The Wisdom from Above James 3:17

James, the “servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”, told the people within the “twelve tribes scattered abroad” that if they have “envying and strife” in their “hearts”, they were not to “glory” or “lie” about them. The result of these inward traits was “confusion and every evil work” and in chapter three and verse seventeen of his letter, James shared about “the wisdom that is from above” where we read:

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.

The verse begins, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,...” James began with the word, “But” which means “moreover, nevertheless and notwithstanding” and is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated, “the wisdom” or “the thinking and varied knowledge of things human and divine acquired by acuteness and experience” “that is from above” which refers to “from a higher place such as heaven or God” “is first pure” or “principal and primary in rank, influence, honor truth, certainty, sureness and indeed with exciting reverence, venerable, sacred, chaste, modest and free from every fault and immaculate”, “then peaceable” which means “and afterward, thereupon and thereafter relating to peace, pacific and salutary”, “gentle” or “seeming, suitable, equitable, fair and mild”. God's “wisdom” is “pure” and “chaste”, and it brings about “peace” and not “strife”.

The verse goes on to say, “...and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” James continued, “and easy to be intreated” which means “easily obeying, compliant and good for persuasion”, “full of mercy” or “filled with and replete with kindness and goodwill towards the miserable and afflicted with a desire to help them” “and good fruits” which means “useful, salutary, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, excellent, distinguished, upright and honorable works, acts, deeds, advantage, profit and utility”, “without partiality” which means “not having dubiousness, ambiguity and uncertainty”, “and without hypocrisy” or “not being unfeigned, undisguised and insincere”. God's “wisdom” is easily “compliant”, filled with kindness and goodwill, full of “useful and salutary works and deeds, is not “ambiguous” and is always sincere.

When we consider these words of James, we see the difference between the “wisdom” of the world and the “wisdom” from God “above”. God's “wisdom” includes wonderful attributes that draw us to Him, and the world's “wisdom” creates “strife” and “contention”. As we consider the manner Jesus lived on the earth, let us remember, He exuded all the “wisdom” of God above, and His wonderful promise is to make that “wisdom” available to us. Let us think on these wonderful characteristics of God's “wisdom”, and may the Lord manifest them in and through our lives.

Next time James shares about “the fruit of righteousness”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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