"A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire," says the writer of the Proverbs ( Proverbs 16:27). The manner of stating a truth, however well-meant, may sometimes stumble souls, through our own want of subjection to the precious truth and the wonderful wisdom of God in His word. Is it too much to ask that a document be judged by its express and manifest design? True wisdom asserts itself in our actions toward others. Le don de l'Esprit non par les uvres de la loi, mais par l'coute de la foi. Means peace loving or peace promoting (cf. "None is righteous, no not one," quotes Paul. Only it is a mistake to suppose that it contemplates nobody else. Then will be in the fullest sense His rest, when all question of His working and of man's responsibility will be over, when He, entering into the result, will grant us to enter into His rest. 4. John says, "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:3). Their field was the whole Church; and they did not stay long in any one congregation. _MURMEURS_ Les gens ont murmur. People who were ill slept in the temples of Aesculapius at night, and if one of these tame serpents glided over them, that was supposed to be the healing touch of the god. 6. James 3:3. The more a mistake (or a hurtful word) is repeated, and the more authority with which it is clothed, the greater are its (vi) The true wisdom is adiakritos ( G87) , undivided. James 3 - Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible - StudyLight.org 2. easy to be entreated: James here presents another characteristic of wisdom. Observe, 1. Peter could say, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you" ( Matthew 26:35), and that very same tongue of his denied Jesus with oaths and curses ( Matthew 26:69-75). See how large they are and how they are driven by rough winds, and see how their course is altered by a very small rudder, wherever the pressure of the steersman desires. The Orphic religion believed that the human soul was continually undergoing a process of birth and death and rebirth; and the aim of life was to escape from this treadmill into infinite being. let him pray. ( Sir_19:15 ). The apostles even lived with the potential of living hypocritical lives. 17But the wisdom which is from above. The wisdom from above is not envious, but pure; is not contentious, but peaceable; does not create confusion, but is patient and conciliatory; and instead of producing every evil work, it is full of mercy or benevolence, and of the fruits of benevolence, being not censorious or partial in judgment, and not dissembling, or acting dishonestly. He will patiently listen to others; if truth is presented, he will accept it; but if error is presented, he will reject it. It might be argued against James' terror of the tongue that it is a very small part of the body to make such a fuss about and to which to attach so much importance. All that is founded on a mere temporary set of circumstances is doomed, and in no way belongs to the nature of God as revealed in truth and grace by the Son of God. I then feel the necessity of somehow explaining away those scriptures. In the LXX it is used mostly of Gods disposition as a King. (See Luke 16:1-31) Accordingly their hatred grew until it resulted in the cross of the Lord; and hence this is one of the elements, though of course not the only one, which calls down the judgment of God; and the Spirit of God so treats it here: "Ye have killed the just." It has not been unknown for a man to utter the most pious sentiments one day and to repeat the most questionable stories the next. In our bodies, that is to say, the tongue stands for the whole wicked world. let him sing psalms." - ESVSB, first pure -- literally, chaste, sanctified: pure from all that is earthly, sensual (animal), devilish (James 3:15). In Greek the phrase is ho ( G3588) kosmos ( G2899) tes ( G3588) adikias ( G93) , and we shall best get at its meaning by remembering that kosmos ( G2889) can have two meanings. Zelos ( G2205) need not be a bad word. II. A faith that is unproductive has no living link with God. This too is a practical subject. Barclay adds, "The true wisdom is so cleansed of all ulterior motives and of self that it has become pure enough to see God. THE CORRUPTION WITHIN ( James 3:5 b-6 continued). James 3 Resources That attitude is not one that demands its rights but is willing to suffer wrong on occasions even when in the right (1 Peter 2:20). James first of all warns against a desire to teach the Word of God that would stem or emanate just from your own desire to be in front of people or whatever. Behold, how great a matter" (or wood, as it is given in the margin) "a little fire kindleth! Is it not precisely what those who quote would find the greatest difficulty in honestly proving that they value? He now mentions the effects of celestial wisdom which are wholly contrary to the former effects. (James 3:17-18) The character of heavenly wisdom. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Waco | 92 views, 3 likes, 1 loves, 3 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Waco First Assembly of God: We are studying Genesis chapters 18-21 this evening. WebLord, you're always doing new things as well. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. This is God's wisdom. For surely that which a man says publicly will be used to measure himself; and it is well to be prepared for it. This does not mean expressly the inspired psalms. They are opposite of the vices described in vv. Then we are shown two kinds of wisdom, just as with regard to temptations there were two sorts of them one blessed from God, and a real glory to the man that endures; and the other a shame, because it springs from his own fallen nature. These are the two most important points pressed practically throughout the epistle. Never reverse this order; it is not only that this wisdom is pure and peaceable, but it is first pure, then peaceable. This, on the contrary, stamps the sensual aspiring wisdom of man; but what comes down from above is gentle, yielding, full of mercy and good fruits, uncontentious, and unfeigned. Are they the persons called to weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon them? "Blessed is the man who has not slipped with his mouth" ( Sir_14:1 ). 2 We all stumble in many ways. There is a kind of cruel wisdom which takes a delight in hurting others with clever, but cutting, words. At this stage hagnos ( G53) describes ritual, but not necessarily moral, purity. - PC, without partiality -- recurring to the warning against partial respect to persons, James 2:1, James 2:4, James 2:9. Thus it is not only that God is inaccessible to evil Himself, but He also never tempts to evil at any one time whatsoever. I press, then, that the word "sinners" here clearly to my mind shows that the Spirit of God in this epistle takes in a larger range than most allow. (ii) The true wisdom is eirenikos ( G1516) . It implies that it is free from ethical defilement (cf. He moves supremely above evil: this is the ground of the blessing of every child of God, which he will show presently, when he has finished the subject of evil that comes through man's nature. He is speaking of what is not pleasing to, because, inconsistent with, His nature; and clearly the wrath of man is offensive to Him. (i) It is wide-ranging. Then it came to mean any work done for pay. Righteousness produces peace with its qualities of quietness and assurance, but at the same time, peace provides the proper environment for This led to the establishment of the Inquisition; this kindled the fires of Smithfield; this inspirited Laud and his friends; this has been the origin of no small part of the schisms in the church. (i) It is fanatical. Why Does God Compare Our Relationship with Him to That of a Bride and Groom? There seems to be a complete contrast between the two kinds of wisdom. * Why? James warns these Christians not to show preferential treatment to certain ones. At this precisely is the epistle levelled, namely, the severing faith from practice. We have had the evil traced to its source, which is the fallen nature of man, no doubt wrought on by Satan, but without here bringing the enemy before us. The most notable thing about it is that it issues in disorder. This aggravated the selfishness of their ways and their indifference to others. Therefore, the wheel of life can stand for the ups and downs of life. but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, and fully of deadly poison ( James 3:8 ). The picture of the forest fire is common in the Bible. And that which is sown in peace will produce a harvest of joys. Living in peace with others, and promoting peace among men. This is fortified by various illustrations, and followed up by the picture of the wise man, who is proved to be such, not by famous knowledge, but practically. The damage the tongue can cause is like that caused by a forest fire. James 3 Commentary | Precept Austin The rest of the chapter takes up another subject the case of God's discipline. The Psalmist thought on the same lines: "Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field; the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea" ( Psalms 8:6-8). Paul describes his confrontation with Peter and his hypocrisy with these words, "But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? And then, lastly, true wisdom will go on to sow the fruits of righteousness in peace, and thus, if it may be, to make peace in the world, James 3:18; James 3:18. And is such wisdom as produces these effects to be gloried in? WebTag: James 3:17-18 commentary. 3:7-8 Every kind of beast and bird, and reptile and fish, is and has been tamed for the service of mankind; but no man can tame the tongue. For believers, it defines obedience to Gods standards (cf. Whoso hearkeneth unto it shall, never find rest and never dwell quietly, neither shall he have a, friend in whom he may repose. It produces the kind of situation which the devil delights in, not God. Instead of a friend become not an enemy; for thereby thou shalt inherit an ill name, shame and reproach; even so shall a sinner that hath a double tongue" ( Sir_5:13 through Sir_6:1 ). WebJames 3:2. "And lie not against the truth." James Commentary Yet the remarkable feature we have also to weigh here is that when works are thus introduced, attention is directed to what would be perfectly valueless if they were not the result of faith, nay, worse than valueless, positively evil, and entailing the severest punishment. 1416. It is also translated as "open to reason" (RSV), "willing to yield" (Goodspeed), and "ready to be convinced" (Knox). As Dummelow observed, "The wisdom described here is moral rather than intellectual."[39]. Man has learned how to train and to bring into control all these of these wild things in nature. (cf. 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. Verset 17. Abstention from anything is never a complete substitute for control in its use. Whenever the name of God was mentioned, a Jew must respond: "Blessed be he!" Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. And yet the very mouths and tongues which had frequently and piously blessed God, were the very same mouths and tongues which cursed fellowmen. One sees thoroughly, in the midst of the utmost difference otherwise, how it is the same divine mind a mind above the contractedness of man. Against this the Holy Ghost launches His solemn and searching words in the rest of the chapter. That is, there is a trial of faith, and there is a temptation of flesh. Nor do I deny that there are answers to prayer of a very striking kind. Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. This we know was an old custom. - RWP. how often a blessing has been given, and as often lost, being turned to His shame and men's corruption. It hence follows, that they lie who glory in their cruel austerity. Where there is simple truth, nothing is needed but the quiet statement of the fact. WebJames 3:3 Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. from above -- James 1:17; James 3:15; James 3:17; wisdom from above -- The answer to the disorder of v. 16 is to seek wisdom from above, which produces character qualities beginning with purity and concluding with peace (cf. James 1:17 | Bible Exposition Commentary It is not the salutation that the Epistles of Paul and the other apostles have made so familiar to us, but exactly the form of salutation that was used in the famous epistle of Acts 15:1-41 from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, who wrote to the Gentile assemblies to guard them from yielding to legalism. Ronny Marriott, incumbent second vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and pastor of First Baptist Church in Burleson, will be nominated for Texas Baptists first vice president.
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