A brother in Christ has recently heard a preacher on the radio say that the last two verses of James prove that a Christian can lose his salvation. Let’s take a look at this passage and see how they fit in with the rest of the Bible’s teaching on God, man, and eternal life:
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (Jas 5:19-20 ESV)
1. God is our Savior
James tells us how we can save someone. This should automatically raise a red flag that salvation from hell (aka justification) is not in question. People can save other people from many things, but eternal condemnation is not one of them. God is our Savior, not other men; the three Members of the Trinity are involved in justification and other men are not. Pay attention to God’s work compared to man’s work in Titus 3:4-7:
But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Saving someone from hell is an act of God, not man.
2. The psuche dies physically
The Greek word for “soul” here is psuche, which could also be translated, “life.” There are actually a couple of Greek words for life. Zoe is the one you see in the term, “eternal life.” Bios can be used in reference to the course of life (Lk 8:14; 1 Tim 2:2; 1 John 2:16; 2 Tim2:4). Whenever the Bible talks about a “soul” (Gk. psuche, Heb. nephesh) dying, it is always a physical death.
And as [Rachel’s] soul [Heb. nephesh – LXX has psuche] was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. (Gen 35:18 ESV)
See how the soul leaving is an idiom for dying?
Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul [Heb. nephesh – LXX has psuche] shall live because of thee. (Gen 12:12-13 KJV)
Was Abraham scared that the Egyptians would take his eternal life or physical life?
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life [Gr. psuche] are dead.” (Mat 2:19-20 ESV)
Did Herod try to kill Jesus physically, or was he just trying to make Him sin and lose salvation?
3. Eternal life is… eternal
Everlasting life lasts forever. It’s part of the name. If it was able to stop, then God has been calling it the wrong thing this whole time.
For some reason, many preachers teach that eternal life is the only eternal thing that can end. Thankfully, they don’t teach that the “Eternal God” (Deut 33:27) can stop existing, nor that His “eternal power” (Rom 1:20) will eventually become weak. These eternal aspects of God can never cease because they are directly tied to His very nature. Likewise, Christ’s promise to give eternal life is intimately linked to His holiness and His Messianic office. Consider the response that Jesus gives the Jews when they ask Him, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24b):
…I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10:28-30 ESV)
Notice that He defines eternal life as life in which someone will never perish. Notice also that nobody can take someone away from Christ nor the Father: they are both involved in keeping believers secure, not to mention the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). Christ even ties eternal security to His deity by saying, “I and the Father are one.” To deny the eternal aspect of eternal life is to deny an important role in Christ’s position in the Trinity. In fact, since this is Jesus’ response to the question of whether or not He is the Christ, then denying this truth would be a denial of His Christship.
Conclusion
We have just looked at three reasons why Jas 5:19-20 is not talking about eternal life: God is our Savior, the psuche dies physically, and eternal life is eternal. We can also use these three truths when we look at other tough passages. If anyone ever tries to give a goofy salvation message, just ask yourself, “Is God the Savior in this message?” or “Do the verses he’s using really mean eternal life and not something else?” or “Is this person trying to say that eternal life really isn’t eternal?” So, let’s look at the verse one more time:
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (Jas 5:19-20 ESV)
James is talking about Christians saving other Christians from the physical death that comes as a result of sinful lifestyles. He cannot be talking about God saving unbelievers from eternal, spiritual death that comes as a result of the fallen state we are born into.
A lot of false doctrine is in conflict with these three points.