The Book of James - True Wisdom

James 3:13-18

James has left us in a desperate place. Who can control his or her tongue (3:1-12)? How will we get free from this terrible power and come to perfection (wholeness, maturity)? James’ answer is that we need not our own power, but God’s divine wisdom.

In chapter 3 verses 13-18, James shows us the difference between a person who has divine wisdom and one who does not. The truly wise person is characterized by a good life, meaning a way of life that is good according to the teaching of Jesus.

Scripture teaches that we face two paths for life. Jesus says there is a broad road that leads to destruction and a narrow road that leads to life. We can call Jesus ‘Lord’ truly or falsely. We can build our life on sand or on the rock, that is on Christ (Matt. 7:13-27).

James likewise says there are two ways of life, two kinds of wisdom. One wisdom is from the earth, even the devil; the other is from heaven.

“Of course, we do not simply choose pure religion,” notes Dan Doriani. For, “intractable evil within us lights the tongue’s fires (3:1-6). We cannot quench those fires by a mere act of the will. We cannot simply decide to tame the tongue.” One minute we use it to bless God; the next we use it to curse men. Our tongue proves our lack of self-control (3:7-12).

James wants us to face this squarely, for he is building an indictment of human sin in chapters 3-4. No one can control their tongue. Everyone gossips or curses or boasts or otherwise hurts people’s feelings. To our sorrow, we must confess that God alone controls the tongue (3:8).

That is why we need the gospel, why we need to be born from above by the word of truth (James 1:18; John 3:3, 15). “We cannot simply choose the way of wisdom. We are unable to choose the right path and follow it every time. A righteous life is a gift from God” (Doriani).

Yet God does not leave us to ourselves. In his commentary on James, Doriani declares, “Before he develops his indictment of human sin in full (chapter 4), he presents two ways of life. We should choose the way of wisdom, yet we do not have the power in ourselves to do so. So, by grace, God’s wisdom comes down to us (3:15, 17).”

This week we will look at James 3:13-18 on True Wisdom. I hope you can join us as we consider that the choices we make set a direction for our lives.

In Christ’s path,

Pastor Wayne