James 3:13-18

Wisdom From Above

James 3:13–18 ESV

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

This passage reminds me much of the beatitudes.

I. The Wise are Humble (13)

As we look at this passage, we need to see that those who are truly wise are humble.

Why do you think that those who are truly wise are humble?

Because their wisdom is not of themselves. Their wisdom comes from God!

James 1:5–8 “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

One who is truly wise will be meek in their conduct. There is a high held head that belongs only to one man, Jesus. If we remember though, Christ humbled Himself. Our perfect example, the One who was wiser than all, operated in humility. “

James: An Introduction and Commentary b. True Wisdom Brings Peace (3:13–18)

This Christian meekness involves a healthy understanding of our own unworthiness before God and a corresponding humility and lack of pride in our dealings with our fellow-men

II. Demonic Wisdom (14-16)

James 3:14–16 “14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

Here we have marks that you should not desire. Listing these out we have:

Bitter Jealousy - wanting what others have. Treating them poorly out of bitterness.

Selfish Ambition - Only serving yourself. Looking out for yourself. Only doing things that will serve you.

James tells us that if we have either of these qualities, we have nothing to boast about. Indeed we would be lying and bearing false witness to say that these are good and godly traits.

To call them plainly, they are as James says: earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. If you are one who is only looking out for yourself at all points in time, you’re willing to push others down to climb up, you’re willing to lie to get out of things, you’re willing to tear someone else down in order to be raised up: that is a tell-tale sign of your severe lack of biblical wisdom.

If you are one who is never satisfied with what you have, and you desire what others have, you want what they have so badly you are embittered towards them, you treat them poorly by way of passive-aggressiveness, you lie about them, spread rumors about them, have a mind dominated and dictated by your jealousy of them, would possibly steal from them: thats a tell-tale sign of your severe lack of biblical wisdom.

These are such destructive feelings and traits that they will cause great harm and great sin.

How can those traits cause disorder and vile practices?

III. Marks Of Wisdom (17)

James 3:17 “17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”

Let us break these down as well.

Pure - No hidden agendas, no fluff, no worldly influence.

Peaceable - brings about peace, spoken in peace, used to bring about civility.

Gentle - a lack of desire to harm through the words. We need to be careful to forsake the truth to be what the world calls “gentle.” Wisdom must be spoken with a desire to see the other person built up in truth. We cannot pull punches, but we can speak wisdom in a way that is as gentle as Christ showed.

Open to Reason - Humble, willing to recognize when something you said was wrong or partially wrong, willing to have discussions for the purpose of building up, not being unreasonable in the advice given in consideration of the other person.

Full of Mercy and good fruits - Not giving the other person what they deserve even when you feel like it, giving chances, forgiving wrongdoing, laying aside your hurt. Being willing to endure for the good of all involved.

Impartial - not showing favoritism even to yourself and your closest friends, not showing bias based on any number of variables. Putting your preferences aside.

Sincere - actually believing what you say. No building yourself up and being dishonest in assessments.

IV. Fruit of Wisdom (18)

James 3:18 “18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

Here is the promise for the peace makers.

Matthew 5:9 “9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

“A harvest of righteousness is sown” - this is talking about conduct that is pleasing to God. God is pleased when His children make peace.

Peaceful conduct is pleasing to God.

All of these should help us to understand the benefit and humbling nature of wisdom.

Applications

Forsake worldly wisdom

Pray for God to change your heart and mind

Be humble

Questions

In what ways has your view of biblical wisdom changed in light of this passage?

Have you have directly seen Bitter Jealousy and Selfish Ambition harm? How could it harm?

What are the marks of worldly wisdom and biblical wisdom in this passage? Discuss them briefly.

In what ways do you need to repent and pray for more wisdom?