Wisdom from Above

Read James 3:13-18 ESV

Read

James 3:13–18 NIV

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness

What is wisdom?

James has talked about our speech and how we should talk, now he is going to inform us on how to live.

When we often think about wisdom or ask the Lord for wisdom it is because we are seeking guidance on maybe how to do something, what we should do about a situation, or guidance for how to live our life. And often we are trying to make the “right decision”.

1 Kings 3:9–12 ESV

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.

I think a way we can define or think about wisdom is like this,

utilizing knowledge and experience to gain a desired result or to find the best course of action; applying knowledge to life

In short, how we live life

James presents two different types of wisdom: Wisdom from Above and Earthly Wisdom

Earthly Wisdom

What are the things that mark earthly wisdom? Jealousy, selfish ambition, earthly, unspiritual, and demonic

yikes.

When seeking wisdom or trying to apply wisdom to our lives and we don’t seek the Lord, we are going off of what is in our own hearts, off of our own ambition and when we go off of our own hearts we have to be reminded of the state of our hearts

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Anything that comes from selfish ambition is us trying to accomplish our will for the sake of ourselves. At the end of the day jealousy and selfish ambition stem from pride. Wanting to be the best and wanting ourselves to be glorified.

Some examples of where we can earthly wisdom in play:

Joseph’s brothers were struggling with comparing themselves to their little brother, they acted out of anger and threw him into a ditch. They “solved their problem” by then selling him into slavery — ultimately causing disorder in their family and it was just evil.

Another example is David, after his affair with Bathsheba, he tries to figure out the best course of action: killing her husband. Again, someone acting out of selfish ambition which only leads to disorder and evil.

Now I know most of us are not in these scenarios but how often do we quickly just try to solve our own problems. We think we know the best options or we go off the knowledge/information we have to make a call often times protecting ourselves or hurting others in the process. I know that I often will just make a decision or be confident in how I am living my life when really I have a small perspective and am acting out of pride - thinking I know what is best for myself or for others.

James calls this “wisdom” earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

Earthly - the world (which is tainted and deeply effected by sin) is the source

Unspiritual - or from the flesh which we know in Scripture is used to talk about our sinful nature

1 Cor 2:14

14 But [a]a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

Kent Hughes says, “unspiritual or natural describes a wisdom that comes from the mind of a depraved fallen humanity and is hopelessly flawed.”

Demonic - it is evil because it is from the author of evil

It’s funny that in the NIV, wisdom has quotes around it because it really can’t be wisdom at all.

Wisdom from Above

So we see that if earthly wisdom is not the wisdom from above then we now that there is wisdom from above.

one of the first things we see with this wisdom is that it is marked by humility, meekness, or gentleness - the greek word used here is “prauteti” was often used in non-Biblical literature to describe a horse that had been trained to submit to a bridle - under control; we must submit to the Holy Spirit and His authority when it comes to how to live our lives.

The reality is God’s kingdom operates differently, right the first shall be last and the last shall be first - if God is perfect, holy, and right. We must submit to His definition of right and good (because He is the one that determines those things) in order to live a life with wisdom that can only come from Him. another shorter definition of wisdom I found was,

“ability to view life from God’s perspective”

and i would even argue, that James is saying its not just about how you view life but also how you live, he says let your good deeds show…

So what else do we know about this wisdom from above?

It is:

Pure - God is holy, so His way of living that He calls us to is going to be perfect

Peaceable or peace-loving - there is no jealousy in the kingdom of God, we are resting in the finished work of the cross

Gentle - in God’s kingdom, we are called to be gentle and kind even to our wrongdoers

Open to reason - being teachable and willing to learn

Merciful - mercy is us not receiving what we deserve, with God’s wisdom there isnt going to be disorder or evil done

good fruits - John 15 or Galations (fruit of the Spirit)

impartial - firm in what you believe and confident of it, consistent

sincere - God’s wisdom is going to require openness and honesty, without hypocrisy

A quick example of this type of wisdom can be found in the story of Philemon

Context - Paul writes the book of Philemon to a man named Philemon. Paul is writing to a fellow Believer on behalf of a bondservant named Onesimus. Onesimus has run away from Philemon. Earthly wisdom would say either Paul should maybe keep Onesimus with himself, Philemon should punish Onesimus or something like this but instead Paul ask Philemon to take Onesimus back not as a bondservant but as brother, Paul even tells Philemon that if Onesimus has wronged Philemon or owes him anything that Paul would pay for it - this is wisdom from above. This is wisdom on how to live the life that God has called us to: one of peace, gentleness, and mercy. Nothing like what the world would tell us to live.

Now, this kind of wisdom can seem like a tall order or impossible to achieve but James tell us in

James 1:5 ESV

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

In Proverbs we read,

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

and

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

When we come before the Lord seeking Him, He is faithful to respond. He is faithful to give us wisdom because He does want us to live a life that is for our good and ultimately for His glory. This is the way of life that He calls us to live. It is so opposite of what earthly wisdom is: operating out of our own strength. God does not make His way of life impossible - He literally gives us the Holy Spirit as our Helper to live a life with wisdom.

So at your tables going to discuss,

When is maybe a time you have relied on earthly wisdom to make a decision or chosen how to live your life?

If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, what does it mean to fear the Lord and how do we do that on a daily basis?

What is one area of wisdom from above (v17) that you want to ask the Lord for help with this week?