James 3:15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
The type of wisdom to which James is referring is earthly and not heavenly. Earthly wisdom is resourced from human intellect. It is focused upon selfish gain. It may be altruistic and for the good of humanity, but it lacks connection to God. The danger with earthly, human wisdom is that it is deceiving and pulls us away from the true wisdom of God found in Jesus Christ. It is unspiritual, even if it deals with spiritual matters. This kind of idea moves James to even label this wisdom as demonic. Demonic wisdom deceives and tricks people into trying to solve their own problems and living to please themselves. The world is full of such wisdom. We can read about it every day in the news. In the pursuit of knowledge, we must be careful it does not become focused only on humanity. We see this with secularism and humanism that are rampant in our world today. This way of thinking has infiltrated even the church. So, believers must be cautious and always ask the source and target of their thinking and pursuit of knowledge. We may think we are becoming wise, but we are only fools.
For older posts, click here.