James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
James 2:15: If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
I think the latter verse can be applied to any need that a person may have, not just clothing and food. It may be understanding, acceptance, forgiveness, advice, discipline, or any number of things.
In the wake of the Ted Haggard scandal, Justin Taylor posts an extended quote by Al Mohler on homosexuality in particular and sin and the church in general. An excerpt:
We know better than to say that people cannot change. We also know better than to believe that people can change themselves. As Jonathan Edwards made clear, we sin in our affections, and we do not even understand ourselves in terms of why we love the things we love and desire the things we desire. This is why we are so dependent upon the work of Christ in our lives and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in reordering our affections. This is no easy process, but it is real and it is enduring.
One thing I would add is that part of our dependency upon Christ and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit is dependency upon others to give or help us find what we ourselves lack. If those others let us down, God does not. But I think neglect of good works on the part of others could be part why God doesn’t always seem to deliver us from our sins, even when we desire it. True, we don’t always want to be delivered (or perhaps we do and don’t at the same time!), but part of the Christian promise is deliverance.
Not being delivered may have the effect of keeping us dependent upon God and others, but the results of sin -- all sin -- are clearly disastrous. Therefore we need to confess, to both God and others, on a continual basis. And we are not only dependent upon God in Spirit for healing but upon God as He works through other people. Corrolary to this is that we are responsible to be available to one another and effectual to give aid. Those who have knowledge (and preferably experience) in how to overcome certain sins need to be sharing this with those who struggle with those sins.
(Some may wonder why I seem to equate needs with sin, and that's a good question. I do so because I believe that sin is an attempt to meet a need. It is an attempt to save ourselves in some way rather than allowing ourselves to be saved by God. If we help one another meet true needs, we can help one another overcome sin.)
Mohler addresses the church’s need to “love sinners more than sinners love their sinfulness” – think about that! What a tenacious love. I believe it needs to be plugged into the equation that begins with "sinners cannot change themselves; only God can." I would say that only God working in all the ways He works, including through people, can.
Perhaps our main stumbling block in this area is shame and embarrassment...which I suppose are forms of pride, shame especially. (What do you think?) But it's an area that needs to be explored, and I hope to do so, and hope others will join me.
