James 3:14-16

THE SOURCE OF FACTION

Text 3:14-16

James 3:14

But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth.

15.

This wisdom is not a wisdom that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16.

For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed.

Queries

242.

A person who has bitter jealousy or faction in his heart is not wise. How does James 3:14 prove he is not wise?

243.

Is there a good kind of jealousy in opposition to bitter jealousy? If so, what?

244.

What quality must jealousy have, to make it a bitter jealousy?

245.

What would tempt teachers in the church, or leaders in any organization, to develop a bitter jealousy?

246.

To what does the word heart refer here?

247.

Bitter jealousy and faction in the heart implies here that one is lying against the truth. Against what truth? (State the truth if you can).

248.

How could the possession of jealousy and faction be said to be glorying?

249.

To what wisdom does James 3:15 refer?

250.

Compare James 3:15 with James 1:17.

251.

Earthly wisdom, or wisdom from the earth, would point to what quality of the wisdom?

252.

How could this wisdom be said to be sensual?

253.

What does the devil have to do with it?

254.

James 3:15 should refer to demons, rather than the devil. can you distinguish between the two?

255.

Can you find any link between jealousy and confusion? If so, what?

256.

What is the ordinary sense of vile deeds?

257.

What must the vile deeds here be according to the context?

258.

Is there ever confusion in the wisdom from above? (Think carefully. what of disagreements over the meaning of Scriptures? What of the confused denominational world in Christianity?)

Paraphrases

A. James 3:14

But if your life is filled with harshness and self-interest that make you divisive in your heart, then cease puffing yourself up and listen carefully to God's truth.

15.

Your application of knowledge has been to satisfy the appetites of your flesh, and has much in common with the demons.

16.

For where your kind of self-interest and trouble-making spirit exist, there is also confusion and every good-for-nothing evil deed.

B.*James 3:14

And by all means don-'t brag about being wise and good if you are bitter and jealous and selfish; that is the worst sort of lie.

15.

For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, inspired by the devil, and come from hell itself.

16.

For wherever there is jealousy or selfish ambition, there will be disorder and every other kind of evil.

Summary

If your self-interest has filled you with jealousy and strife, then you have caused confusion and all kinds of evil deeds.

Comment

There are a number of characteristics in this section that are the opposite of the wisdom from above. Perhaps these as given will help us determine between true wisdom and sham wisdom; and more clearly see the difference between wisdom from above and satanic wisdom.
Jealousy, here linked with bitterness or harshness, has the evil sense of being filled with envy. This is self-love extended to the point of wishing deprivation of another. I wish I had his Cadillac and he had a wart on his nose instead!
This is the opposite to God's revealed wisdom. Instead of becoming a master through serving others, this wisdom seeks to become a master by making others the servants. Instead of spiritual growth through the Christian quality of being a giver, this wisdom seeks to get gain by being a getter. Instead of loving the brethren, loving your neighbor and loving your enemy in accord with the wisdom from above, this wisdom seeks expression through loving one's self above all else. This bitter jealousy is harsh zeal directed toward the hurt of other people.

God's kind of jealousy is not to be confused with this bitter jealousy. God is a jealous God for our benefit. This bitter jealousy comes from self-interest and self-love. Jealousy is used both ways in the Scripture. In the good sense Paul says of his friends, I rejoiced yet more because of your jealousy for me. (2 Corinthians 7:7). Of his own spirit he said, I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. (2 Corinthians 11:2). This jealousy of Paul for their welfare made him risk his life for their benefit. How different this is from the evil sense of being jealous. where we often bite and devour one another to gain benefit for ourselves. How often our cravings for sensual joys cause us to trample over the hearts and feelings of others. It is this kind of bitter jealousy that will make a man use all his talents to take another man's wife for his own, with no thought for the home that is destroyed, nor the man that is robbed. It is this kind of bitter jealousy that will keep church temperature boiling over and continually feed the flames of strife and division.

This bitter jealousy is also tied to faction. This green-eyed monster makes a man rob another spiritually (and sometimes materially). It hurts to be robbed. whether one is robbed of reputation, or of credit for a job well done, or of his good name, or of even the spirit of peace that should exist between Christians. The ones who are hurt usually retaliate, and strife results. Even if the animosity caused by jealousy does not break out into strife, the faction is there, simmering and boiling, ready at any moment to burst forth.
It is toward the root of the trouble that James speaks. The fruit of strife is only a symptom of the cause. The jealousy and faction within the heart is the true cause. The unethical desire to promote one's self is the ungodly wisdom. This is the faction in your heart.
Self-glory is perhaps a single expression that would summarize the whole spirit spoken against. Love of self, seeking for self, promotion of one's self, feeding the self's appetites and revelling in one's own sensuous pleasures is bitter jealousy in action. No wonder the Holy Spirit says through James, glory not. the negative side of self-glory is to glory not in the welfare of others, and to glory not in the Lord God and His revelation. The admonition to glory not obviously means to glory not in yourself.
To God be the glory, great things He hath done, the hymnal says. I glory not save in the cross of Christ, Paul says. As Christians we rejoice and glory in the welfare of others and in the love of Jesus. How foreign to this is the self-glory against the truth! The truth probably refers to the Gospel truth, the revealed truth, or the truth just spoken through James.

James in James 3:15 refers to the ultimate source of this wisdom. There is no good in this wisdom, else it would be from above in its goodness. The evil in this wisdom pin-points its source; earthly, sensual, and devilish.

It is earthly in that it is opposed to heavenly wisdom. It is related to the wisdom which is of this world (1 Corinthians 1:20), and the earthly things of Philippians 3:19. Its benefits are earthly, in that they are apparent only in relation to things of this earth. They are dying benefits that are both short-lived and deceptive. They are deceptive for they are not true benefits, but apparent benefits that immediately vanish with possession. Earthly wisdom promotes a jealousy that is ever seeking, and never satisfied. It is a lust that cannot be satisfied, a hunger that cannot be fed.

It is sensual for it has as its goal the satisfaction of sensual appetites. The desire for sex, for comfort, for food, for clothing and shelter are all sensuous. Although bodily needs are essential for life on this earth, life on this earth is far more than satisfying these bodily needs. We should not live to eat, but rather eat to live. The life that has as its primary aim the satisfaction of physical pleasures is sensuous, and it is this same sensuous nature that is so closely related to bitter jealousy, and is in itself not a wisdom from above.

It is devilish (or rather, demoniacal) because it is in harmony with the evil spirits who are in service of Satan. To use knowledge for such selfish ends makes one related, at least in action, to the world of demons. The wisdom that brings forth such an action is itself demonical.

A careful study of this section seems to overwhelm one with an awareness that there is no neutral ground spiritually. Every man is in service of either God or the devil. There is not a no man's land were a man can be safe from both the sword of the Spirit and the fiery darts of the evil one. He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Matthew 12:30).

The spirit that fills a man with smugness and satisfaction while he rests his body and revels in sensuous satisfactions at home on the Lord's day when the saints are assembled together, is the same spirit that will fill a man with bitter jealousy over his wife's devotion to the Lord and continual involvement with the things of God. There is no neutral wisdom. Even such non-spiritual knowledge as mathematics and science can be used to puff up oneself against godliness. The lukewarm man finds himself distasteful to God, and he also finds full devotion to God distasteful to himself. He prefers that all others be lukewarm even as he is, and he is propelled into active participation in the warfare when those very close and dear to him become fully dedicated in the Lord's service. His true position is then made known, for he places himself on the side against those in the Lord's service!

James clearly states the results of jealousy and faction within the heart. Confusion and vile action are the natural ends. Disturbance, disorder, and unruliness, become the order of the day when such a one comes face to face with a demand for full devotion and service to the Lord. Every action that is opposed to the good is evident, and such torturous self-destruction can be set loose even within the church itself.