True Wisdom – James 3:13-18
14. True Wisdom is pure and clean.
1 Peter 2:9-12; Psalm 19:7-14; Philippians 1:9-11
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:9-12)
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)
Study it Out
- What is the motivation for a clean and pure life according to 1 Peter 2? Why should we be different from the world as God’s people?
- How do you define purity or righteousness, and how can your love grow in knowledge and discernment in this area as Paul prays for the Philippians believers? Think of Christ’s own admonitions to the disciples in John 15.
- Why is true wisdom different than pragmatic, earthly wisdom? What might be a circumstance in which you would be tempted to believe that giving into impurity is a wise decision?