Chaste, holy, and clean. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. The conversation here does not refer only to words, but to the whole of men's practice; therefore it is said, Let him show out of a good conversation his works. Man has learned how to train and to bring into control all these of these wild things in nature. With such demonstrations, Jesus disturbed the Pharisees. The John who said, "Little children, love one another," was the same who had once wished to call down fire from heaven in order to blast a Samaritan village out of existence ( Luke 9:51-56). First pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy: The character of this wisdom is wonderful. (iv) The phrase had one particular technical use. 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. They also, obviously, have meaning for all Christians as God expects us to grow in wisdom. At first it had only a ceremonial meaning and meant nothing more than that a man had gone through the right ritual cleansings. And there are a lot of things that I wish I had said that I didn't a word of encouragement, a word of forgiveness, a word of comfort. Or, according to the original word, psychike, it is animal of human--the mere working of natural reason, without any supernatural light. The Christian must not be conformed to this world ( Romans 12:2). The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, it is capable of defiling the whole body, it sets on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire of Gehenna. This cannot be without giving the lie to Christianity, and pretending that this wisdom is what it is not. Even so the tongue is a little member, but it boasts great things. "Is any among you sick? 3; Magn. He has given him a life that loves His ways and word, that hates and revolts from evil, and is pained most of all by falling through unwatchfulness under sin, if it seemed ever so little. (It is but too true that much unseemly strife has had the aegis of this text thrown over it. For in many things, [he said,] we offend all. Are they the persons called to weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon them? So don't be many masters knowing that we will receive the greater condemnation. Two individuals can fight bitterly, call a truce, and yet let hate continue to smolder in their hearts. Full of mercy - Merciful; disposed to show compassion to others. Instead, he must recognize the feelings of others and, at times, sacrifice his own rights (1 Corinthians 8). He that speaketh evil of his brother" is really speaking evil of God's own law and judging it. This no part of scripture does. O that you and I may always be guided by such wisdom as this! Therefore, the wheel of life can stand for the ups and downs of life. Can a fig tree bear olive berries? Long before, Aristotle had used this same picture when he was talking about the science of mechanics: "A rudder is small and it is attached to the very end of the ship, but it has such power that by this little rudder, and by the power of one man--and that a power gently exerted--the great bulk of ships can be moved." See the Romans 14:19 note; Hebrews 12:14. It is a heavy obligation to be a teacher of God's Word.Now, you can teach any other subject, doesn't matter if you are teaching something that will latter on be proved to be wrong, but if you are teaching the Word of God the consequences of the false teaching are so vast that as the teacher you will be held responsible. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Even the pagan writers have the same conviction of sin. Alas! Individual Commentaries Chapter 20: 3.1 But though he had sufficiently condemned hypocrisy, when he said that wisdom is pure or sincere; he makes it more clear by repeating the same thing at the end. - MSB, Without partiality (); here only in the New Testament. This would be hardly intelligible. It is doubtless put in a general form. The highest title which can be given to a man is, that he is a Christian gentleman. "My brethren," says he, "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trial of your faith worketh patience. Alas! He who thinks well, or he who talks well, is not wise in the sense of the Scripture, if he does not live and act well. Where two persons really take up the same matter, and then give us contrary expressions, they of course contradict each other; but if they deal with two totally different points, although they may be ever so closely connected, contradiction there is none: and such precisely is the fact as to Paul and James in the matter before us, without saying a word of the inspiration which makes it impossible. For the yoke, thereof is a yoke of iron and the bands thereof are bands of, brass. Rather are we encouraged to ask why it was according to the wisdom of God that such words as these should be presented to Israel, and especially to such of the twelve tribes as had the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Full of mercy and good fruits Again, the Saviour's own requirement that those who would be forgiven must themselves be willing to forgive others inspires James' comment in his epistle (see Matthew 7,9 and Matthew 6:14,15). And the tongue is a fire; in the midst of our members the tongue stands for the whole wicked world, for it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the ever-recurring cycle of creation, and is itself set on fire by hell. Jesus suffering unjustly at the hands of His enemies is a good example of the kind of "gentle" attitude we should possess. It is gentle or considerate of others. Can anything be conceived more superficial than such a remark? Without dissimulation; without pretending to be what it is not; acting always in its own character; never working under a mask. But we have to take care that we are guided of God in this, which is important in the present day when we know that the spirit of the age is endeavouring to blot out God in all that touches man here below. No wonder, therefore, when persons approach scripture with preconceived thoughts, hoping to find confirmation there instead of gathering God's mind from what He has revealed, no wonder that they find disappointment. It serves as the light to guide one to Heaven (Psalms 119:105). Otherwise Abraham in man's eye was a father ready to murder his own son: what could be worse than this? Elias is cited in support of this. (James 3:17-18) The character of heavenly wisdom. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" "Pure" simply means to be free from every fault and stain. He means to bring in fulness of blessing by and by. "Life," said Lord Fisher, the great sailor, "is strewn with orange peel." But what he says, without discerning (sine dijudicatione ,) seems strange; for the Spirit of God does not take away the difference between good and evil; nor does he render us so senseless as to be so void of judgment as to praise vice, and regard it as virtue. Then it came to mean any work done for pay. Surely we are not to take Paul's object in order to interpret James by. (cf. The stroke of the whip maketh marks. . WebJames 3 New International Version Taming the Tongue 3 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3 Commentary; JIM NEWHEISER - each sermon has nice 2 page outline with lots of Scripture cross-references. In short it is evident that, among inspired epistles, James's address has a special and an exceptional place. So on Rahab's story I need not dwell, except just to show how remarkably guided of divine wisdom was James's allusion. Then follows undissembling, not saying one thing and meaning another. This order is for the good of the Christian. Seeking nothing but Gods glory, and using no other means to attain it than those of his own prescribing. (Clarke), ix. ". It was necessarily negative, not positive, in character. We are so told expressly. We may well rejoice over a "sinner saved" if we know the mercy of it in our souls; but if we license the phrase a "saved sinner," the moral effect is, that, when and though saved, he is still free to sin. Still he is careful in this place to show that the word deals inwardly with the man, that it is this implanted word, as he calls it, and not an external law, that is able to save the soul. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition Gentle - Mild, inoffensive, clement. Thus there is a most complete vindication of God's moral glory in this verse, contrasted with man in his weakness, and ruin, and evil. So far is he from shaking faith that he supposes it, and the works which he commends are stamped with it in the most definite and striking manner. When a man is conscious that his wisdom is of a suspicious kind, one can understand him unwilling to have his mind or will disputed; but the truth is, that there is nothing which so much marks the superiority of grace and truth and wisdom that God gives as patience, and the absence of anxiety to push what one knows is right and true. This is the governing thought and aim of the epistle. They were not to reckon trial a grievance. What kind of wisdom comes forth from you? But he presses also the necessity of dependence on God in another form in the end of our chapter. What James is saying is that the tongue can kindle a destructive fire which can destroy all life; and the tongue itself is kindled with. 2. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. Hypocrisy, then, is a serious matter and should not be ignored. This is not just feelings but actions. 3:3-5 If we put bits into horses' mouths to make them obedient to us, we can control the direction of their whole body as well. Our wisest course is to discard every unscriptural phrase which we find current and influential. I think that we should keep it just as pure as possible as we seek to teach the Word. But if you have bitter envying or strife in your hearts, that's not wise, don't glory in it, and lie not against the truth. Let us remember that peace, eirene ( G1515) , means right relationships between man and man. Gibson says this means "forbearance, even under provocation. The reason is that God uses it for moral purposes; He deals with the nature which opposes itself to His will. "Is it a time," said the indignant prophet, to his covetous and deceitful attendant, "to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive-yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants?" It is the word of God which directs a man begotten by the word of truth, urging and cheering and strengthening him in the very things that the new life delights in. They used the faith of Christ rather for conscientious, godly, thorough carrying out of their Jewish thoughts. (i) There is no man in this world who does not sin in something. The mouth is the voice piece of the heart of man. James urges these individuals to exhibit these characteristics of wisdom in their daily walk. - FBS. Next, he gives the reason; "for," says he, "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.". "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." James does not deal with such matters; he never takes up the question how a sinner is to be justified. 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. For if I do not teach the Word of God correctly, then those people that I may be leading astray, will be people for whom I will have to bear a responsibility. WebTo this truth - that the body of every Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit of Christ - St. Paul returns again and again (Galatians 2:20; Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 3:17; Colossians 1:27). THE WRONG KIND OF WISDOM ( James 3:15-16 ). Never reverse this order; it is not only that this wisdom is pure and peaceable, but it is first pure, then peaceable. The picture of the forest fire is common in the Bible. Heavenly wisdom is full of mercy and good fruits, inwardly disposed to every thing that is kind and good, both to relieve those who want and to forgive those who offend, and actually to do this whenever proper occasions offer. - Utley, good fruits -- This is linked with full of mercy. This is a concern and care for those in need. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Beware thou slide not by it, lest thou fall before him, that lieth in wait and thy fall be incurable unto death. James uses the word to refer to the person who masks his real intentions; that is, he pretends to be what he really is not. In short, holy scripture does not sanction such a combination, and the sooner we get rid of phrases, which deserve no better name than religious cant, the better for all parties. The main object of that epistle was to consummate the breach of the old relationships of such Christians as were Jews in times past, and to lead them out definitively from all earthly connection into their heavenly association with Christ. This is a highly compressed sentence. Man should also strive to have peace within himself (Philippians 4:7). Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. It was the teacher's awe-inspiring responsibility that he could put the stamp of his own faith and knowledge on those who were entering the Church for the first time. without hypocrisy; either with respect to God or man; not making show of that which they have not, or do not intend. That is why I seek to be so careful in teaching the Word of God to keep, as much as possible, my own opinion out of it and speculation out of it completely.A lot of times people want you to speculate on a subject and to me that is extremely dangerous. Worldly wisdom might well wish to escape Gods sight" (95). Whereas there is power and permanence with him who fixes his view on "the perfect law of liberty.". How often one hears people in the habit of quoting from this verse for what they call practice, who dwell on the first part to the exclusion of the last. It is not something that man acquires on his own. True peace is also a positive force (not just quitting something but also doing something constructive). It need scarcely be remarked that it is no question here of the righteousness of God in a doctrinal sense. Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. When we are mild and calm, we are best able to hear reason, and best able to speak it. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. The adjective "full" indicates there is an abundance of mercy in this wisdom and not a shortage. Nor is this an opinion, but what God says. Had he in this epistle launched out into the vast expanse of the truth, he would only have given an impulse to the heaping up of more dogmas. Even a casual glance at the life of Jesus reveals that He lived a life of purity. See the rabbinical meaning of this phrase at the end of this chapter. Good fruits Each temper and disposition producing fruits suited to and descriptive of its nature. Jonah's special mission was to Nineveh, to the most famous Gentile city of that day. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. The fruit of righteousness; either the fruit we bring forth, which is righteousness itself, Luke 3:8, 9; Romans 6:22; Philippians 1:11; or the fruit we reap, which is the reward of righteousness, viz. We have some account of true wisdom, with the distinguishing marks and fruits of it: Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Impossible that such an exhortation could apply where there exists the rgime of an exclusive ministry. James 3:3. The person to whom this letter is ascribed can scarcely be one of the two members of the Twelve who bore the name James (see Mt 10:23; Mk 3:1718; Lk 6:1415), for he is not identified as an apostle but only as slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ ().This designation most probably refers to the third New Testament The phrase, therefore, could mean that the tongue is the adornment of evil. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." They were zealous of the law; they went up to the temple at the hour of prayer, not only Israelites, but even priests, a great company, we hear at one time were obedient to the faith. James writes then after this double manner. For the wisdom that comes from God has such marvelous characteristics, it's pure, it's peaceable it's gentle, easily intreated. I admit it must be put by competent authority. The greatest of the Jewish teachers were well aware of that. "By your words you will be justified; and by your words you will be condemned" ( Matthew 12:36-37). Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble." On the other hand, the effect of forgetting to whom the words are addressed, and of assuming that the epistle contemplates none but such as are born of God, is that you are obliged to explain away the strength of the divine word. Ronny Marriott nominee for BGCT first vice president. (a) Eupeithes ( G2138) can mean ever ready to obey. He shows that it may seem a little thing to man, but we must not excuse what is wrong because it may appear to have a little source. But the true wisdom at all times brings men closer to one another and to God. It is the habit of many, if they find the same expression, to give it always the same meaning. 7. Will it be contended that sinners means saints? It is, therefore, a miserable cheat where any souls allow their own subjective thoughts to govern them in giving up this or any portion of the word of God; for all have an important place, each for its own object. It is the power of the Spirit of God alone that can grave these things on the heart. Salem Media Group. The word he uses for selfish ambition is eritheia ( G2052) which was also a word with no necessarily bad meaning. Now where this is the happy case of any there will be these following things:-- 1. II. Their field was the whole Church; and they did not stay long in any one congregation. JFB, without hypocrisy it must refer, like the rest of the six epithets, to our relations to others; our peaceableness and mercy towards others must be without dissimulation. - JFB, Not hypocritical, sincere, unfeigned (Romans 12:9). It comes not from God but from Satan, and results in wrong actions. Look at ships, too. How much is covered by these two exhortations! 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 ). The word carries with it the idea of being considerate toward others. Click on the different category headings to find out more. Demonic: Demoniacal- inspired by demons, and maintained in the soul by their indwelling influence.. "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated:" it is also "full of mercy and good fruits, without contention, and without hypocrisy." "If we say we have no sin," says John, "we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" ( 1 John 1:8). Jesus manifests himself to the disciples but not to the world ( John 14:22). The order of things here laid down. The apostle here reproves ambition, and an arrogant magisterial tongue; and shows the duty and advantage of bridling it because of its power to do mischief.