(Strong).Elsewhere Itis Translated Fall (Romans 11:11), Offence (Romans 4:25), Trespass (Matthew

CONFESSYOURFAULTS James5:16-17

AndresC. GuevaraJr.

September23, 2007SUN p.m.

According to Webster faultsis an erringor missing;a failing;hence,an error ormistake;a blunder;a defect; a blemish;whatever impairs excellence;an imperfection;anydeviation from propriety;a slightoffense;a neglectofdutyor propriety,resulting from inattention or want ofprudence.

The greek word for faults is“paraptoma”in James 5:16 which refers to “side-slip,lapse,deviation,or error

(Strong).Elsewhere itis translated “fall” (Romans 11:11),“offence” (Romans 4:25),“trespass” (Matthew

6:14),and“sin” (Ephesians 1:7).

Manynew translations (such as the NIVand NASV) erroneouslyread “sin” instead of“faults” in James 5:16 because theyfollow the Westcoot-HortGreek text which replaces the word paraptoma withhamartia, the greek word mostcommonlyused for in the New Testament.This,ofcourse,gives support to thefalse Catholic ideaofconfessingone’ssins to a man instead ofdirectly to God.

We can say that“confession of your faults to one another” here are those evil orwrong perceptions, intentions, thoughts,actions,dealings,sayings, feelings, toward others.

I-CONFESSION OF YOUR FAULTS MUSTBE MADE—v.16 “Confess your faults”

James wantsus here to see thatitis a command ofGod to obeynota suggestion or option.

Oursins mustbe confessbeforeGod—IJohn 1:9,butdon’tignoreor forget the Lord inHis word that told us we need to confess our faults to one another—James 5:16

II- CONFESSION OFYOUR FAULTS MUST COME FIRST BEFORE PRAYER—v.16

“Confess your faults one toanother,andpray one foranother,”

In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesussaid, “Butif ye forgive mentheir trespasses,your heavenly Fatherwill also forgive you,Butifye forgive not men their trespasses,neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.“

God says there is no forgiveness from heaven unless you will not forgive others who trespassagainstus. Before talking to God aboutour sins we must talk toman aboutour faults.

When itcomes to our familymatters, the bible says we need to have the beautyofour inner-man rather than outer appearance andcouple need to give love,respectand honor with one another that theirprayerwill not be hindered—IPeter 3:1-7.

III-CONFESSION OFYOUR FAULTS IS FOLLOWED BY PRAYER—v.16 “and pray for one another”

Remember the ACTS formatofprayer:A-for adoration;C-forconfession;T-thanksgiving;S-for supplication. Confession comes before supplication.Sins settlementcomes before needs provision. We need to confess your faults toone anotherbefore praying one another.

Obviously,we can’tpraya person whom we have faults thatneed to be confessed.Righteousness comes firstbefore request. In other words we canthelp a personsincerelybynot fixingourselves before that person.

IV-CONFESSION OFYOUR FAULT LEADS TOHEALING—v.16“.thatye may be healed.”

Iknow a missionaryofour church who visited oneSundaymorning in our church service lastSeptember 23,

2007 forraising a cost for their buildingpurpose on the north.As we’re taking our lunch the missionaryshare the dangerous storyhe had experience at the sea one year ago thathe almostgot to diewhen a tall and rushing angrywavescovered him wherehe experienced crump in his one leg and hurthiswaistline thathe wentdown to the sea.Thence, the Lordreminded himin his mind about the grudges he had toward his sending Pastor and decided to ask another pastor of the church to be his newsendingchurch.Below the

sea top levelalmost25 to30 feethigh he began to cry to the Lord for help that he promised the Lord that he will getstraightrightwith his former sending pastor and ask forgiveness once the Lord delivered him in that fatal situationat the sea.The Lord giveshim wisdomand strengthened his one leg as he kick the surface

below the sea and startedhis direction to go up and there are two men who mercifullygothim in his arms

and help him to getoutofthe water.After thatincident the missionary visited his new sending pastor who is fresh and newlyarrived from America for heartsurgeryand advice the missionary to go back to his former sending pastor since the expenses of the church cannotafford to supporthim of financial obligation and building projectand stated thatpossibly that the Lord chastened himfor accepting the missionarywithout having getting rightwith his former sending pastor. Immediately, the missionaryas he promised the Lord at the bottom of the sea began to visited the former sending pastor and ask for forgiveness andall things are restored andstarted towork peaceablyand with power and excitementin his heart.

There is another Filipino supported missionary fromAmerica thatstarteda missionwork inMandaluyong, Metro Manila.His daughtergets deliriouslyill with a high fever,shaking her whole bodyand her eyesstarted to go white.Even the medical doctors do their bestand can’tdo anything.The missionaryand hiswife started to be reminded by the Lord about the fellow missionarywhom theycan nothave good terms.They both knelleddown to the Lord and ask forgiveness about their heartevil feelings toward their fellow foreign missionary.The couplestarted to cry wholeheartedly to the Lord mercifully askHim to mightily touch their daughter’s body.Miraculously their daughter started to low down the high hot temperature ofher bodyand graduallycome to a normal condition.

Itseems thatsometimes our physicalcondition has connectedwith our spiritualcondition.Doctors are not insufficientwith their findings and efforts,equipment and laboratories are updated,medicines are effectives butsometimes itis only the bible formulaof“Confess your faults one to another”thatis onlyneeded in one click thatour illness might be healed.Notall sickness butsomecanbe healed and helped through the word ofGod that says, “Confessyour faults one to another…thatye may be healed.”

V-CONFESSION OFYOUR FAULT IS MAN’S RESPONSIBILITY—v.16"your faults one to another"

The word “your faults” tellsus thatitis notmainlyourbusiness to focus on others faults butinour own faults. We need to judge ourselves before judging others as the biblesays in Matthew7:1

David said, “Search me,O God”,andby then you will be lead byGod to confess your faults to other.

The word,“one to another”,is veryclear thatitis a two way formula.Both sides mustobey this command.

VI-CONFESSION OFYOUR FAULT RESULTS TOEFFECTUALFERVENTPRAYER—

v.16 “The effectual ferventprayer ofa righteous man availeth much.”

All ofus enjoyprayer.Weneed to praydaily.Butwhatkind ofprayer we have?Elijah is a greatexample in our text.The bible says righteousness has to do with the powerfulprayer.The rain falls within three and half yearswhen Elijah asked the Lord,and the rainstopped when Elijah asked the Lord to stop.—v.17

We can ask the Lord whatever wewill and the Lord assuredlywill answer whatsoever we askifwe have a righteous heart.—Matthew6:33;John 15:7. Therefore,confession ofour faults one to anotherhas a great impactin oureffective prayer life.How can webecome righteous ifwe do notconfess our faults one to another.