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James 3:18
“A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
False wisdom, James has told us, is “earthly, unspiritual, demonic”—it is of the world, the flesh, and the devil—and it is characterized by “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.” To the contrary, the true “wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:14–17). In either case, the wisdom specified will produce certain fruit. Earthly, unspiritual, demonic wisdom yields “disorder and every vile practice” (v. 16). Where false wisdom holds sway, chaos and sin will fester. James tells us in today’s passage, however, that the wisdom from above produces something altogether different—namely, “a harvest of righteousness” (v. 18).
How could it be otherwise? After all, we know that people reap what they sow (Gal. 6:7–8). If we act according to divine wisdom, good fruit must result in due time, for God acts according to His own wisdom and can produce only righteousness. Living according to the wisdom from above means cultivating all the qualities that James has told us are true of this wisdom, and that as we do so, we will produce them more and more. Indeed, the qualities that James 3:17 describes are true not only of the wisdom from above but also of the practical righteousness that pleases God. Those who honor Him with their lives are merciful, pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, and so forth. We do not depend on the righteous acts that we do to make us right with God, but those who have been declared righteous in Christ and are in a right relationship to Him will seek to obey the Lord’s righteous will.
Of particular mention in James 3:18 is the Apostle’s reference to peace. If we want “a harvest of righteousness,” it must be sown in peace by those who make peace. Peace is the field in which a righteous character and its corresponding acts of righteousness are cultivated. We must be at peace with God to pursue righteousness, and this peace is secured in our justification (Rom. 5:1). From this peace flows the desire to make peace with others, though never at the expense of truth or as a cover for wrongdoing. Matthew Henry exhorts us: “That which is sown in peace will produce a harvest of joys. Let others reap the fruits of contentions, and all the advantages they can propose to themselves by them; but let us go on peaceably to sow the seeds of righteousness, and we may depend upon it our labor will not be lost.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The fruit of divine wisdom is the same fruit of saving faith—namely, good works that conform to the righteous standard of God’s law. One of the most important of these works is peacemaking, for as much as it depends on us, we are to live peaceably with all people (Rom. 12:18). This, of course, should never be done at the expense of fundamental truths or to ignore sin. Where can you make God-honoring peace today?
For further study
- Psalm 119:165
- Matthew 5:9
The bible in a year
- Numbers 22–24
- Mark 8:1–21
- Numbers 25–28
- Mark 8:22–9:50