07 The Two Wisdoms (James 3:13-18)

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James 3:13-16

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 

After addressing the issues of communication, with specific reference to the use of the tongue, James then addresses another issue that is not disconnected from communication, but in fact is the source from which communication stems – wisdom.

He begins by both asking a question as well as making a statement. He speaks to those who consider themselves wise. When referring to wisdom, let’s remember that he is not referring to knowledge about facts and information, but is rather referring to the ability to make choices that are good and honouring of God. In fact, that’s what King Solomon asked for from God and God gave him both wisdom and knowledge as well.

James then goes on to tell those who consider themselves wise to demonstrate that wisdom by the way they live and by their humility that comes from wisdom. Often, wisdom is seen as something to be proud of and boast about, but James seems to say the opposite – it will result in humility, not pride. He goes on to say that though one may profess to possess wisdom but demonstrates certain characteristics in his life, then its proof that the person does not possess wisdom. Let’s look at those characteristics.

If one is filled with bitter envy or self-seeking, where he’s always comparing himself with others and desiring to have what they have and being envious of them, or if he’s at the centre of his own world, then he cautions such a person to not boast about possessing wisdom because that’s not true wisdom. Such a person would be speaking ill of the truth of who God is and giving a false message about God to the world.

He goes on to redefine what the person might call wisdom. He says that the person could still refer to it as wisdom, but it won’t be the wisdom that comes from God, but rather is firstly of the earth. Such wisdom is no different from that of the thinking of the world around us, where it’s all about self, and wanting what others possess, wanting to be the best, even if it means at someone else’s expense. We have been redeemed from that old way of life, and to want to emulate that self-centred way of life again is to desire to undo all that the Lord began in our lives.

Secondly, he refers to such wisdom as sensual. When all one wants to do is to satisfy his own fleshly desires – no matter what they are, then this is not spiritual but sensual. Once again, is this not what we were redeemed from – living to gratify the lusts of the flesh, which Paul makes mention of in Galatians 5:18-21 – “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Paul too said in no uncertain terms that if one seeks to live sensually, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, then such a person cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.

The third thing James says about such falsely proclaimed wisdom is that it is demonic. When you look at the characteristics of this so-called wisdom, it is self-centred and sensual and has nothing to do with honouring God in any way and therefore it can be referred to as demonic, since that’s what the devil seeks to do – to tempt us to fulfil our selfish and fleshly desires, that gratify none bur ourselves and don’t bring glory to God in any way.

James goes on to qualify why he refers to such wisdom as demonic – it’s because it is filled with envy, self-seeking, which makes the possessor of this so-called wisdom the centre of his life. It also results in confusion and every evil behaviour. Though on the surface, this might seem like a wisdom to aspire after, this has nothing to do with God and is neither constructive nor beneficial to anyone – including ourselves.

James 3:17-18

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

He then goes on to talk about another kind of wisdom that is from above (from God). True wisdom comes only from God who is wise. He goes on to describe what this wisdom is like and how we need to aspire to possess this wisdom in our lives. In fact, it’s this wisdom that he referred to in James 1:5-8, when he said that whoever lacks wisdom, could ask God for it and it would be given them both liberally and without finding fault.

The first thing he says about this wisdom is that it is pure – it’s pure in its motives, with no ulterior motives or hidden agendas. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus talked about the importance of being pure in heart (in our desires), when He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Since God is pure, His children too should seek to be pure and holy like Him, and if one is to live in God’s presence forever, then one needs to be pure, just as God is.

The second term James uses to describe this wisdom is ‘peaceable.’ A person possessing this wisdom lives at peace with others, not seeking his own rebellious ways that are at odds with others around. Once again, Jesus too, in the same Sermon on the Mount talked about the importance of us as believers living at peace with one another when He said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called, Sons of God.” Since God is peaceable and seeking to make peace with sinful man through His Son Jesus Christ, we as His children should also seek to live at peace with one another and seek to help reconcile others with God.

The third term James uses to describe this wisdom from God, is ‘gentle (meek).’ A person possessing wisdom from God will be gentle and not rude or hurtful to others. This again is an attribute of God – He is gentle and not rude. In fact, Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42:3 when he says about Jesus in Matthew 12:20, “A bruised reed He will not break and smoking flax He will not quench,” meaning that Jesus did not hurt anyone, especially those who were already hurting and weak. He valued everyone alike. Jesus was the perfect example of gentleness. As followers of Jesus, we too are called to be gentle. Once again, Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, mentioned gentleness (meekness) as one of the attributes we need to develop in our lives. In Matthew 5:5, Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Later, the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:23 mentioned gentleness as one of the fruit (evidences) of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. Since God is gentle, we as His children need to be gentle as well. Jesus promised that those who are gentle will enjoy the earthly blessings that God gives them without having to fight or strive for them. And eventually, they will live to inherit the new earth that the Lord brings into existence.

The fourth thing that James says about the wisdom from God is that it is willing to yield. This is the opposite of fighting for one’s own way and wanting to prove that one is right – something that comes naturally for most of us. True wisdom realises that justice will eventually prevail and so it does not seek to prove itself to be right but is willing to yield to those who might want to dominate or want to prove themselves right. This is similar to what Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount when He said in Matthew 5:10-12 – “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Jesus Himself was willing to yield to the injustices of men on behalf of the whole world when He went to the cross to bear the penalty for our sins. We, therefore as His followers must be willing to yield even when we are in the right, thereby demonstrating the wisdom of God in our lives.

The fifth term that James uses to describe the wisdom from God is, 'full of mercy.’ Such a person would be merciful to others at all times and not demand punishment for wrongs done against them. They are willing to forgive those who ask forgiveness of them and don’t hold grudges either. Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, said this in Matthew 5:7 – “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” Jesus Himself was merciful and forgiving at all times and He taught much about being merciful. One of the very powerful demonstrations of his mercy was when the Scribes and Pharisees brought Him a woman caught in adultery wanting permission from Him to stone her to death, but Jesus chose to show her mercy instead. Once again, Jesus demonstrated mercy when on the cross He prayed, in Luke 23:34 - “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” As His followers, we too need to be merciful and forgiving and we need to remember the parable of the unforgiving servant that Jesus told in Matthew 18:21-35.

The sixth term James uses to describe the wisdom from God is, 'full of good fruits.' Not only is a person who possesses God’s wisdom merciful in that he doesn’t seek revenge but is merciful, but he goes one step further in being good to all people – including those who wrong them. Everything about the person with God’s wisdom is good – in short, their life is full of goodness. They impact people wherever they go in a positive way, much like the light and salt Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, in Matthew 5:13-16 - “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Jesus was saying, in effect, to both His disciples (and us) to be so good in the way we live our lives, that when people see us and are impacted by our lives, they will give glory to God because of us. We need to live life being full of good fruits.

The seventh thing James says about the wisdom from God is the fact that it’s without partiality when it comes to dealing with people. We already looked at this earlier in James 2:1-13, when he gave a scenario of a rich man and a poor man entering the church and how we are to not favour the rich and discriminate against the poor. God is not partial towards people – He does not look up to one and look down on another and since we are His children, we too need to have the same attitude when dealing with people. We are to love all people equally and with no bias, discrimination or favouritism. It might be difficult, given the fact that this is the way of the world around us and also within The Church to a large extent; but this is something that James says, is an evidence of possessing the wisdom from God – without partiality.

The eighth thing that James says describes the wisdom from God is that it is without hypocrisy. Everything about God is genuine – there’s nothing fake or false about God. God does not need to impress anyone and so does not need to pretend to be someone He is not. One of the main reasons for hypocrisy is on account of the need for people’s approval, and instead of seeking God’s approval, if we begin to search for man’s approval, we will find ourselves pretending to be who we are not and faking genuine love, instead of being real and genuine in our love for one another.

One of the biggest problems with hypocrisy is the fact that no one knows who the real person is, as he’s one thing to one person and another to another, and all for the same reason – the need for the approval of men. We know that the Bible talks against us seeking the approval of man because when we seek people’s approval, it’s only a matter of time before we begin to deviate from God’s ways. But on the contrary, when we seek God’s approval, there’s no need to fake who we are – we can just be ourselves and not fear man’s reactions or disapproval.

James then goes on to end this topic by saying that when one seeks to live a life of peace, he bears the fruit of righteousness. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger or thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” This means that if a person so desires to live the righteous life he was saved to live, one of the most important things he should seek to do is to live in peace with people in as much lies with him, as Paul said in Romans 12:18 – “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

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Michael Collins