Tiago 5:15

"Difficulties in deciding what exactly in the preceding verse is meant by anointing should not cause us to overlook the main point of James 5:13-18, which is prayer. It is prayer-not the anointing-which leads to the healing of the sick person." [Note: Martin, p. 209.]

The elders’ prayers offered in faith will restore (lit. save, Gr. sosei, "make well"; cf. Matthew 9:21-22; Mark 6:56) the sick and arouse (Gr. egerei, raise up) him or her. Offered in faith means presented with confidence in God’s power to heal if that is His will in this case (cf. Matthew 8:1-13; Mark 5:35-42). Furthermore the Lord will raise him to health if this is His will (John 14:13; 1 John 5:14).

"The medicine does not heal the sick, but it helps nature (God) do it. The doctor cooperates with God in nature." [Note: Robertson, 6:65.]

Benjamin Franklin reportedly said, "God heals, and the doctor collects the fee."

There is no basis in Scripture for the popular idea that praying in faith means praying with confidence that something will happen just because we pray (cf. James 1:5-6; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Faith always must have the person or promise of God as its object to be effective.

"It is a prayer of faith, i.e. the prayer which expresses trust in God and flows out of commitment to him, for only such prayers are effective . . ." [Note: Davids, The Epistle . . ., p. 194. See also Thomas L. Constable, "The Doctrine of Prayer" (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1969), p. 111; and Mayor. p. 173.]

Some take the faith in view here as a special, God-given assurance that it is His will to heal in this instance (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:9). [Note: E.g., D. Edmond Hiebert, The Epistle of James: Tests of a Living Faith, p. 322; idem, James, p. 297; Guy H. King, A Belief That Behaves: An Expositional Study of the Epistle of James, p. 124; and Motyer, The Message . . ., p. 198.] However simple faith in God seems to be in view since James did not qualify it.

If the sufferer has committed some sin that has resulted in his or her debilitated condition, James added, God will forgive this sin. This happens when the sinner confesses it to God (1 John 1:9; cf. Matthew 6:12). Not all sickness is the direct result of some sin (cf. John 9:1-3).

"James’s point is simply that both must be dealt with when they are linked." [Note: Fanning, p. 434.]