The book of James talks about the wisdom from above, and the wisdom that is from the devil. Meekness and good conversation are from above, along with peace, gentleness, love, easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without hypocrisy. This describes a person who is not a snob, , not thinking he is better than others, not proud or conceited, or exclusive, not harsh or judgmental, or condemning. Meekness speaks of humility, thankfulness for one’s salvation, and awareness of God’s grace towards oneself and others. Wisdom from above is about not seeking one’s own glory, content to be in the background, letting God have all the glory.
Wisdom from the devil, by contrast, is sensual, (controlled by our senses), earthly and of this world, ruled by the pursuit of self, and driven by a meritorious system of the world, politics, and popularity, leading to the envy of others, competition with others, as well as strife, bickering, jealousy and bitterness. Glory not! James warns, and lie not against the truth!
What is the truth? The truth is we are all sinners, wretched sinners saved by faith alone! We have nothing to glory in but the cross! All was done for us with regards to salvation. Who are we to take credit for anything? Yet there are some in Christian circles who believe they are better, and are attached to a religious spirit of hypocrisy resulting in pride. Sadly, what stated out as zeal soon gave way to self glorification, conceit, and self righteousness. It can be seen in many churches, this spirit being handed down, by the older to the younger, however it is a snare, a most insidious trap.
With this type of worldly wisdom, confusion quickly sets in. The confusion is costly. It is a confusion about our own sinfulness and a false belief that we are somehow saved by our works and not grace alone. Those who fall into this snare are vulnerable to the deadfall traps of Lordship salvation and Calvinism which are rampant in the church today. The idea is that we must earn our salvation and our pride. The proponents of such teachings become fruit inspectors of their own works and the works of others, often setting a standard that is not Biblical rather than seed sowers sharing the gospel of hope with others. The false belief that we are better than others seeps in. We become envious of others and enter a class or caste system of merit in our little exclusive group. This type of wisdom the Bible calls “sinful, carnal, demonic. God has to bring us low when this happens, if we are His. There are also many tares among the wheat spreading this poison who never come out of it, because they do not belong to the Shepherd and cannot hear his voice. But then, there are those lambs of His, who start out well meaning but get lost in it all. They become deceived by a wolf and fall backslidden from God’s grace, as we see in the book of Galations. God is faithful and does go to fetch them from the wolf but oftentimes it is not without heartache, losses, and casualties.
To the one who has fallen into this snare, I would say, Go back to the Lord. See the meekness of our God. He is gentle and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your soul. God bless you.
Sarah Hopkins Art 