Biblion Bible Commentary
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Wisdom That Is Not from Above
James 3:13-16
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom. · WEB
Wisdom is tested the way faith was tested — by asking to see it — and the counterfeit is traced to a source.
Verse 13 asks who is wise and understanding, and then applies the letter's standard method: let him show it. The same demand made of faith James 2:18 is now made of wisdom, and the evidence asked for is good conduct, in works done in the meekness of wisdom.
Meekness is an unexpected pairing with wisdom, and it is chosen against the thing about to be described. Wisdom that has to be asserted is already failing the test.
Verse 14 names the counterfeit's contents: bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in the heart. The second word is the one used of a politician working a faction — self-advancement pursued through people. The instruction is not to fix it but to stop claiming otherwise: do not boast and do not lie against the truth, which suggests the readers were presenting this as spiritual maturity.
Verse 15 traces the source, and the description descends in three steps. This wisdom is not from above — the letter's phrase for where good gifts come from James 1:17 — but earthly, then unspiritual, then demonic. The last term is not decoration; the letter has already noted what the demons possess James 2:19, and a right creed proves compatible with this.
Verse 16 states the result, and it is social rather than personal. Where jealousy and ambition are, there is disorder and every worthless practice. A congregation, not an individual, is what comes apart.
settled What this mark means