Read James 3:13-18 and Review
Who is wise and understanding among you?
The ones who are truly the wise and understanding are those who know how to wisely live out their faith, the ones who are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ones the Father, by the work of the Holy Spirit, is testing and preserving, conforming to the image of Christ, so that they may persevere and mature in faith, and those who he will one day and finally glorify, present to himself as holy, the ones who by their good conduct show their works in the meekness of wisdom, in the gentle, but strong, humility of wisdom.
Verses 14 through 16 make it clear that we are incapable of this ourselves. Our “wisdom”, man’s “wisdom”, is to keep the sin in our hearts and boast that we do not have sin. This only leads to more sin. The existence of sin produces the fruits of that sin, works that are disorderly and vile, which ultimately leads to death (James 2:15). The truth is that we lack the wisdom needed to live lives of holiness.
But as we are shown in verses 17 and 18, the wisdom that we need must come from God. Considering that it is first pure, then peaceable and all the rest, points us to God and who he is and how he works. That the wisdom from God works by the Holy Spirit to produce a harvest of righteousness, this harvest being sown in peace by those who make peace. As Jesus says in Matthew 5, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Those loved by God, saved by Him, and commanded to love those who hate them so that they may be sons of their Father in heaven. Called to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect. In this, those who are the righteous in Christ are assured by God in the certainty of the fruitfulness of walking in the good works that God has prepared for them in the wisdom that he provides.
Look more closely at verses 17 and 18:
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
But…
Seeing this we know right away that we will be presented with a contrast – a pattern as God teaches us in scripture about who he is and who we are: man is sinful, but God is holy.
…the wisdom from above… Consider what this means.
We see in other scripture these words, from above, or other references to what is above. Such as John 3:31, He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. John, by the Holy Spirit, is proclaiming the truth about Christ, the Son, sent from God, the Father.
Wisdom from above is wisdom from God. It is not from us or from anything else. As we were taught in the previous verses, what we come up with and follow as man is not the wisdom from above, but is earthly, unspiritual and demonic and only leads to disorder and every vile practice which is unrighteousness, unholiness. This clearly emphasizes not only our sin but also our inability. As we are incapable of having wisdom in ourselves, we also cannot find wisdom in anything else in this world (Ecclesiastes 1:16-18). Since we are incapable of wisdom then it follows that we are incapable of obeying God’s command to show our works in the meekness of wisdom. But, by God’s grace, there is a But here which points us to him and to his wisdom. He has given us a command and with the command he provides the way to obedience, he himself who alone is wise, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Romans 16:27).
Since God makes it clear that we lack wisdom and that we need wisdom, the wisdom given by the one Shepherd in the words of the wise (Ecclesiastes 12:11), we must ask for wisdom. As believers, trusting God, we are commanded to ask God for wisdom, call out to him for it, and seek it like we would seek silver which has great value (Proverbs 2:1-5; James 1:5).
The truth that wisdom comes down to us from God, makes our need for wisdom known to us, that we would pray to God for it. And, it teaches us about the goodness of God, who preserves us and provides generously for those he loves.
Affirming what was said earlier in James:
Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights with who there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
And continuing in Proverbs 2:
For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
[Pondering all this…how great is his love for and goodness towards those who loves! Knowing this causes me to wonder that I do not ask him more for wisdom. Thankful for his grace and forgiveness when I continue to bumble along in my own understanding. That even then he is faithful as he disciplines me. Causing me turn to him in repentance and to prayer.]
Look again at verses 17 and 18 again, consider how God describes his wisdom. And as we study the attributes of the wisdom from God, we want to consider what God is teaching us about himself and how he works. It is in the light of this understanding that we can know what he says about us and how we are to respond to him in faith as he is working.
Immediately, we are told that God’s wisdom is pure, first pure which is important to consider. That it is peaceable follows. It is also gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. The “And” in verse 18 shows there is a direct connection between wisdom and a harvest of righteousness which is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Since the scripture is directing us to the wisdom from God which is first pure, pure because God himself is pure and since we are commanded to live out our faith in the meekness of wisdom, it is good for us to take time here to learn more about God. That we would know who he is and how he is working as he applies the truth of his word to our minds and hearts. And as we know him more that we may love him and obey him, worshiping him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.
What is meant by pure? What does scripture reveal to us about the purity of God?
That the wisdom from God is first pure speaks of the holiness of God. That God is holy is not only that he is set apart from us because he is God and we are not, but also that he is pure. He is not only not corrupt, but he is incorruptible. He is without sin and cannot sin. We have been reminded of this already in James:
God cannot be tempted with evil and does not tempt anyone with evil. [1:13]
…there is no shadow of turning with him. [1:17]
As we are in God’s word here in James, we are confronted with the holiness of God as he speaks of the wisdom of God which is pure. What does the Bible teach us about God and his holiness, and man in the presence of God? Two places in scripture come immediately to mind:
- Moses in Exodus 33:18-34:9
- Isaiah in Isaiah 9:1-7
Read and, study if you can, these accounts. Consider the holiness of God and what he teaches us about himself by looking at what God says (and what is said about him) and what he does as well as the responses of Moses and Isaiah. [I know these passages are loaded, but even a prayerful reading will be good. 😊]