Heavenly vs. Demonic Wisdom

This deals with the teachers and those who profess to be wise among us. These are things we need to watch out for.

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.

Here, James is referring to teachers, asking them to show their faith and wisdom by living it. Be humble. Don’t flaunt it.

Gal 6:4 - But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

They way you are NOT supposed to behave is in

Luke 18:11 - The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.

From DG: Wisdom is not mere head knowledge. Real wisdom and understanding will show in our lives, by our good conduct.

If you do your good works to draw attention to yourself, you’ve missed the point and are lacking true wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.

Bitter envy and self seeking are the exact opposite of good conduct and meekness of wisdom. Don’t cover up your pride by becoming a braggart. Over compensating.

v14 correlates the tongue and wisdom. The tongue may reveal the heart that is prideful. Apparently, the words for boast not and lie not are in the present tense, meaning you are to STOP boasting and lying.

15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.

A quote from DG: “It is the wisdom claimed by the would-be teachers of James 3:14 whose lives contradict their claims. Such ‘wisdom’ evaluates everything by worldly standards and makes personal gain life’s highest goal.” (Burdick)

BBC: There is always a danger that worldly-wise men will be given places of leadership in the church. We must constantly guard against allowing worldly principles to guide us in spiritual affairs.

Earthly means it is worldly wisdom, sensual implies it is not the fruit of the spirit, and demonic means it resembles the behavior of demons.

Often it causes division and strife - definitely a demonic activity.

An example of what we need to look out for is in

Phil 3:18-20a - For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven,

16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

We need to watch ourselves to ensure that we don’t exhibit these behaviors -

1 Cor 3:3-4 - For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

The word for confusion means disorder, and we know divisions means creating dissension and disunion - these are exactly the opposite of what we need in the church now.

A quote from JVM: Knowledge is proud that she has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that she knows no more. - Author unknown.

The next two verses describes the character of someone with heavenly wisdom - or wisdom from G-d.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

Those who have G-d’s wisdom will be revealed by their fruit: James 3:13 (good conduct and meekness)

first pure - “The reference is not to sexual purity but to the absence of any sinful attitude or motive.” (Burdick)

then peaceable - From MH: Those who are truly wise do what they can to preserve peace, that it may not be broken; and to make peace, that where it is lost it may be restored. In kingdoms, in families, in churches, in all societies, and in all interviews and transactions, heavenly wisdom makes men peaceable.

I think this the motive I believe we need to be operating in… desiring restoration of fellowship.

gentle, willing to yield - not be contentious about “I’m right”. Willing to yield or compromise in a disagreement - not on a foundational truth, but in matters that do not relate to our salvation.

Not being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.

From DG’s notes: “Eupeithes can mean easy to persuade, not in the sense of being pliable and weak, but in the sense of not being stubborn and of being willing to listen to reason and to appeal… true wisdom is not rigid but is willing to listen and skilled in knowing when wisely to yield.” (Barclay)

Eupeithes is the Greek word for willing..

full of mercy and good fruits - the fruit of the spirit

Mercy means full of compassion -

Good fruits - will be obvious by the person’s conduct

Gal 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.

without partiality - do not show favoritism. As we covered earlier in James -

James 2:1 - My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

without hypocrisy. From DG’s commentary: “Without pretending to be what it is not; acting always in its own character; never working under a mask. Seeking nothing but God’s glory, and using no other means to attain it than those of his own prescribing.” (Clarke)

There is a ton of wisdom in that one verse, eh?

18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

What do we think this means? my thoughts - If you are concerned about making peace, keeping the peace, you will see the results in righteous behaviors.

From the KJVBC: “Inner qualities are what season one’s speech, and here peace is emphasized in two ways: (1) righteousness is sown, that is, it has its beginnings in peaceful conditions, not envying and strife (vs. 16); and (2) righteousness appears in those who practice peace. The glaring blemish of evangelical churches is inner turmoil and bickering, yet Christian living depends upon peace.

A summary of the 1st three chapters provide us the following outline of our faith:

this is from JVM: “We saw, therefore, that (1) God tests faith by trials; (2) God does not test faith with evil; (3) God tests faith by the Word; (4) God tests faith by attitude and action in respect of persons; (5) God tests faith by good works; and (6) God tests faith by the tongue. James has made it very clear that genuine faith will be evident in the life of the believer.”

I want to conclude with a quote from Dr. Richard Seume (bible teacher who had kidney issues for years):

“Life on earth would not be worth much if every source of irritation were removed. Yet most of us rebel against the things that irritate us, and count as heavy loss what ought to be rich gain. We are told that the oyster is wiser; that when an irritating object, like a bit of sand, gets under the mantle of his shell, he simply covers it with the most precious part of his being and makes of it a pearl. The irritation that it was causing is stopped by encrusting it with the pearly formation. A true pearl is therefore simply a victory over irritation. Every irritation that gets into our lives today is an opportunity for pearl culture. The more irritations the devil flings at us, the more pearls we may have. We need only to welcome them and cover them completely with love, that most precious part of us, and the irritation will be smothered out as the pearl comes into being. What a store of pearls we may have, if we will!”

James 1:2-4 - My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

G-d is using these various trials for our benefit - we should not get discouraged, but rather be encouraged that He considers us worthy of working on.