James 3:13-18: The Wisdom From Above

James 3:13

Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. (James 3:13)

What do you think of when you think of a “wise man” or someone with a lot of knowledge? In this world, you might think of someone with a lot of worldly education, doctorates and diplomas. You might think of someone who speaks high above you so that you cannot understand him. Or perhaps you think of some esoteric guru who seems so otherworldly. Biblically, these images do not describe the wise man with knowledge. Let us look at the terms.

The word for “wise man” can refer to a godly wise man or a worldly wise man. In the worldly sense, the Lord uses the term. “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Matthew 11:25). The preaching of Christ is understood by the weak, not the strong. There is a simplicity in Christ: He died for me, a sinner. He took my sin away. There is not a lot of complicated thought in this (at first). There are certainly difficult truths if we are willing to mine them out of the Word of God. But the simplicity of Christ evades many a scholar because the lofty are not going to receive what can only be received by the humble and the humiliated.

Again, we read, “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise” (1 Corinthians 3:18). We abandon the lofty wisdom of the world and humbly accept the Lord’s forgiveness. This is where the real wisdom enters in.

Again, there are wise men according to the will of God. “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city” (Matthew 23:34). The wise of this world, which in this context are scribes and Pharisees, murder out of spite the wise men from above.

The wise man of the Lord is not the loftily educated doctorate with a lot of fancy talk. Rather, the truly wise from above has “meekness of wisdom.” The true wise man must be humble because he realizes the wisdom is not his. The wisdom was provided by the LORD for His purposes, namely, to edify the entire Body of Christ and bring others to Him. This true wisdom from above should exhibited in “a good conversation” of good works.

James 3:14

But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. (James 3:14)

Those with the wisdom of the world, or from below, have “bitter envying and strife.” This is because the worldly wise man is in competition with others like him to see who is the most wise. It is all about my argument being better, my degrees are more numerous and from more prestigious universities, and I get the last mic-dropping word in a debate, trying to make you feel shame because your wisdom is inferior to mine. If your wisdom is to put a spotlight upon yourself and help you seem smarter than others, you have worldly wisdom.

Consider the Athenians at Mars’ Hill in Acts 17:18-21. These Epicureans and Stoicks called Paul a “babbler,” or a seed picker. This derogatory term showed they did not really respect whatever he was saying. However, because they want to hear about anything new, they took a chance and listened to what he had to say.

How did the crowd respond? Consider Acts 17:31-34. The resurrection caused many of them to dismiss the apostle. Some said they would hear more later, but it was still a stumbling block to them, since the resurrection was absurd to Greek culture. They were trying to escape the flesh; why would they want to come back in a body? But even so, a few did believe because of the preaching.

You see how the wise allowed Paul to have a little bit of a voice, but it ended up only for them to laugh at him. His worldview of the resurrection does not have a place in their dialogues. Anything that challenged their core beliefs was dismissed and thought of as inferior.

This calls for introspection. Do we seek to be wise? Does our heart want to be the winner of arguments? Do you feel that your self-worth depends on being wise? If you think wisdom is something like what was going on in Mars’ Hill, then we are not wise and deeply misunderstand what it means to be wise. We are not wise if this is the case, and we would be lying against the truth to say otherwise.

James 3:15

This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. (James 3:15)

It is bad enough to think that apprehending worldly wisdom means that we have become wise. But having this wisdom from below is not from God, and therefore is “earthly, sensual, devilish.” The adjectives go from bad to worse.

To call our wisdom “earthly” does not mean that it is inherently evil in this case. It just means it is from this realm. It is not from above, where Christ is enthroned. It is at best inferior to what is from above, from the LORD.

To call our wisdom “sensual” means it is a part of the natural order and is not spiritual. Consider these usages.

Consider 1 Corinthians 2:10-16. First, we see the Spirit knows all the hidden things of God. These things are not known by us on our own at all; they are hidden from us. However, God has given us His Spirit so that we may know all the wonderful things that are His. In 1 Corinthians 2:14, we see the word “natural” which is our word of interest (“sensual”). We in our own selves cannot have any of this knowledge. However, in Christ, we have His mind given to us by His Spirit, where we can know the Father.

By knowledge, we should probably mention that this is more than academic facts. There is a personal knowledge. We know Him personally. This knowledge is also most practical in that we live according to that knowledge of God.

Consider also 1 Corinthians 15:42-49. This is speaking of the natural body versus the resurrection body, but we can learn about the words from this comparison. See the comparison of natural versus spiritual.

That which is from heaven and spiritual far exceeds that which is natural. What we are in ourselves is disparate from God, corrupt, dishonored and weak. The natural wisdom is going to be all these things.

Jude the brother of the Lord also used this word. “But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit” (Jude 1:17-19).

What do those who are sensual do? They “separate themselves” and do not have the Spirit. They walk after their own desires. They do their own thing and lead others to follow them. There is no unity of the Spirit with them; they do not have Him.

All these traits are evident in our context in James. All the envying and strife comes from sensual and natural wisdom. It is the sign that such wisdom is not from the Spirit.

So, it is bad enough to be earthly and sensual. The third adjective puts it into perspective: “devilish.” By the root of this word, we would say in our vernacular, “demonic.” Satan himself is involved in this natural, divisive wisdom. He and his army of demons are looking to break up churches and are using their “wisdom” to discredit the gospel, and it always has been this way.

James 3:16

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. (James 3:16)

If there is envy and fighting, that pushes people apart. The result is “confusion,” translated elsewhere as “commotions” (characteristic of the end times) and “tumult.” “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:33). The opposite of confusion here is peace. And if wisdom is from the LORD, it shall bring about peace, as we shall see soon.

From this devil’s wisdom also is “every evil work.” The phrase is used elsewhere: “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:17-18). At the end of the apostle Paul’s life, he was confident that the Lord would preserve him from these evil works that the enemy used with intentions to destroy him. However, the apostle knew that he would be translated safely to the kingdom of God regardless of these evil works.

These evil works are meant to destroy the body of Christ. On the contrary, the LORD’s wisdom does not break apart, but rather builds up.

James 3:17

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. (James 3:17)

An entirely different set of characteristics accompanies wisdom from the Lord. The Lord’s wisdom “is first pure.” The word for “first” seems to indicate that peace is the predominant characteristic of this new wisdom. There is an additional word included here that is not translated that is used to emphasize this. If it is pure, it is not infused with the former wisdom. Everything that is “from above” is pure, because it is from God.

It is also gentle. It is also translated “patient.” Consider the usages.

“Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous” (1 Timothy 3:3). It is “patient” here, and it is a requirement for a church pastor, who is the primary teacher. You can see the relevance here; the pastor is not one who should be envious and full of strife. He is to lead the church in unity.

“To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men” (Titus 3:2). The “gentle” here is listed with not speaking evil, not fighting, and being humble.

“Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward” (1 Peter 2:18). Our word “gentle” is paired with “good” and contrasted with froward.

The phrase “easy to be intreated” implies persuasion. We can assume this does not mean compromising the integrity of the Word of God. Think about how God is easily intreated. The Lord Jesus Christ makes intercession to Father, and He always listens to the Son. “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34). “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

The Spirit also makes intercession for us. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).

This contrasts with what evil people do. Consider Jehoiakim and his officials in Jeremiah 36:22-26. The scroll had the warnings from the prophet from the LORD. They read them. The intercession from the LORD was rejected; they did not respond or repent at the reading of the Word. Also, the intercession from Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah to not burn the scroll was also rejected. They will not change their minds or see other viewpoints. It is their way or the highway.

Heavenly wisdom results in one being “full of mercy and good fruits.” They have compassion when it is not deserved. It forgives harsh trespasses. It gives the second chance. It opens one with such wisdom up to vulnerability. There are good fruits. A good plant will produce good fruit. If there is bad fruit, the wisdom cannot possibly be from above.

Wisdom from above is impartial. We have discussed this in depth before. Recall the hypothetical rich man with bright clothing and a ring on versus the one in vile clothing. Above-wisdom treats these the same way. If a decision is made, it is not based on appearance. When judging between two, it is done righteously, and not based on what they can do you for you.

The phrase “without hypocrisy” is a single word, also translated “without dissimulation” and “unfeigned.” True wisdom does not conceal motives or do something with pretense. It is not “fake” but rather sincere. The word is often used with love or faith, things that must always be sincere.

James 3:18

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. (James 3:18)

The true peacemaker actively seeks peace. True wisdom will intentionally seek peace and not try to avoid confrontation. This might be a painful process, but it results in great reward: “the fruit of righteousness.”

The phrase “fruit of righteousness” appears elsewhere. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11). Chastening is a painful process. Suffering in the Scriptures always sets up the children of God for success. Spiritual growth happens with much chastening.

It is the same with the peacemaking process. In a situation as discussed here where there is much envying and strife, there will be much dealing with anger between factions. The peacemaker transcends all this for the sake of peace, healing, and unity.

Consider this from the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). It is characteristic of the Christian to be a peacemaker. The reason for this is because God made peace with humankind by the sending of His Son. It was most painful for Him, but the fruit of righteousness surely resulted from His act of making peace.

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