To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture (16) - 3
The Explanation and Analysis of the Verses in Chapter 3 of JAMES
It is edited and compiled under the guidance of Holy Spirit. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!
5. Words and wisdom (3:1-18)
Here, the author mentions that there are some believers presume to be the teachers, and try to show off their own wisdom, so that they are careless on their words, even slander others to exalt themselves. Therefore, here, he exhorts the believers to be careful on their words, which will be wiser than presuming to be the teachers. It is because the true wisdom which “comes from heaven ”, is not to harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in their hearts, boasts about it or denies the truth, but to be “pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ”.
(1) Words (3:1-12)
The words is one of the deeds of faith. In (1Ti 4:12), when talking about to set an example to the believers in everything, “speech” is listed as the first. In fact, “words” in our life (no matter the believers or the unbelievers) is the most important part of life; it influences all the time our or others’ reputations, personalities, or career. Everyone need to talk everyday; there are few people who never say wrong words. There are many people; after believing in LORD, they have changed in other aspects; however, their “tongues” are still unchanging. It is obvious that to be careful of one’s words is the spiritual course that the believers must not overlook.
A. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man (3:1-2)
JAMES 3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
(NOTES)
In the beginning of this chapter, the warning to the believers is given that not many of them should presume to be the teachers. It is because to be the teachers, although one will gain a little more undeserved reputation, he will be judged more strictly; the more praises and honors one receives, the more accounts he need to turn in to God. There are some believers who like to presume to be the teachers; they consider themselves wise, and judge the brothers and deliberately nitpick the fault of others to show their own correctness. This is similar to the situation that when LORD was on earth, the disciples argued about who will be the greatest. The old play is put on repeatedly all the time; it is obvious that the sinful nature of men are the same regardless of the generations, and all need to be dealt with by the cross. When LORD was on earth, He teaches the disciples that they should not be called 'Rabbi,' for they are all brothers; and they have only one Master -- LORD Jesus as their teacher (Mat 23:8), who called them “students” (Mat 10:24-25). Therefore, this kind of argument is against the teachings of LORD. The life of the Christians in this world is in the “times of the students”. We should keep the attitude of a student all the time. Although in the church, there is the position of “teacher” established by God to instruct others, this position is not taken by oneself, but is the gift given by God. Paul said that he was compelled to preach the Gospel; to become the one who teach others, is not chosen and taken by himself, but God entrusts such duty and gifts to him (1Co 9:16; 1Ti 2:7; Col 1:25,28; Act 20:24).
This verse let us see that to presume to be the teachers is because one likes to criticize the fault of others in order to exalt themselves.
JAMES 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
(NOTES)
This verse brings up with a noble and spiritual virtue as the goal that the believers should pursue all together. Here, it points out that we wholeheartedly pursue a spiritual virtue and a practice of spiritual growth, that will be far above to pursue a respectable position before people. To be the teacher, it is inevitable to make some mistakes and will be judged more strictly; however, if one is never at fault in what he says, he will be a perfect man who truly produce the fruit of the Spirit.
“We all stumble in many ways”:
James humbly uses the word of “We”, and includes himself among those “stumble in many ways”. Although he was inspired by Holy Spirit to write this letter to teach those believers at that time who presumed to be teachers, he did not pose as the teacher at all. Although only LORD Jesus Christ is a perfect man, who is never at fault in what he says (Joh 8:46; 1Pe 2:22-23); the believers in Christ should make every effort to pursue this spiritual virtue of having no fault in what they say.
“able to keep his whole body in check. ”:
This indicates that if one can restrain themselves on speech, they can restrain themselves on every aspect of the life. “keep .. in check”, that is, does not do as one pleases and let oneself go carelessly, but checks all the time to make sure one is on the right track in accordance to all the teachings of the Bible. One of the methods to make less fault in speech is to speak less (Pro 10:19; 21:23) and speak carefully. To talk too much not only will let one make more mistakes, but also give more mistaken chances to the listeners. The fault in the speech is one of the main reasons for the troubles of interpersonal relationship in the church nowadays.
B. Several parables of tongues (3:3-8)
These verses use the most plain but significant parables as the important teachings to us, to talk about the reason that we should hold our tongues:
a. Bits (3:3)
JAMES 3:3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
(NOTES)
When the bits are put into the mouths of horses to make them be obedient, the riders can turn the whole animal at wills. In the like manner, if the tongues of the believers are kept within bounds by the Spirit of truth, they can be used by God at God’s will. On the contrary, if one rides on a horse without bits in the mouth, he can not move around at his own will, instead, he has to move at the will of the horse. In the like manner, if the speech of the believers has not been dealt with by God, the will of God on them is like to ride on the horse without bits and can not pass through at God’s will. It is obvious that to learn to be obedient to God in speech and receive the management of God is the first lesson to learn among all the lessons of obedience. If one could not be constrained by God in speech, it will be difficult for him to be used by God to do anything.
“we can turn the whole animal”:
Although the bits are only put in the mouth of the horses, their effects are not limited on the mouth of the horse, but can turn the whole animals.
b. Rudder (3:4-5upper)
JAMES 3:4-5upper Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
(NOTES)
Rudder is the most important part of the ship. The reason that a ship is useful, it is not only because it can load the goods and can travel, but also is up to whether it can navigate following a certain course according to the will of the one taking charge of the ship or not. The rudder determines the direction of the navigation of the ship, just as the tongue in our whole body; although it is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts, and can have great influence in our entire life. LORD Jesus Christ is the one who operates our rudder ; if we put our “rudder” in the hand of the one who is at helm, He can turn our whole person at His will and make us the useful “ships ”. Otherwise, our life is like a ship without directions, not only is useless, but also is full of crisis.
This verse shows the importance of the speech; not only it will affect the work and the will of God, but also will affect the future of our own life or other’s future. God often through our words influence our ways and change our circumstances or life styles. For examples: Zechariah spoke wrong words (Luk 1:18), and was silent and not able to speak for ten months (Luk 1:51-64); and can not be as the priest. John the Baptist was put into the prison because of his brave words (Mat 14:3-4). Herod spoke wrong words and resulted in the killing of John the Baptist (Mat 14:7-11); for another example, Paul spoke according to the will of God, as a result, the whole family of the jailer were saved (Act 16:31-34) and so on.
c. Fire (3:5latter -6)
JAMES 3:5latter -6 Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
(NOTES)
The danger of the fire is that it not only will burn up things, but also it can spread everywhere to continue to burn. A small spark can set the great forest on fire, for it can spread continually to burn. “The tongue also is a fire”; it is because the tongue stirs up troubles like the fire and can spread continually. Note that the sentence at the end of this verse: “and is itself set on fire by hell”. This sentence makes more serious of the first sentence to explain that the tongue is not only the fire, but also is set on fire by hell. The fire of hell is different from the fire of this world. The fire on this world can be extinguished; the fire of the hell can not be extinguished. Therefore, it means that the words spoke out by the tongues, is the same as the unquenchable fire to burn continually, just as the breath that one breathes out can not take it back any more.
d. A world of evil (3:6)
JAMES 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
(NOTES)
How the sins and evils corrupted the whole world and let the people of the whole world fall into the pains of the sins and evils; so is the tongue corrupts the whole person and let the whole person fall into sins and evils, and eventually the hell.
“the whole course of his life”:
The tongue is like the fire, which can burn up the whole course of one’s life, and put us in the trouble in the entire life. Therefore, the verse continues the previous verse. Here, all kinds of parables are used in order to increase the weight of tone, so that the believers will understand the importance to be careful in speech.
e. A restless evil (3:7-8)
JAMES 3:7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
(NOTES)
Here, the Bible reminds us that although the mankind through the special wisdom given by God tamed all kinds of things outside the body so that they are fit to be used by the mankind, men have not tamed the small tongue of their body yet. Except LORD Jesus, no one in the Bible can dare to claim that there is never any fault in what he said before. On the contrary, many great spiritual men felt that they need the special help from God on their words (Psa 34:13;141:3; Pro 13:2; 21:23; 30:8). Therefore, we must especially rely on the power of the Holy Spirit in our words.
“a restless evil”: this shows that the tongue always need paying attention to, it is not done once for all.
(3) Do not have double-tongues (3:9-12)
These verses point out how the words are related to the glories of God. It also tells us the reason that we should not have double-tongues from two aspects:
a. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father (3:9-10)
JAMES 3:9-10 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
(NOTES)
We praise God with our tongue; that is the proper function of our tongue created by God. However, if we praise God with tongue, we should not use tongue to curse men who have been made in God's likeness. Since man is the greatest masterpiece of God, and is the creation in God's likeness, if we truly respect God, we must respect men in God's likeness. Thus, if we praise God with tongue on one hand, curse men with the tongue on the other hand, that will be self-contradictory and will not be sincere praises to God. Someone might say why there are cursing words in the Psalms of the Old Testament? In fact, not only in the Psalms or the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament; there are cursing words, such as: (2Ki 2:24; Deu 27:11-26; 1Co 16:22; Gal 1:9). The prophets of the Old Testament or the apostles of the New Testament proclaimed the words according to the will of God; there are both blessings and curses. To declare those curses, is because God consider the sins and evils of those people deserve to be cursed. However, since Christ has bore with the curses for us, we should not have a wicked mind and curse others according to one’s selfish desires.
Here, especially calls God as “our Lord and Father”. That is, since we call God as “Lord”, we should let Him master our tongues and let Him take charge of it and use it. Since we call God as “Father”, we should not curse those brothers who have the same Father as us with tongue, but should speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15).
b. For our tongue can only have one use (3:11-12)
JAMES 3:11-12 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
(NOTES)
These two verses use several different parables to show the same thing. That is, our tongue can not have two uses, just as one spring can not produce two kinds of water, and one fruit tree can not produce two kinds of fruits, also one water can not have two tastes.
Note that: in the previous verse, it is saying that one tongue should not have two opposite uses; here, it is saying that not only one tongue should not have two kinds of uses, but also can not have two kinds of uses. If we use the tongue to curse , we are not worthy to praise with our tongue any more. It is because even if we use tongue to curse on one hand, and to praise on the other hand, God won’t be pleased to take our praises; thus, our tongue only has one use after all. Therefore, if our tongue does not praise God in accordance to Holy Spirit, but says the words to corrupt others, or caters the desires of people and does not speak in accordance to the truth, we can’t be used by God.
(2) Wisdom (3:13-18)
These verses seem to have no connection to the above verses; but if taking a look at the verse 1 of this chapter, it can be seen that verse 13-18 continue the topic of the above verses. These verses give the reason why the believers at that time presume to be the teachers, is because they consider themselves having wisdom, judge others falsely based on their own idea, and are not careful about their words. Therefore, here, after teaching them to be careful about their words, the author illuminates the difference of the true and false wisdom, so that to correct the errors of the believers. If some consider themselves having wisdom, they should examine their own wisdom first; otherwise, they should not call themselves wise men.
JAMES 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
(NOTES)
Here, it means that if someone considers himself wise, he should proves that his wisdom is good by doing what is good; that will count as the true wisdom. When LORD was on earth, He used to teach the disciples to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. However, being “shrewd” must include being “innocent” at the same time; Being shrewd without being innocent, is not the wisdom wanted by LORD. Many people take the shrewd skill to deal with people as “wisdom”, or take the knowledge of this world as wisdom; these are not the wisdom commended by the Bible. The wisdom that is commended by the Bible is that one has the wisdom to fear God (Pro 9:10), the wisdom to understand the will of God (Dan 5:11,12; Eph 1:17), and the wisdom to preach and explain the truth (1Co 2:4-7).
Here, it talks about the false wisdom and the true wisdom, which are listed as the following according to the source, characters, and performance:
(2) False wisdom (3:14-16)
a. Characters (3:14)
JAMES 3:14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
(NOTES)
“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts”:
It is also translated as “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts” (K.J.V.), or “But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, ” (A.M.P.).
What one harbors is not only envy, but also bitterness and wickedness. The wisdom produced by this mind must have the characters of harm and danger.
The false wisdom arouses contentions and strife, and deliberately sows dissensions. There are many people; when they are plotting to make others suffer a loss, they especially have this “wisdom”.
“boast ”:
This is the main character of the false wisdom. “harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition ”; it is because they do not want others to be better than themselves. The false wisdom must boast about oneself, and hold men high, but not hold God high.
“deny the truth”:
The actions from the false wisdom, are not in accordance to the truth, and produce the lies to resist and slander the truth. To “boast ” is to exaggerate the slightly strong points of one’s own; to “lie” is to cover up one’s own shortcomings. This wisdom can not withstand the shinning of the light of the truth, and is from the wisdom of “the father of lies” (Joh 8:44).
b. Source (3:15)
JAMES 3:15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
(NOTES)
“earthly”:
Such “wisdom” is worldly with the style of the world; and has no difference with the world.
“unspiritual”:
Live according to the sinful nature but not Holy Spirit (Gal 5:19-20): “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ”
“of the devil”:
It is from the work of the evil spirits of the devil and is controlled by the devil, and make people be against God.
c. Fruit (3:16)
JAMES 3:16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
(NOTES)
The fruit produced by the false wisdom is disorder and every evil practice. This verse shows:
i. What idea one cherished in mind will show what kind of conducts.
ii. Those who have envy and selfish ambition, and boast about the false wisdom can not bring anything good to people. On the contrary, what they bring are only “disorder and every evil practice”.
(2) True wisdom -- the wisdom that comes from heaven (3:17-18)
JAMES 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
(NOTES)
a. Source: comes from heaven (3:17)
The source of the true wisdom is “from heaven ”, that is, from God.
b. Characters (3:17)
“pure”: without the ingredient of sins, and without the wisdom with bitter envy and selfish ambition.
“peace-loving”: does not act by the blood and flesh, impulse, and cause the dissensions, without being rude and rash.
“considerate and submissive”: is the wisdom filled with kindness, gentleness, humility, and in LORD’s likeness.
“full of mercy ”: mercy is the mind of God. Those who have the wisdom given by God, must be full of the mercy of God and sympathize the weakness of men; they will absolutely not be self-conceited because of their wisdom and ignore others.
“full of … good fruit”: To produce fruit is the display of the life, and is the natural result of remaining in LORD; it is opposite to “every evil practice” of the false wisdom.
“impartial”: do not cling to one’s own opinion, without evil thoughts and selfish ambition; do not judge anyone or matters with prejudice.
“sincere”: It is obvious that true wisdom is complete sincere without hypocrisy. It does not need to cover and pretend to escape the rebuke of the truth.
c. Fruit (3:18)
JAMES 3:18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
(NOTES)
“Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. ”:
This is the true wisdom; to make the peace, but not the disorder, will make people produce the fruit of peace and righteousness.
Reference:
1. Zhongdao Chen: “The Lectures on the Bible Studying of the Letters in New Testament”.
