James 5--IF, Confess and a Difficult Passage.

What to do IF:
If you are suffering ==> pray
If you are cheerful ==> sing
If you are sick ==> call for elders to anoint with oil in the name of the Lord.

I love to sing. Sometimes I just catch myself subconsciously singing a praise chorus or hymn. But when I'm suffering or sick, I sometimes forget to pray. Fortunately, I don't get sick very often. Nor have I had to endure much suffering. I do have a question about what it means to anoint with oil.

Confess your sins to one another that you may be healed.
The main point here is the need to confess to one another. We have tried to develop this as a habit of our family. Some of us still have a ways to go. But we continue to press on...



v. 19-20 were hard for me.
Here are the verses in the NKJV.
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

I had to do a bit of study, but here's what I've come to.
If a brother in the Lord (true believer) is sinning, someone should turn him back (tell him the truth that he is sinning). The one who helps him to see the error of his ways will save his soul (life) from (physical) death and cover many sins (of the one erring).

I lean reformed. I was confused at first as the reading seemed to suggest that a believer could lose his salvation. But I know other passages where it talks about a true believer should be assured of his salvation--also known as perseverance of the saints (the P in TULIP). So it makes sense to me that the word "soul" (psyche in Greek) can be translated as life.

Here's a definition from Strong's (5590)
Psyche--
1) breath

• the breath of life
• the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing
• life
  that in which there is life
  a living being, a living soul