Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

mindedness of James 1:6 and the favoritism of James 2:4 (See also Johnson,
274-275).
8. Wisdom is sincere, free from pretense, without hypocrisy (Mt. 24:51).
This term is particularly suited to round off the unpacking of the various elements
of the purity of wisdom. That is, it acts in sincerity of heart, without
any posturing or pretentiousness (Rom. 12:9; 2 Cor. 1:12; 6:6; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2
Tim. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 3:18). It is not duplicitous, and stays away from
disguises as well as deceits. The Bible says that we must love without hypocrisy
(Rom. 12:9), that is, in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18). In view of Romans
12:9 some people reason that it is better to show their indifference and
lack of love than “to be hypocritical about it.” Rather smugly they call this
“honesty.” Such attitude, however, does not do justice to the text. There must
be love! This is the ground rule. Hence, hypocrisy is not to be tolerated. The
above-mentioned, so-called “honesty” is an offense to God. How very dangerous,
while sinful, it is for Christians, and specifically teachers, to have arrogance
vis-à-vis others (Rom. 14:14)! Wisdom is from below when one’s
approach to life displays a spirit that makes one, first, think higher of oneself
than of another (Lk. 18:9, 14; Gal. 6:1; Phil. 3:17; Jer. 13:7), second, treat
others without mercy (1 Cor. 13:5), third, infringe upon someone else’s liberty
(Jam. 4:11), and, fourth, rejoice in someone else’s evil (Jer. 20:10). The
remedy is, first, to cherish a sense of frailty (Tit. 3:2-3; 1 Cor. 10:12), second,
to replace sin with the duty of prayer (1 John 5:16), third, to consider oneself
most carefully, to be most inquisitive about one’s own sins, and, fourth, to be
most severe against oneself (Gal. 6:1).
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(3) Effect of Victory (3:18)
James 3:18 is neither an independent proverb, which supposedly “makes it
somewhat difficult to understand” (Moo, 1985, 137, in the footsteps of Dibelius),
nor a loose aphorism (Cheung, 146). It is the counterpart of verse James
3:16, and the apex of the whole discourse. In the “most concentrated and
challenging piece of teaching” in James 3 “each verse has had its point to
make and each one is of deep importance for our Christian lives. Yet none
surpasses (this) final verse in significance” (Motyer, 136).
A fruitful harvest can be expected. This consists of righteousness (Phil.
1:11; Rom. 6:22; see also Martin, 135; Johnson, 275; Cheung, 146), derived
from Christ as the divine source (John 15:5) and through the Spirit as the divine
agent (Gal. 5:19, 22). The (human) agents are the “peace-makers.” In
other words, “the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by them who
make peace,” taken as dative of means or agency (Johnson, 275; Zodhiates,
II, 210; Moo, 1985, 137). This seems contextually much more natural and