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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
James 3:17
17 But [de] the wisdom [sophia] that is from above [anothen]
is [esti] first [proton] pure [men][hagnos], then [epeita] peaceable [eirenikos], gentle [epieikes], and
easy to be intreated [eupeithes], full [mestos] of mercy [eleos] and [kai] good [agathos] fruits [karpos], without partiality [adiakritos], and [kai] without
hypocrisy [anupokritos].KJV-Interlinear
17 But the wisdom from above is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits,
unwavering, without hypocrisy. NASB
The differences between the two wisdoms, worldly and
spiritual, are phenomenal.
Worldly wisdom comes from evil and promotes evil, and there
is nothing good about it.Even those who
disagree with this statement cannot argue against the previous verses we have
studied.However, they can argue over
their interpretations, but there again, they use earthly wisdom or reason, in
order to justify their position, and that in itself finds its origins in evil.
In this verse, James explains the differences.
Legitimate wisdom, comes only from heaven, from God, and
we become aware of it through our study of the scriptures.
Wisdom is pure.And this simply means that it is without flaws, imperfections, charges
of a criminal nature, and so forth.Earthly wisdom is embroiled in deceit, intimidation, threats, and
strife, and cannot exist without these things.
Wisdom from above makes a person pure, unlike some
religions that seem to believe that a person can become at peace with
themselves through knowledge or oneness with nature.
In the case of doctrine, Gods objective for your life
is to make you pure through doctrine.His
objective in the Christian life is not to make you more intelligent, not to make
you more witty, not to make you more brilliant, not to make you more memorable,
not to make you more imaginative.Doctrine is there to produce in you, a mature spiritual life.
Being more competitive, intelligent, witty and so
forth are earthly characteristics which are used by earthly minded folks in
order to draw distinctions between themselves and others.Thus prejudice, bias, elitism, and such come
about.
Purity of soul comes from doctrine in the soul and
peace comes as a result of that spiritual growth.All fulfilling life comes from God, and from
Gods design.Purity is related to the
content of your soul, not from any overt works you might be able to perform
yourself. Your spiritual actions will follow your spiritual growth.Growth does not result from actions, however
actions can serve to reinforce your learning process as you process your life
through the cycle of wisdom.
Once your spiritual growth begins to advance, then
your life begins its total transformation.Doctrine first, then comes peace, humility, gentleness, reasonableness,
tolerance, patience, poise, consistence in your daily life.
Now is the time to post a prayer.
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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