James 5:20, commentary and pictures

To turn a sinner back from the error of his way is to save a soul from death and to hide a multitude of sins, and this restoring work is a great missionary work of Christlike love. To convert is to turn one who has wandered from truth and righteousness back to truth, to save from death is to rescue from spiritual ruin and eternal death and give life to the dead, and to hide sins is to have them forgiven, covered and pardoned through humble repentance, confession and restitution. Every believer is personally responsible to share in this work of turning sinners to truth and righteousness, cooperating with God through the Holy Spirit moving on minds to understand His Word. The erring one is to be approached privately, calmly, kindly and directly to heal rather than by spreading reports or gossip, with sympathy, tender love, patience and meekness rather than scorn, condemnation or censure, lifting up Jesus and leading to the forgiving Saviour. The work calls for strong faith, fervent prayer, faithful admonition and enduring patience even amid indifference and opposition, and it pays because it makes Jesus glad and causes rejoicing among the angels.

Meaning of the Promise

The verse promises that turning a sinner from the error of his way saves a soul from death and hides a multitude of sins. When one wanders from the truth the right work is to restore and turn him back, not to condemn him, and this restoring work is a great missionary work and Christlike love for one another. It belongs to bringing people from sin to righteousness through the Holy Spirit working through believers, and every believer is to join in it by inviting others to come so that thirsty souls may be led to the water of life. It applies to correcting those who cherish evil thoughts and speech, with confession and prayer among believers, and it calls for patient loving labor and for each church member to take personal responsibility to help others find the right way.

To convert is to turn one who has wandered from truth and righteousness back from a wrong course to truth. To save from death is to rescue from spiritual ruin and its consequences, from eternal death and perdition, and to give life to the dead. That rescue comes through repentance, through trusting in the Lord who gives strength to overcome weakness, through choosing Christ and turning from sin in a moral revival expressed in changed thoughts, words and actions, by which the repentant humble believer is healed, comforted, restored to favor and given everlasting life.

Giving life to the spiritually dead requires as great an outlay of divine power as raising the physically dead. The reason is that it requires creating new tastes and new motives, which Christ is able to do because He came to destroy the works of the enemy and will accomplish what He has pledged to perform.

The death to be saved from includes losing interest in the truth through uniting with worldly men and losing hold on God. It is spiritual ruin and walking in spiritual blindness, so helping those in that blindness and laboring in hope and prayer that the wrongdoer may come through without losing hold on God carries out this work.

Hiding a multitude of sins means the returning sinner's sins are forgiven, covered and pardoned through humble repentance, confession, forsaking of sin and restitution. It means shielding them from wider exposure and harm rather than shaming, condemning, magnifying indiscretion or spreading hearsay far and wide, going directly and privately to the one in error with desire to heal and not to tear to pieces, telling the fault between the two alone so the brother is gained. It also means keeping the person from committing many further sins, averting further sin and its harm, as when parents encourage and support a wayward son rather than continually pressing his fault upon him, and when humble fervent prayer rescues from death. This work continues even when the offender stands outside the church: if he responds to the Spirit, confesses and forsakes sin and shows repentance, he is to be forgiven and welcomed back.

Genuine repentance that saves sees sinful character with sorrow, asks forgiveness and changes conduct, without excusing or defending wrongdoing. It is grateful to have recognized and righted wrongs before it was too late, and turns from self-righteousness to a reformed life in thoughts, words and actions. A fall need not be final but can teach lessons never learned otherwise, as Peter was a better man after his fall. The Lord permits His children to fall and, if they repent, helps them stand on vantage ground, purifying them by temptation and trial as fire purifies gold; if the heart has not been hardened by disregard of great light, temptation and fall will bring repentance, and then humble fervent prayer rescues from death while confession and restitution cover many sins.

Recovery and conversion require turning from error, but pride and Satan's deception can keep a person from that recovery. Confessing faults, confessing wrongs and seeking forgiveness and pardon are part of facing the wrong that must be addressed and bring restoration. Refusing to acknowledge sin leaves it standing against the sinner for the judgment.

Erring from the way includes lacking heavenly wisdom and spiritual discernment, standing opposed to God's counsel, lacking deep Christian sympathy in time of great affliction, being blinded by Satan as to one's own spiritual condition, and holding unfounded and cruel prejudice about means. Conversion from that error comes through plain searching faithful reproof that makes wrongs manifest, accepted with deep sorrow of heart, with acknowledgment of blindness and wrong, and with asking forgiveness of God and of His people for wherein the erring have erred from the right.

Reclaiming backsliders and bringing sinners to conversion follows thorough dealing with wrongs, hearty confession and restoration of perfect union. That work brings God's signal blessing and is sealed when the converted are buried in baptism.

By contrast, pride hides a multitude of sins in a false sense that is warned against. Preferring a flashy superficial person because that person gratifies pride is not sound moral judgment, and pride and unsanctified feelings warp judgment and harm family relationships.

Turning a soul away from the Word and misleading even one person brings immeasurable loss and can lead to loss of eternal life. One who leads others astray must come to God with repentance and confession.

Responsibility to Rescue Souls

Every believer and every church member is personally responsible to take part in turning sinners from error to truth and righteousness, doing the work God gives and becoming doers of the Word by putting it into practice. This is service to God by seeking the salvation of others, with each one to use the power and usefulness God gives to help turn sinners from error to truth, and with members to work together to win sinners to Christ.

Those who know the truth must share the light received and communicate life-giving truth publicly and privately, convincing and turning sinners from their course before Satan controls them. The ability to speak is given to convey the truth people need to be saved, including the law that calls them to account to God, and ministers must first receive grace and then share it with hearers. Failure to warn, to share forgiveness, and to make persistent personal appeal can leave people to die in error and contribute to their ruin, while sharing the light can lead others to become workers for God. Neglect of this personal effort brings guilt before God too great for human language to express.

This rescuing work is cooperating with God in seeking and saving the lost, done as the Holy Spirit moves on minds to understand God's Word, with faithful human effort united with divine agencies. Heavenly intelligences wait and long to cooperate with human workers through the Holy Spirit, and those who help others in this way are themselves filled with the love of God. It calls for standing by the erring person, praying with and for him, advising him, and giving him another chance, as laborers together with God in Christlike mercy. Christ alone has power to convert the sinner from the error of his way, and the weakened soul led into Satan's path and taken captive must cast himself upon Christ, who will receive him, change the current of his thoughts, and transform words and deeds as proof of divine grace upon the heart.

Rescuing a sinner is a matter of life and death calling for even greater concern and effort than saving from physical death. It requires a great outlay of active, positive power by every true believer to turn sinners from the gates of hell and the path of ruin, by letting light shine in good works that flash upon the pathway, holding forth the Word of life, sounding warning without waiting to be asked, and laying hold of the sinner. It requires expostulating and entreating him to leave his course with luster of piety, energy and earnestness of faith, practical godliness, and souls subdued by the love of God, habitually and perseveringly urging his danger as God requires.

The work requires strong faith, consistent zeal, fervent prayer, and faithful incessant admonition against all wrong, taught in the home and in the church, for only religion shining out in good works gives a clear, sure, safe light that turns sinners from error. It requires loving, kindly effort with hearts broken by Christ's love and earnest prayer to rescue a brother caught in Satan's snare, with enduring patience and unwavering faith amid indifference, opposition, ridicule and failure that can discourage the young in faith. This soul-saving work that turns many to righteousness and fills God's garner with precious sheaves reconciles to separation from friends and makes self-denial and enduring anything worthwhile, and devotion to helping souls see the saving value of truth may involve suffering and even loss of life.

God holds each one responsible for those around them, with sinners to save and souls to be won as Christ's given work, and allowing iniquity to remain separates from Christ and from that work. Searching the Scriptures for oneself as for hidden treasure gives the truths and strength needed to stand in the day of God and to do that work, with resolve not to disappoint the Saviour who died, to have heaven at any cost, and to praise Him through eternity. Time should be spent exposing sin and rescuing souls rather than listening to prolonged self-justifications over minor disputes. Abilities God gives should be used to save others, for loving, humble efforts can enlighten and convert, while a life putting worldly interests first and devotion to worldly pursuits bears no fruit to convict sinners or turn them to truth.

Human agents are to serve as channels of light to recover those who wandered from truth, including those who led others astray because they were themselves deceived, leading these souls back to God. Christ as heavenly Shepherd knows where straying lambs are and will gather them, calling ministers and lay members to unite with Him in seeking the lost with determined united effort, and the Lord will not permit His sheep to be deceived and destroyed. This special duty is carried out by encouraging and helping those sorely beset by temptation who do not know which way to turn, and through grace any believer can become able to bring wandering ones back to the fold.

Those who guide others must themselves be genuinely converted, sanctified through belief in the truth, transformed and ennobled, and fit for sacred ministry, otherwise they hinder rather than help and their efforts are unconvincing. This requires devotion and humble religion, laying aside lofty ideas of self, feeling nothingness without Christ, sitting at Jesus' feet learning of Him, following Christ in humble selfless service, and being willing even to be a servant as Christ though King of Glory was servant of fallen man. Neglect of one's own spiritual life and home duties and un-Christlike words and conduct make influence ineffective, and then Christ is needed as a very present help in time of need to the worker. One who turns back to God by humbly confessing and repenting of own wrongs rather than fixating on another's faults can then help restore others and cover a multitude of sins, and one wholly on God's side working with Him can rescue many from death.

A gospel worker who has been severe, overbearing, rash, disrespectful and dictatorial must humble his heart before God, reform those traits, confess wrongs to those treated wrongly, remove every straw laid in their way, and make any concession at any cost without compromising truth, so no soul turns from truth with bitterness and prejudice against truth is removed. Effective converting work requires living light-bearers whose whole being is transformed and whose current of life flows toward God and heaven, to turn sinners from cherished errors to become cross-bearing disciples. It requires a firmer hold upon God, abiding in Jesus with Jesus abiding within, sanctification by truth with the whole life elevated, ennobled and dignified, thorough conversion with an indwelling Saviour shining forth to bless society, family, friends and church, preaching Christ as Alpha and Omega woven into every sermon, and lives of prayer, piety, devotion and walking with God.

The worth of a soul can never be estimated except through the cross and by measuring eternity, and ministers must feel both its peril and its worth. A sinner saved from death is to save other souls from death, with capacity and power as partakers of the divine nature that does not cease in the immortal world but increases in spiritual strength and divine knowledge in this life to rise higher and comprehend more clearly the honor, glorious elevation and felicity of the ransomed. God has made men His agents and almoners to dispense heavenly gifts by bringing souls to truth with hearts filled with Jesus' love, which requires bringing tithes and offerings so workers can be sent, economizing and avoiding needless expense, and supplying food and clothing to the needy so those in soul-poverty understand salvation's goodness.

Proclaiming the truth about the one God and Jesus Christ the one Mediator can turn people from idolatry to worship of the living God, and using means to bring people away from error to God saves souls from death. Believers have obligation to share that light. Christ's sacrifice to save a perishing world is the reason Christians should strive to save souls, and people who come in contact with truth and righteousness are worth saving through watchful prayer and work.

Way to Restore Erring

The erring one is to be approached privately, calmly, kindly and directly, telling the fault between the two alone so the brother may be gained, with desire to heal and not to tear to pieces, rather than spreading hearsay, reports, accusations or gossip. Such private approach is the duty of every church member, done wisely and with love and sympathy to correct the wrong and restore peace and unity, aiming to restore rather than shame or retaliate. It is to be done tenderly and plainly, helping him see his wrong so he can reform, without shaming, condemning or exposing him, and success means recovering a soul and shielding many sins from wider harm. Personal interest is to be shown and prayer offered with and for him, with sincere concern for his redemption rather than public accusation.

Hiding sins does not mean concealing sin or glossing over wrongdoing. Correcting directly in Christlike meekness is required, not as fault-finding, for ignoring or glossing over wrongdoing leaves the person unaware of the wrong and makes the one who failed to warn share in the punishment. Unwise sympathy works against restoration by treating sin as a small matter, discouraging confession, humiliation and reformation, and leading the erring to persist in wrongdoing. Helping the erring calls for pity and forgiveness, not shunning them or withholding care until they meet a standard.

Restoration requires sympathy, tender love, pity, courtesy, gentleness, patience, kindness and meekness rather than scorn, distrust, accusation, condemnation, censure or reproach. No one is ever reclaimed from a wrong position by censure or reproach, for that course drives people away from God and steels hearts against conviction. It is a great missionary work to be done with love and meekness, laboring for conversion to the truth, where kindness and encouragement can help the lost overcome sin and return to what is good. Needless censure repels and hardens against conviction, while a kind, winning approach may lead them back.

A tender spirit and gentle, winning deportment saves those in error and covers many sins, opening hearts frozen by avarice and hands closed to human suffering, fulfilling the charity that suffers long and is kind. A life showing Christ's character can influence others and help renew them, where censure and reproach may drive the erring away from Christ. Walking circumspectly, holding fast to Jesus, speaking no hasty speech, and showing kindness, courtesy, respect, sympathy, hopefulness, courage and melting love with no bitterness toward the erring may convert sinners who know little of the Spirit and do not discern their peril of losing their souls, winning them to come to Jesus and take Him as counselor, which is victory gained on the Lord's side, for the Lord bears long with erring children purchased at infinite cost.

Lifting up Jesus can lead to change of character through the Spirit. Opening the Bible with prayer and earnest interest, treating the deceived one with tender love for Christ's sake and bearing burdens, restores in the spirit of meekness rather than leaving him out in the cold or censuring him and calling him dishonest. Wise, patient work can reach one caught in sin and struggling under temptation, helping him understand character and weakness, reach Christ, trust in God, come out of Satan's snare and be bound to Christ, which is work for eternal salvation rescuing a soul from death. More than reproving sin is required: the erring must be treated with tender sympathy, encouraged to hope in God's mercy, and led in repentance to the forgiving Saviour, for giving up on the sinner or treating so harshly that hope and courage are lost can ruin a soul, while faithful labor seeks to restore and free from Satan's control.

The work calls for watchfulness and caring effort toward the weak, those troubled by error or criticism, the neglected, the halting and discouraged, and those who feel neglected and in spiritual peril, drawing them within loving influence and toward the light. It means binding up wounds and linking with them in the tender spirit of Christ, showing sympathy and interest, drawing them in brotherly love into safe paths, showing care for their souls, and praying with them and for them, with God working with human effort and with His agents to bring them back. Those who help must also take heed lest they themselves be tempted, and must not weaken faith, destroy confidence, cast gloom, draw away, or speak words of vanity. Those gone astray are to be watched over faithfully and tenderly and prayed for earnestly so they may be rescued.

One in a position of trust who sees a fellow worker in error must not throw the burden of reproof on the manager but must go himself, in kindness and tenderness tell him of his wrong and of its sure result unless he changes, invite him to talk with God about the matter and kneel down with him and pray for help. This is to be done showing sincere desire for his welfare and watching for souls as one that must give an account, especially looking after apprentices lest they be led astray. In nine cases out of ten this succeeds, instead of searching for defects and speaking harsh words that bring spiritual defection.

A timely opportunity to speak gently and lovingly for God, sought in prayer and not neglected through excuses, may lead to a soul's salvation from death. A word spoken at the right time can help save a soul from death. A visit marked by prayer and Christian hospitality can help turn a person from sin and save a soul from death, and even one such visit may bring this result. Earnest personal effort to draw souls to Christ by the truth, showing tender solicitude for people in neglected settlements, searching for individuals, visiting them, becoming acquainted with them and their families, and continuing to labor for those very near belief, will not be in vain even where much has been done and much more still needs to be done.

Reproof and correction, when heeded, can turn the erring toward repentance and save from death while hiding a multitude of sins. Those who notice another's faults have special responsibility to help rather than push away or leave to harsh words and unchristlike methods without the love and pity and grace of Christ. They should speak kindly, tell mistakes with kindest sympathy, hold out the hand of hope, tell never to be discouraged, offer hope and sympathy, encourage confession, and pray with the erring, and the Lord then pardons. Fervent prayer offered in earnest love for souls for whom Christ died benefits both those prayed for and the one who prays, and the experience of being helped teaches how to deal mercifully with others who make mistakes.

Confession of sins with united prayers of brethren lifts the burden from the soul and heals the wound sin has made. Humbling the heart by confessing sins brings united prayers and healing, and leading to confess faults brings the Lord's pardon.

Those who are spiritual must make decided efforts to recover one deceived and erring from the truth, restoring in meekness, bearing burdens, and opening the Bible with prayer and earnest interest. When the unruly or erring one does not reform even after all has been done according to the Bible rule with the gentleness, compassion and love Christ has shown, forbearance must still continue with more effort and careful thought about the effect of every action. Seeking to save the lost is the highest service to God, and labor for recovery of those departed from the faith or lost in error should continue with truth and strong evidence, because some can be rescued from Satan's snares.

One who sees another straying must not pass by without helping but should speak a word that may lead back and save the soul, with the rescued gaining the bliss of heaven and a life measured by the life of God. Gently warning and helping turn from a dangerous course, with compassion, prayer and personal effort to restore rather than retaliation or pushing into greater darkness, may save from death and cover many sins. Making special effort to bring back the straying saves from death and hides sins, while leaving the wandering to perish or treating without sympathy and Christlike love can discourage return and even drive farther from God, leaving those who neglect seeking and restoring responsible for souls left uncared for.

The work continues even when the offender stands outside the church: if he responds to the Holy Spirit, confesses and forsakes sin and shows repentance, he is to be forgiven and welcomed back. Only after meek restoration work has been done and he will not hear is there to be warning of the church of his defection.

A church member's name must not be struck off until the Saviour's directions for dealing with the erring have been followed to the letter. It is to be done not in a hard, denunciatory, cold, unfeeling spirit destitute of grace, but in a loving, compassionate spirit, talking kindly and showing real interest, after the manner of the parable of the lost sheep, which shows Christ's manner of working for sinners and His rejoicing in rescue of souls in peril, and Christ's pointed-out way is the only successful way for His servants in dealing with those gone out of the way. Seeking the wandering with the Saviour's love means leaving ease and comfort to search patiently for a soul for whom Christ died who is in peril, without fault-finding, until recovery, with true servants responding with exceeding joy and gratitude.

The deeper the sin and misery, the more earnest and tender the effort for recovery should be, reaching out with tender sympathy, faith and love to bring to Christ and encourage steadfastness. Converting the sinner and saving from death is done by bearing one another's burdens with sympathy and tenderness and helping others bear burdens, thus fulfilling the law of God. It means not cherishing wrongdoing by speaking fretfully and impatiently in words that wound and bruise, not causing souls to be lost by a spirit of criticism that magnifies mistakes instead of love, not sanctioning a brother's wrong course yet not condemning him for being in sin but trying to save him from sin, making allowance for infirmities of others because all have infirmities.

Winning back a terribly misled soul to Jesus so his soul is saved takes much love, tenderness, forbearance, patience, kindness and thoughtfulness, with cheerful and encouraging speech and prayer in faith, and God helps those who try. It must be done without one word of faultfinding or accusing, even when accusation seems deserved, because faultfinding only gives excuse to look to others for sympathy and comfort and attention, while the devil means to keep him misled.

Workers together with Christ save a soul ready to perish by converting from error, keeping souls from turning in a wrong direction and becoming lost to the cause of God. This is done by winning souls with sanctified tact, skill, wisdom, tenderness and earnest desire, reaching people where they are, never suppressing truth but uttering it always in love, never rude and never giving needless pain to any sensitive soul, fearlessly denouncing hypocrisy, unbelief and iniquity with sorrow in the voice, and this exercise of tact and wisdom increases usefulness one hundredfold. The opportunity calls for wisdom, closeness and compassionate help rather than condemnation, and for Christlike love, mercy, gentleness and tact, for without compassion attempts to correct can cause pain and harm, while loving care can help restore.

Faithful work for perishing souls is by watchfulness, prayer, earnest warnings and entreaties, and careful removal of stumbling blocks, whereby workers may win others to Christ. A person's example and influence matter in view of eternity and are recorded for judgment, calling for self-examination whether example has shown God's light and supported the truth. Those entrusted with caring for others are accountable for souls they should have labored to reach, and when self-seeking or neglect keeps people from being turned toward truth, those who might have been influenced for truth may become prey to the destroyer, facing destruction unless turned from error to truth.

Giving Dr. Gibbs a place to prove himself after he had been mistreated could provide help as a means of saving his soul from death. If the brethren have treated one like A. R. Henry wrongly, they should remove that wrong and, if possible, help save his soul, though not by appeasing covetousness with payment, since indulging that desire would not save him.

The one converted from error sees himself as he is, stands not in own strength but in the strength of God, unites strength with others, becomes a power for good, and helps save others from going over the same wrong ground. Recovering a soul who has lost bearings calls for doing all in power to save him, receiving sincere acknowledgment of mistakes with forgiveness, and giving thanks with gladness, so unity is strengthened and the work stands on a better and surer foundation.

Saving a soul from death and hiding sins requires humbling oneself and seeking peace rather than escalating a dispute, so another is not ruined but may be brought back to life with God. Turning a sinner from error to save from death requires dealing fairly and helpfully rather than watching until one is in difficulty and then pushing him to the wall, for watching and then pushing does not save from error.

Blessings of Saving Work

The work pays because it is cooperating with God in seeking and saving what was lost, it makes Jesus glad, and it causes rejoicing among the angels of God. To be an instrument in turning sinners from their wrong way and saving them from death brings joy, and efforts and gifts made for Christ's glory are rewarded with blessings to the giver. Those moved by grace and Christ's love long to save the people around them from spiritual death, a work that may call for any sacrifice. Reclaiming those who have strayed from the right way belongs to the urgent work of saving the world, calling for greater sacrifice and earnest labor for those out of the way.

Turning sinners from the error of their way saves souls from death and turns many to righteousness, filling God's garner with precious sheaves. That soul-saving work reconciles to separation from friends and makes self-denial and enduring anything worthwhile. The worth of a soul can never be estimated except through the cross and by measuring eternity, and ministers must feel both its peril and its worth. A sinner saved from death is to save other souls from death, and those rescued, as partakers of the divine nature, have capacity and power in this world that does not cease in the immortal world but increases in spiritual strength and divine knowledge in this life to rise higher and to comprehend more clearly the honor and glorious elevation and felicity of the ransomed in the future life. So it was that a man who had left the truth returned after reading books given to him, his family joined him, and they helped save other families.

Giving the time and delight spent on growing plants to saving souls ready to perish saves those souls from death and saves the worker's own soul in the kingdom of God. Souls are precious plants watered carefully and cultured by words and by close, interested efforts that pull them out of the fire of moral pollution, and they will perish in their sins unless someone's helping hand is stretched out to save them. Entering missionary work may save one's own soul through that service, and young people who would work if urged into service would save their own souls through that work. So too a husband's self-denying work to save souls ended in his death, yet he trusted that his wife and children living near fellow believers would have a saving influence, and that the brethren's sympathy and care would partly ease their loss.

Callings for Saving Work

God's servants are to use every resource to enlarge the kingdom, with no idlers in the vineyard, every believer pledged to unite with brethren in giving the invitation to come, encouraging one another in whole-hearted work, with a living church giving earnest invitations that lead thirsty souls to the water of life, constantly enlarging the circle of effort to proclaim the gospel in regions beyond until the work encircles the world, selecting and training worthy young men as co-laborers and sanctifying self by example so others are enabled to do successful work in winning souls, for turning the sinner from error saves a soul from death and hides a multitude of sins.
The true work of a minister is converting the sinner from error, not merely giving discourses but living the gospel, ministering for the good of others, hunting for the lost sheep, and devising ways to bring sinners back to Christ, with unselfish diligent labor causing those labored for to increase in spirituality so lost perishing souls are saved from death, and when ministers prove true shepherds watching for souls as they that must give an account the Word goes with power and God's name is glorified.
Saving a soul from perdition is the end of a minister's labors, requiring everything possible in every line to save souls and build up in truth and righteousness the soul just entering a new experience, seeking results not praise, requiring more than preaching alone, requiring visiting people and coming into personal contact with them, with holy living, fervent prayer, painstaking effort to discharge duty, and loyalty to the crucified and risen Saviour, which God accepts.
Physicians and ministers bound together by indissoluble ties are to reclaim backsliders from error and save souls from death with freshness and power after reconversion and reconsecration to service, oneness of accord, wrestling prayer for the Holy Spirit to come into every heart, and the manifest presence of Christ curing the leprosy of unbelief.
Those who reclaim must first put away their own sins by confession and repentance and humble proud hearts before God, becoming channels through which light and grace go to the world, with floods of spiritual power poured upon those prepared to receive it.

Parents can save their erring boy's soul from death by turning him from error, not withdrawing love and sympathy when others look coldly and judge harshly, keeping hope and refusing any course that tells him shame and dishonor will keep them from taking him back into confidence and forgetting transgressions, but in pitying tenderness guiding footsteps into safe paths and holding him fast by faith and love while clinging to the all-pitying Redeemer, because in error he needs them most, though caught in Satan's snare he was redeemed by Christ's death, bought by Christ's blood, and his soul is precious to God and of value with Him.
Justice toward the erring must always stand side by side with mercy and love, taking the erring one to the heart as Christ takes His erring ones, with kindness and forgiveness required because without Christ all are liable to go astray into things grievous to Him.
Saving a wayward son even when his fault is ever so grievous requires a right course that saves from death and keeps from a multitude of sins, not by constantly pressing his fault upon him and not by talking discouragement and hopelessness, but by talking courage, throwing around him tenderness, affection and forgiveness, holding him in faith, telling him he can redeem himself, and helping him take hold from above to plant feet on the solid Rock Christ Jesus to find sure support and unfailing strength, trusting Jesus knows it all, His love deep and unchangeable, pitying woes, carrying sorrows, a Helper to be trusted.
Parents should encourage and support rather than continually press fault, and a parent's firm action to remove a daughter from harmful influences and guide her toward right habits may save her soul from eternal ruin, for decisive efforts to turn from a destructive course can save from death, since right habits preserve health while wrong habits ruin present and immortal life.
Angry scolding or shaking will not convert a child from wrongdoing to obedience, so parents are to be converted and consecrated themselves, speak kindly, instruct children in God's requirements, and with firm influence guide wayward feet to keep them in God's path.

Teachers turn the sinner from error to save from death and hide many sins by drawing the needy student close with love and sympathy, praying for and with the struggler, offering help rather than anger or harsh words, and encouraging against evil, for treating the unpromising only as deserved cuts off hope, while compassionate care restores hope and self-respect and may gain a soul for heaven.
Harsh treatment and unjust cutting reproof destroy hope, damage influence, and ruin a soul, squandering the precious opportunity, while responding with the Spirit of Christ may gain a soul for heaven and for Christ.
In college and school settings diligent caring reform efforts to turn from a wrongful course can save from death and cover many sins, and even those who appear hardened may still be reached and reformed, by watching over straying students, speaking and praying with them to bring them to Jesus Christ.
Turning sinners to Christ and guiding the unbelieving and discouraged toward heaven is soul-winning work, which consecrated young people growing in spiritual knowledge can do by warning sinners, winning souls, and pointing unbelievers and the discouraged toward heaven, and those saved may in turn help save others.

Youth are precious to Christ and He died for them, so they are to be treated as His children, helped in every time of need with wholesome encouraging words, unselfish deeds, friendship, Christlikeness, and evidence of love, patiently and tenderly led to Jesus, with greater good from earnest unselfish effort than can be known, and kindness, prayer, and loving interest can help them resist temptation and turn from harmful paths to save from death and cover many sins.
Young people should seek work that saves others from ruin and death, praying earnestly and asking Christ for wisdom to reach souls, which can save both others and themselves.
Physicians share in turning sinners from sin to save souls from death by rightly using knowledge to cooperate with God's restoring work rather than against it, giving instruction from God's word and strengthening it with tears and prayers so souls may be saved, speaking of Christ's love and forgiveness and patiently teaching God's word, sharing the love of the sin-pardoning Saviour, with earnest thought and prayer in caring for the sick helping save life and, through Christ, the soul, acting as evangelists using bodily care to speak of Christ's power to heal the soul.
A godly physician in a health institution can convert the sinner and rescue a soul from death by speaking words in wisdom that lead a suffering person letting go of this life to rely on Jesus, holding forth the Word of life as Christ's ambassador while working with skill to heal the body, which requires purity of motive and a soul firmly guarded so no impure, common, sensual thought finds lodging in the heart.

Converting work includes leading away from poisonous drug medication, enlightening at every point how to care for self, and teaching daily use of God's agencies instead of drugs, done for the Master by the willing and obedient walking in obedience to God's holy law in humility, uplifting the weak and trembling, not aiming to acquire means, and manifesting the spirit Christ gave in His example.
Sanitariums established in many places are where lessons in turning from error to seek the Lord and learn how to preserve health of body and soul are best learned, not by spoken words alone but by practical knowledge, as patients successfully treated bear testimony to the virtue of simple healthful natural remedies without drugs.
Instruction in caring for self can turn from harmful practices and do saving good, and helping turn from destructive habits to truth can save from death, as shown when renunciation of tobacco and liquor brought renewed strength and changed conduct toward family with influence then reaching the neighborhood.
The call to reach the intemperate enslaved in every social class reflects the value of seeking salvation and eternal life, for turning from a wrong way rescues from death and Christ can give strength to overcome sinful habits.

Pastors and teachers must work zealously for souls of young helpers and patients who do not know the Lord, for helping turn from error to be saved is duty.
In an institution where workers meet lives that look impossible to rescue, converting the sinner is the Lord's work requiring not doing nothing but taking hold and doing every possible thing with the very best intelligence and knowledge, making special effort even for a life wholly given to Satan rather than leaving such a one alone, in hope of winning him to Christ to be glorified if God sees fit to raise him up.
Money carefully and rightly spent can help bring a person to salvation, for many small contributions can support missions and help save souls, and those whose wealth is entrusted by God can help open the way for the gospel to reach others and save souls from death by turning from unrighteousness to righteousness, including sharing the purpose of giving boxes and the needs of children in the South to help save souls.
Turning souls from sin to righteousness is done by getting essential publications before the world everywhere, by gospel ministry of the Word, and by praying for the sick, which is the work for those who should become canvassers, while personal Sabbath-school efforts to help and strengthen the tempted can also turn from wrong paths, save from death, and cover many sins.
Converted believers are to labor patiently and lovingly beginning with families and reaching those around them to lead sinners away from error, rescue from the enemy's power, and save from death, with genuine conversion bearing fruits of overcoming selfishness, showing God's love through earnest work, and turning souls from sin to righteousness, as obedient children and stewards of grace laboring for salvation with success crowning efforts while giving God the glory.
Tender compassion toward one in danger can help save from death, as in not letting a burdened worker become so burdened that reason is imperiled.