Are sinners ”in the faith”?
Notice - Brethren, if anyone "among" you wanders from the truth...turns a "sinner" from the error of his way.. Some would argue that James says this one who turned from the truth was a "sinner," and was "among" but "not of" the brethren, then he wasn’t previously saved. That fits
1 John 2:19 - They went out "from" us, but they were "not of" us.. So, is this wanderer a professing Christian, whose faith is not genuine, or a sinning Christian, who needs to be restored? For the former, the death spoken of in verse 20 would be the "second death" (
Revelation 21:8); for the latter, it is "physical death." (
1 Corinthians 11:29-32;
1 John 5:16)
If this person was a genuine believer, how do we know for sure this is the second death in the lake of fire? In
Matthew 26:38, Jesus said: "My
soul [psuche] is deeply grieved, to the point of
death." Jesus was not saying that His soul was deeply grieved to the point of spiritual death, rather, Jesus was talking about
physical death, his human life. The Greek word translated “soul” is “psyche,” which has within its scope of meaning both “life” and “person.” Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life [psyche] a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:28) But no one would argue that Christ gave up His eternal life. He did not risk eternal judgment; He gave up His mortal life.
In
Revelation 16:3, "The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living
soul [psuche] in the sea
died". In
1 Peter 3:20 "... God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons,
[psuche-souls] were brought safely (saved from drowning--physical death) through the water" by the ark. (
Hebrews 11:7)
So, we could safely translate that clause as “he will save a life from death” or “he will save a person from physical death.” In other words, by bringing a wandering saint back to the truth we help them avoid premature death just as God brought death on people within the Corinthian church for participating unworthily in the Lord’s Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:29-30) It was a means of judgment, but not eternal separation. In verse 32, we read - But when we are judged, we are
chastened by the Lord, that we
may not be condemned with the world.
This may be what the Apostle John had in mind in 1 John 5:16. Certain folks jump to the conclusion that
1 John 5:16 is talking about believers committing certain sins that lead them to spiritual death, but that does not fit the context.
1 John 5:16 - If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.
There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and
there is sin not leading to death. 18 We know that
whoever is born of God does not sin; (does not deliberately and knowingly practice committing sin - AMPC))
but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
As for sins being covered, Jesus covered our sins in one way (
Romans 4:7) by bringing forgiveness for all believers, yet sins can also be covered in a different way. In
Proverbs 10:12, we read: Hatred stirs up strife, but
love covers all sins. In
1 Peter 4:8, we read: And above all things have fervent love for one another, for
"love will cover a multitude of sins." Where there is strife, there is hatred and unless love prevails, the strife will get worse. Love covers offenses and sins when a believer turns back from error.
