Gifts From Above.

James 3:17 - 18 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”

Things from above are called “spiritual gifts” or “gifts from God” and this is why they are pure. Everything from man, every thought, every action, every teaching, every way are evil and come from an evil heart. God said in verse (15) “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.” Nothing from this earth is perfect or pure, because wherever man is, has been, or will be, tainted with sin. Why is the wisdom of man “sensual and devilish” because this world and everything on it is condemned because of our sinfulness. A person can have all the education in this world, they can be the smartest person on earth, they can have a closet full of PhD’s and be ignorant of God. The only knowledge and wisdom that has any worth is from above, a gift of God has given to us is Truth. The word “perfect” means it is Pure in nature and in that wisdom and knowledge is in no way debatable. God cannot be debated, ignored, or uprooted by man’s wisdom. Either we accept His Truth, or we call God a liar and reject the Truth. God can take the most uneducated man on earth and make him a biblical scholar.

God’s word is peaceful, because “because it is produced in communion with God the Father, through His chastening” per Vines. Can you imagine the world we would life in if all our government adhered to the wisdom of God? “For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” 1 Timothy 2:2 It everyone in the world had the spiritual gift of understanding, knowledge, and wisdom of God’s word, we too would be pure. However, no single person has that blessing, no man is perfect except in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are never to stop our study of God’s word, praying for God to teach us and show is the perfect truth. This should be our constant prayer, not only for ourself but those around us, even our worldly governments. “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;” 1 Timothy 2:1. God never said that any one person would have a perfect understanding, but rather all spiritual gifts are given diversely and at His choosing. 1 Corinthians 12:4 “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” God is gracious unto us if He gives us anything, and the more He gives to us the more blessed we are. And the more blessings He gives the more peaceful our life will be.

God said of man, “…There is none righteous, no, not one:” If none are righteous then then how can any of our thoughts, understandings, or actions be righteous? God went on to say, “There is none that understandeth…”. Since no one is righteous, and since we do not understand God and His purity and since we are sinners with all of our thoughts tainted with sin, then why are we trying to think for ourselves? It is only in the wisdom of God’s truths that we can be “without partiality, and without hypocrisy”. Beloved, we must understand our human frame, it is depraved with sin in totality. Paul said of himself as an Apostle “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” Rom. 7:18 The flesh includes anything within us that is not pure with God’s gifts. We will never, not sin, we will never be perfected on this earth if we are in this flesh we will always be imperfect and sinners. This is why we must contently week wisdom from above, we must be in constant prayer to God for perfection in Truth.

“And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” Peace is a gift, and is only found in wisdom from God delivering to us “fruit of righteousness.” Peace in troubled times, peace from sin, and peace from the effects of sin. Beloved, our peace and righteousness in only found in the man Jesus Christ and through the grace of God. While we will never in this flesh have perfect peace, the more we pray, study, and learn, the stronger our peace in this flesh will exist.