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James 3:17a
“The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason.”
Earthly, unspiritual, and demonic wisdom springs from and is characterized by “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition” that in turn bears the fruit of “disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:14–16). Such characteristics actually make true wisdom impossible to cultivate. Therefore, John Calvin rightly comments that “wisdom requires a state of mind that is calm and composed, but envying disturbs it, so that in itself it becomes in a manner tumultuous, and boils up immoderately against others.” God-ordered, spiritually minded, and divinely sourced wisdom must therefore be altogether different from this false wisdom that James has described. In today’s passage, the Apostle turns to the characteristics of true wisdom. James calls it “the wisdom from above” (v. 17a), for as Matthew Henry comments, “True wisdom is God’s gift” (see also 1:5).
James 3:17 gives eight characteristics of the wisdom that comes from God. It seems that we should not view this as an exhaustive list of the characteristics of wisdom from above, much as Paul does not list every possible fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23. Instead, these eight characteristics of divine wisdom give us an overall picture of what true wisdom looks like, though other godly traits not given here would certainly also characterize the wisdom from above.
First and fundamentally, the wisdom from above is “pure” (James 3:17a). True wisdom has the traits of holiness and moral blamelessness. After all, it comes from the thrice-holy God, who “cannot be tempted with evil, and . . . himself tempts no one” (1:13; see Isa. 6:1–3).
The wisdom from above is also “peaceable” (James 3:17a). Dr. R.C. Sproul describes this as an “authentic peace, free of a quarrelsome attitude.” This also reflects God’s own character, for He showed Himself the supreme Peacemaker when He made peace with sinners through the blood of His Son’s cross (Col. 1:20). Here the Lord made peace without compromising the principle of justice, showing us that true peace is always grounded in truth. The Apostle James practiced what he preached, showing his own peaceable wisdom when he suggested a peaceful and biblically faithful resolution to the conflict over circumcision in the early church (Acts 15:1–21).
The third and fourth traits of true wisdom are gentleness and reasonableness (James 3:17a). This means, Dr. Sproul says, that the wise person is “thoughtful and respectful of other people’s feelings” and “willing to listen to . . . others.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
In our search for wise leaders in the church, we are usually looking for those who are knowledgeable. Without a doubt, we need such leaders. Yet we cannot overlook other aspects of true wisdom, including purity, peaceableness, gentleness, and reasonableness. We must prize these characteristics as much as we prize knowledge—in all Christians, but especially in our leaders.
For further study
- Psalm 111:10
- Proverbs 3:13–18
- Acts 21:17–26
- Philippians 4:5
The bible in a year
- Numbers 16–18
- Mark 7:1–13