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"Confess your trespasses to one another..."

Text: James 5:16

CONFESSION OF TRESPASSES

To whom should we go when there are trespasses? James was very clear about this. The following text explains things very clearly.

“Confess your trespasses to one another,
and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
James 5:16

1. “Confess your trespasses to one another”

a) “Confession”

i) Full confession is in mind here.

ii) Honesty and candidness must prevail.

b) “Trespasses”

i) The word used here is a general word for “sin”.

ii) Where there is sin there must be confession.

c) “To one another”

i) Not just to a priest.

ii) But to each other.

2. “Pray for one another, that you may be healed”

a) Praying for one another in this context has the element of seeking and receiving forgiveness.

b) When one has sinned against another it is wise to seek forgiveness.

c) Healing is “not a given”. (Hence this verb was written in the subjunctive mode.)

d) Healing may or may not take place depending on other factors and not just prayer.

3. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”

a) “The righteous man”

i) This is an important point to note.

ii) It is not just prayer but the prayer of a righteous man.

b) How the righteous man prays

i) He prays with strength and power (literal translation).

ii) The word “fervent” was added to help us understand how to pray with strength.

iii) In any case, it is still but a humble plea (all prayers are but humble requests made to God).