There are two types of wisdom, wisdom from God and wisdom from the earth. Each type of wisdom has different characteristics. Wisdom from the earth is demonic and produces envy and strife. But the wisdom from God not only reveals the word of God, but it does so in a way that is according to God’s character. As Christians, we need to reveal the wisdom of God in God’s way. This means being peaceable, gentle, willing to answer questions, avoiding unnecessary conflict, and being impartial and without hypocrisy.
The only way we can fulfill this instruction is by the Holy Spirit. He will help us reveal God’s wisdom in God’s way.
Here are a few Scriptures and comments from Bobby regarding the wisdom that is from above.
James 3:17-18 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Comment: We can see why the wisdom from above must first be pure – that is, coming from a pure heart of faith that does not doubt, does not doubt God’s Word nor God’s promises. This wisdom must be pure and free from error, being in accordance with God’s word. In addition, we need a pure heart when handling the word of God.
1 Timothy 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart…
Comment: In this context purity is something that’s void of evil, but instead abounding in love.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Comment: Peaceable and peacemakers share the same root word for peace in Greek. It’s interesting to note that this verse follows the one with the pure in heart, similar to the way James describes wisdom from above.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 16:27 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Comment: When we believe and call on Jesus out of a pure heart, then Jesus can give us His peace so that we may have peace that world does not have and does not know. As a result, as we grow in the peace of Christ, we can become peacemakers, reconciling the world to God through the message of the gospel and by bringing Christ’s peace and wisdom to a broken world, in a desperate need of redemption.
Titus 3:2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
Comment: The word “peaceable” actually means literally “not a brawler”. It comes from the Greek “amakhos”, which seems similar to “not being a macho”. And humility can also be translated as meekness.
Comment: Basically, yielding means to be obedient, easy to be persuaded, easy to be entreated, pacified. James uses a word with similar word to describe how we need to tame and bridle the tongue:
James 3:3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.
Comment: But the wisdom of above is pliable and willing to obey the truth, working for peace, while turning away from needless strife and contention.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
James 2:1-4 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
Comment: The word translated “partiality” in verse 1 and verse 4 are actually different words in the Greek. The first one means “respecter of persons”, while the second one is related to the one in James 3. They both imply the same meaning though – not to show favoritism among believers based on outward, worldly appearance.
Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy.
1 Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Comment: The verses in Hebrews and James both speak about the fruit of righteousness that brings peace. In Hebrews, this is connected with the chastening of the Lord, which seems to bring temporary sorrow so that believers “may be partakers of His holiness” (v10). Somehow, I also connect these verses to Matthew 5:
Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Comment: In this verse in Matthew, both persecution and righteousness are mentioned. In fact, I can see a kind of progression (similar to the one in James):
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5: 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Comment: The first beatitude seems to speak of salvation, as only those who call on the Lord from a pure heart can see His salvation. The second one seems to speak of believers who have the peace of Christ in them and they are growing in that peace by becoming disciples of others and sharing the peace of Christ with the world. Thus, they are called sons of God, as they are being led by the Spirit of God and teaching others to do the same. Finally, the last verse speaks of the persecution that will come to those who seek to obey the Lord and do His will – their righteousness, their peaceful fruit of righteous living, would invite the opposition of the enemy and his desire to wage war against them. 1 Peter 5: 8 warns that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour:
1 Peter 5: 8. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Comment: Yet, God will use this opposition from the enemy as an instrument for godly discipline to further establish the believers in the faith and perfect them in His holiness.
1 Peter 5:9-10 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Comment: We must always be made aware and be vigilant that we have a powerful enemy, who constantly wants to wage war against us. In fact, this enemy has supernatural power and we cannot defeat him by our own natural means. That’s why, we should never become complacent or proud in our spiritual walk, because until our enemy is defeated, we cannot stop being vigilant and we cannot afford lose sight of what is truly important as we seek to live for the Lord. Both James and 1 Peter warn us:
James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5 “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Comment: Yet, we have great promises that when we humble ourselves before the Lord, the devil will flee, but the Lord will establish us firmly and He will lift us up.
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
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