Sophia is Epistemological
Notes
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Introduction:
This last week I read something slightly surprising in an article titled, “Six Things Pastors Should Say in Every Sermon” by Marty Duren (November 3, 2016). by the obvious title you can tell that it’s his suggestions on what a pastor should say during his sermon. He says:
By Marty Duren -November 3, 2016
We preach to congregations who are influenced as much by what they read during the week as by what they hear on Sunday. We preach to guests who were not raised with a Christian worldview. We preach to people who are close to being “done” with church once and for all.
We preach to congregations who are influenced as much by what they read during the week as by what they hear on Sunday. We preach to guests who were not raised with a Christian worldview. We preach to people who are close to being “done” with church once and for all.
As such, it is important to never assume a baseline of biblical knowledge when preaching, even if you are preaching to your church for the 532nd time. It is better, in fact, to assume exactly the opposite: expect there to be people seated before you who know little of Christianity, little of the Bible and nothing accurate about God.
[…]
Don’t just say . Explain where to find it in the Bible. [so far, this makes since, but then he says:] Mention that [Psalms] starts with a “p” not an “s.” Do not assume everyone under the sound of your voice knows anything about Psalms. Start from scratch every week. Also, if your church uses “pew Bibles” use the page number each week.
Although over half of this article has pretty sound advice, I would like to believe that the majority of us here today knows that the book of Psalms starts with a ‘P.’ I will admit that I’m typically guilty of the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to assuming the knowledge of theological jargon our congregation is already aware of; however, I always try my best not to patronize you with elementary knowledge. The fear that I have is that too many preachers already assume that their congregations know a lot less than they really do about the Bible and about theological concepts; and therefore, the deeper and more profound concepts are then pushed away and the mature believer is neglected satisfying spiritual food during a sermon. Perhaps I am wrong in my opinion, but this, at least, explains why I typically preach like I do. Ideally, a healthy balance in preaching for the new believer as well as the mature believer would be achieved.
Transition:
All this talk about knowledge and preaching is to lead up into James’ input about wisdom concerning the matter of false teachers in the early church. today’s title of the sermon is a geeky yet funny way to show the words that are in play in our passage this morning—Sophia is the word ‘wisdom’ in Greek and we get our word epistemology (which means the study of knowledge) from the Greek word ‘understanding’ (epistemone)—both found in the very first verse of our passage this morning:
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James
Life Application NT Commentary says:
James lays down a challenge before the church for those who claimed to have true wisdom: they need to observe the true wisdom that comes from heaven. The church James wrote to was a church under pressure. When under pressure, a church can split into factions. There was no formal clergy or ordination process, so self-styled teachers could emerge, claiming to have wisdom. As each teacher promoted his brand of wisdom and gained a following, the community of believers was divided. In the New Testament church there were many problems with factions or a “party spirit” (see ; ; see also ; ).
Jesus taught that we would know true teachers from false ones by how they lived (). Good teachers will exemplify good life-disciplines. Their activities, actions, and accomplishments will reveal the true heart of their Christian faith. In this section, good deeds are contrasted with bitterness, and humility is contrasted with selfish ambition.
Although James favors genuine, biblical, wisdom as a mark of a believer, he is certainly not the only one in the scriptures to harp on authentic, godly wisdom. When we think of wisdom in the Bible, The book of Ecclesiastes might come to mind, and rightly so. The author of Ecclesiastes is officially unknown but is easily attributed to King Solomon, the wisest man ever to live. In the book, he uses wisdom—which is the Hebrew word “hokema.” Scripture defines “hokema” (or wisdom) as “life-skill.” Life skill, or wisdom then, separates itself from just knowledge because it functions as the proper application of knowledge— so concerning Epistemology—the study of knowledge, wisdom is where the rubber meets the road.
Although James favors genuine wisdom as a mark of a believer, he is certainly not the only one in the scriptures to harp on authentic wisdom. When we think of wisdom in the Bible, The book of Ecclesiastes might come to mind, and rightly so. The author of Ecclesiastes is officially unknown but is easily attributed to King Solomon, the wisest man ever to live. In the book, he uses wisdom—which is the Hebrew word “hokema” and scripture defines “hokema” or wisdom as “life-skill” life skill then separates itself from just knowledge because it functions as the proper application of knowledge.
Transition:
Let’s see how James navigates this road of wisdom:
I. Hokey Hokema (vv. 13–16)
I. Hokey Hokema (vv. 13–16)
Life Application NT Commentary says: WISDOM FROM HEAVEN / 3:13–18
James lays down a challenge before the church for those who claimed to have true wisdom: they need to observe the true wisdom that comes from heaven. The church James wrote to was a church under pressure. When under pressure, a church can split into factions. There was no formal clergy or ordination process, so self-styled teachers could emerge, claiming to have wisdom. As each teacher promoted his brand of wisdom and gained a following, the community of believers was divided. In the New Testament church there were many problems with factions. (see ; ; also ; ).
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
v. 13 “Let him show” This is the theme of 2:14–26, faith is only validated with good works. The truly wise person proves his or her understanding of Christ by the way he or she lives. In other words, our works show where our hearts are invested— You spend the most time with the things you love most. How many of us here can say, “Yes, I spend the most time with my LORD and Savior, Jesus!” That is what James is challenging us with here today
Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 1083.
“in the meekness” This means the “controlled strength/might” of domesticated animals. You might recall that Pastor Kimbrough loved to use the illustration of a horse when discussing meekness; how the horse has great power yet under the discipline of the right trainer or jockey, the horse controls its mighty strength. This same controlled strength was a uniquely Christian virtue. It defines the life of Christ all the way to His death. James is now declaring that meekness (or gentleness) is a defining quality of God’s wisdom.
It is all too easy, for me to be at my job and figure that I will show off my good works before everybody else since I’m such a good Christian and therefore, I’m better than them. I would never say this aloud but sometimes my actions and attitudes behind those actions really prove this sort of reasoning. However many “good deeds” I may do, it wouldn’t matter because this is not meekness by any means! Rather, this is pride “by my good conduct.” Instead, the good Christian would’ve performed the good deeds regardless of who’s watching.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
The “if” starts a FIRST CLASS CONDITIONAL SENTENCE which means it is assumed to be true. Verses 14–16 describe false hokema/sophia. This verse assumes the presence of unqualified, ungodly teachers spewing out false hokema/sophia. Heresy is usually committed by sincere people who (1) magnify one truth to the exclusion of other biblical truths (Jehovah’s Witnesses are guilty of magnifying the truth that Jesus was the Son of God and more than just a man to the exclusion that Jesus is fully God and fully man) or (2) claim special insight or spiritual power (The extreme King James Only heresy claims the special insight of the writers of the King James version being just as inspired, if not more than, the original Apostles and Prophets. Plus they claim spiritual power that a person can receive the true gospel only through the King James version and no other versions contain the gospel message). The old adage proves again true, “even sincere people can be sincerely wrong.” James, under the inspiration of the holy spirit says to these heretical people exactly what they need to hear, “do not boast and be false to the truth!”
Robert James Dr. Utley, Jesus’ Half-Brothers Speak: James and Jude, vol. Volume 11, Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International, 2000), 48.
The “selfish ambition” word is actually just one word in the Greek and is found seven times in the NT. It can also be translated as self-seeking. This is truly the wisdom that the atheist can offer and only offers. The selfish atheist cannot stand when others succeed or when another teacher gets better attention and notoriety from the public; because, in their world view it is all about them their own successes, their own triumphs, their own trophies. If you are evaluating your own motives at this point maybe a good question to start with is: does it bug you when others do better and get more attention for the same things you are competing at?
so this is why James says in the next verse:
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
The strong language “demonic” shan’t come as a surprise to us at this point. Last week, we saw how our tongues can be the cause of our destruction from fire, as James says, “by hell itself” (v.6) and in the previous chapter, James equated dead faith with the faith of the demons (2:19). So James, like the Apostle Paul and like Jesus, uses pretty shocking choices of words to describe sin problems. I think this choice of words helps us to see the importance and the brevity of the believer dealing with sin.
The strong
Dr. Bob Utley says here:
The presence of demonic wisdom leads to confusion and evil practices (v. 16). However, the context may imply that these teachers are not only doctrinally false, but also morally and motivationally false. The demons of 2:14 are doctrinally correct, but it does not affect their action. Heresy is not only a disruption of orthodoxy, but also orthopraxy [the practice of religion, or your good deeds].
The presence of demonic wisdom leads to confusion and evil practices (v. 16). However, the context may imply that these teachers are not only doctrinally false, but also morally and motivationally false. The demons of 2:14 are doctrinally correct, but it does not affect their action. Heresy is not only a disruption of orthodoxy, but also orthopraxy [the practice of religion, or your good deeds].
II. Honest Hokema (vv. 17–18)
II. Honest Hokema (vv. 17–18)
So far, up to this point in this chapter we’ve had James mainly telling us about bad speech and bad wisdom within the Christian assemblies—the Christian churches, but now we get a taste of some positive thinking:
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
In fact this list in verse 17 outnumbers the negative things from verse 16! Noticing how this wisdom is from above, it becomes imperative that not only are we to be wise when teaching others about Christ, but we are to show purity morally and spiritually in our integrity. This fulfills the fruits of the spirit with life skill. is not enough just to want peace but we ought to be spreading peace as well.
I like how James points out “open to reason.” Sometimes a good leader is viewed as a leader who is rigid in his thoughts and ways because he has his mind made up; however, it seems here that James is pointing out that the godly leader will be open to reason and be flexible--willing to change when change is necessary, or, more importantly, when convicted of sin.
And again he says impartial and sincere. there is nothing wrong with sincerity, unless the sincerity is based on something wrong. ISIS is very sincere, but of course sincerely wrong!
Then we come to verse 18 which, at first glance, seems somewhat of an odd way to conclude this section.
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
David Nystrom says:
The phrase “harvest of righteousness” is somewhat difficult in that the genitive can be read as either “the harvest that belongs to righteousness” or “the harvest that consists of righteousness.” In the first righteousness has a fruit that will be produced in the context of peace; in the second “peace” is the condition that gives rise to righteousness.
Some commentators claim that the “harvest of righteousness” is in fact synonymous with the way James is viewing wisdom. If so, then James is essentially saying in this whole passage:
Where there is divisiveness, there is no wisdom;
wisdom is peaceable;
therefore, the peacemakers are the ones who possess wisdom; and
the ones who create dissension and division do not possess true wisdom, despite their claims of the opposite.
NASB words this phrase “the seed whose fruit is righteousness” The literal Greek has more of a rendering of “but fruit of righteousness in peace is sown by those to make peace.” Either way you smooth out the English translation, it cannot escape our attention that it is not the harvest of wisdom; but righteousness. Why did he word it like this? I think what he’s trying to say is “wisdom without righteousness is not right wisdom.” YHWH’s righteousness results in His children living right—life skill.
Dr. Utley said, “The whole life—the head (doctrine), the heart (volition), and the hand (lifestyle)—is affected and redirected.”
These false teachers have claimed, either explicitly or implicitly, to possess a superior wisdom. however by defining wisdom in biblical terms, James has shown his opponents to be perpetrators of a highly deceptive form of worldly wisdom and wrong teaching.
“is sown” This is a PRESENT PASSIVE INDICATIVE. His emphasis, then, is on giving, not gathering! We are all sowing some kind of seed. What kind are you sowing?
“in peace by those who make peace” James may have had in mind.
17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
One thing that is obvious here is that v. 18 is contrasting v. 16 and that false hokema can never measure up to true hokema.
III. So What?
III. So What?
What are you doing for the good of the body of Christ? Are you demonstrating godly wisdom by the things that you do?
the body of Christ? Are you demonstrating
godly wisdom by the things that you do?
Do your actions match your words? It is one thing to say that you love Jesus, but it is entirely something else to live it out.
Are you a peacemaker? In , Jesus promises that the peacemakers will be blessed. Their reward will be to see right relationships between God and people.
thing to say that you love Jesus, but it is
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
entirely something else to prove it.
Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 1084.
Conclusion:
A confession without action is worthless. Truly wise people do wise things with their life.
worthless. Truly wise people do wise things.
Jesus said it best, “By their fruits you will know them”
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
how are you recognized? are you recognized as sent by God, or as a false teacher?
know them” ().
m
20 As a result, you will recognize them by their fruits.
the body of Christ? Are you demonstrating
godly wisdom by the things that you do?
Do your actions match your words? It is one
thing to say that you love Jesus, but it is
entirely something else to prove it.