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James 3:14–16
“If you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
Because true divine wisdom reveals itself in our “good conduct” that performs works of service to God and neighbor “in the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13), we can expect that false wisdom bears fruit in sinful deeds. That is exactly what James tells us in today’s passage as he considers divine wisdom from above by giving us its counterfeit, the false wisdom from below.
Let us go first to James 3:16, where the Apostle says that “disorder and every vile practice” exist wherever there is “jealousy and selfish ambition,” which characterize not the wisdom from above but its antithesis: earthly, unspiritual, and demonic wisdom (vv. 14–15). James’ point, of course, is that conduct contrary to God’s law results from false wisdom and that this wisdom is characterized by and grows in the seedbed of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. Certainly, James does not mean legitimate desire and godly ambition that moves us to attempt great things for the sake of God and neighbor. Instead, the “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition” in verses 14 and 16 refer to seeking the best for oneself at the expense of others as well as the desire to possess things that are not rightfully ours. Those who have bitter jealousy break the commandment against coveting (Ex. 20:17). Note also that the Greek for “selfish ambition” is used elsewhere to refer to political factionalism. False wisdom produces people who are quick to divide from and oppose others, forming cliques within the church. Such ambition created lots of problems for the first-century Corinthian church (see 1 Cor. 3).
Those who have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition and their corresponding fruits of disorder and vile practices must not boast that they have true divine wisdom, for in so doing they are being false to the truth: They are lying (James 3:14). Instead, they have false wisdom, which is “earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (v. 15). “Earthly” means that this wisdom looks at the world with no reference to God and His reign. “Unspiritual” refers to the human will and human reason operating as their own final authorities. “Demonic” gives the origin of such wisdom in Satan and his minions. This triad of characteristics is the basis for the theological maxim that our three greatest enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil. False wisdom leads to sinful conduct and is worldly, fleshly, and demonic in origin. True wisdom, on the other hand, is heavenly, submissive to the Holy Spirit, and divine in origin. May God grant us all such wisdom.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The Venerable Bede comments on the relationship between the heart, wisdom, and our conduct: “The heart is like a root and contains within itself all the fruit of the actions which proceeds from it. Someone who operates from a spirit of jealousy and strife will do nothing which is not tainted with evil, however good it may appear to others.” If we want to do what is truly good, we must put bitter jealousy and selfish ambition to death, pursuing contentment in Christ.
For further study
- 1 Samuel 18:6–11
- Psalm 119:36
- Mark 9:33–35
- Philippians 2:3–4
The bible in a year
- Numbers 13–15
- Mark 6:30–56