Seventh Day Baptist
Christian Education Council
PO BOX 1678
Janesville, WI 53547
—James 5:13-18
by: Victoria Shephard.
James is concerned with the role the church has in healing the sick. He tells us that the elders should anoint the sick person with oil, “in the name of the Lord” (v. 14). In other words, the oil is a symbol of healing, the elders the instrument, and God the healer. Next, James says that some sickness is caused by sin (v. 15). Not all sickness is caused by sin, as the word “if” implies, but some is. When it is, confession of our sin is the way to find healing (v. 16).