faith in action

James 3:15

This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

Read all of James Chapter 3 here

The wisdom of the world is, “earthly, sensual, devilish.” Another Bible translation says the wisdom of the world is, “Earthly, natural, demonic.” Let’s expand on these three some in today’s devotional.

Anything other than God’s wisdom is earthly. That is, it is restricted to the limits of this world. It is limited in time, in the sense that earthly wisdom is restricted to the present world only and has no bearing on our eternal world. It is limited in that earthly wisdom is man’s wisdom. It is restricted to what we can do, learn and create under our own power and ability. There are some fruits, really negative fruits, of earthly wisdom we will talk about in another devotion.

Anything other than God’s wisdom is natural. That is, it is interested only in things of the flesh. If we look back, we can clearly see that it was natural wisdom which resulted in the Fall of Man in the first place. It was the seeking to know what God knew that lead Eve to take and eat the forbidden fruit. Instead of accepting the wisdom God had provided, Adam and Eve sought worldly wisdom. Remember what John said in 1 John 2:16?

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Finally, anything other than God’s wisdom is demonic. Now, that doesn’t mean if we study the Encyclopaedia we will become demon possessed. (For those readers who remember what those are!). That means the root of any wisdom other than God’s wisdom is Satan. Once again, a trip back to the Garden of Eden is in order. Adam and Eve had all the wisdom they needed. Adam, at least, had marching orders straight from the mouth of God.  One rule and one rule only. That was simple wisdom and Godly wisdom. Let’s see what happened in Genesis 3:5:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Satan first introduced worldly wisdom to mankind, and he still does it today. Just like Adam and Eve, we have a choice what we listen to. Do we listen to the wisdom from above as provided in God’s Word, or do we listen to the wisdom of the world as provided by The Devil?