to you, O LORD, I lift up my soul” (Psalm 25:1). When our affections are raised, it is hard to keep them up; like Moses’ hands, they soon flag and grow faint. A bird cannot stay in the air without continually flying and moving its wings. Neither can we persist in prayer without constant work and labor; our faith is so weak that we are kept there with difficulty. Affections flag, and then our thoughts are scattered; weariness leads to wandering. First our hearts are gone, and then our minds, so that we need much labor and diligence. All acts of duty are drawn from us by a holy force.

    (2)      The praying person is here described as righteous. This is not absolutely, as we see from the example of Elijah, who is said to be a man just like us; therefore, it means a man who is righteous in Christ, justified by faith.

    In prayer we should not only look at the kind of duty, but also at the kind of person. God first accepts the person, and then the duty. Thus the apostle proves that Abel was accepted by God’s testimony to his gifts (Hebrews 11:4); and the passage he alludes to, Genesis 4:4, plainly shows that God first looked to Abel, and then to his offering. I have read of a jewel that loses all its virtue when it is put into a dead man’s mouth; prayer is such a jewel in a dead man’s mouth—it has no power or efficacy: “The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with evil intent!” (Proverbs 21:27). Balaam came with seven rams and seven altars, and all this would not do. John 9:31 says, this being a proverb and a known principle, “God does not listen to sinners.”

    So then, when you come to pray, it is yourself that matters. Otherwise, you will be in danger of a legal spirit, hoping to gratify God by your prayers and good intentions. There is not a surer sign of reliance on duties than when you look entirely to the quality of the duty and not to quality of the person, as if the person were to be accepted for the sake of the action and not the action for the person. This plainly takes you back to the old covenant and makes works the basis of your acceptance with God. Then again, you will be in danger of being refused. God will have nothing to do with the wicked; he will not “take the wicked by the hand” (Job 8:20 [Geneva version]). And God will ask what you have to do with him (Psalm 50:16 ff.). Make sure of your interest in Christ; everything hangs upon that.

    (3)      The effect of the duty. It is effective. He does not tell you how effective—you will find that from trial and experience.

    Prayers rightly managed cannot lack results. This is the means that God has consecrated for receiving the highest blessings. Prayer is the key by which the mighty ones of God can lock heaven and open it at will. The best of the graces is faith, and the best of the duties is prayer; these are the best because they are the most useful to our present state. It is wonderful to consider what Scripture ascribes to faith and prayer; prayer sues for blessings in the court of grace, and faith receives them. God himself speaks as if his hands are tied by prayer: “Now leave me alone …” (Exodus 32:10). Indeed, he bargains with Moses and offers to make him into a great nation if he will hold his peace. It is the same with the expression in Isaiah 45:11, “Do you question me about my children?” These expressions are to be wondered at in holy reverence but not strained, lest our thoughts degenerate into crude blasphemy. Certainly they are mighty condescensions in which the Lord wants to show us the fruit and efficacy of prayer as he is pleased to accept it in Christ.

    So then, pray with this encouragement: God has said in an open place—that is, he has solemnly avowed before all the world—that no one will seek his face in vain (Isaiah 45:19).