OVERCOMING IN LIFE (3)

“This wisdom does not descend from above, but is EARTHLY, SENSUAL, DEMONIC” – James 3:15

James echoes the truth of OVERCOMING IN LIFE by exercising Dominion over the World, the Devil, and the Flesh: “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. “This wisdom does not descend from above, but is EARTHLY, SENSUAL, DEMONIC” (Jam.3:14-15). James says: the vices of bitterness and selfish ambition are not from above, but are “earthly, natural, demonic.” These three adjectives align with the three foes that Christians have faced and talked about for ages: “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” Earthly means from “the world”; sensual means from the “natural man,” the “flesh”; while demonic is from “the devil.”

This framework of the Believer’s principal enemies, tallies with Paul’s outline in Ephesians 2: 2-3, which speaks of: “the course of this world”; “the lust of our flesh”; and “the prince of the power of the air.”  Human existence is full of challenges. We rarely cruise through life without oppositions! There are real enemies to fight and overcome every step of the way. We face them every day. We never wake up to a “neutral” world or simply coast along in life. As Believers, striving to follow Jesus every day, we must realize it’s never without opposition. We have serious spiritual enemies working against us every day, which we need to be aware of if we are going to be successful in following Christ.

EARTHLY – “upon earth” – signifies “The World” or “the course of this world” (Eph.2:2). This is the whole world system; the way of the world, as opposed to the way of God. This is popular opinion; the media; popular culture; the whole way of doing things in “the world.” The ‘world’ is what “everyone does” – the fashions, styles, trends, and vogues. And it’s what WE will do, if we do not purposefully choose to do otherwise. The whole course or “current” of this world is going away from God. Believers are “swimming upstream” against the “current” of culture. The continual “running into the wind” depicts the battle each Believer faces every day in the world. God calls us to be the opposite of the world; to have opposite attitudes and actions to what we see in the world system, as we’re transformed by His Word (Rom.12: 1-2).

SENSUAL signifies “The Flesh” or “lusts of the flesh” (Eph.2:2; 1 Jh.2:15). The Believer’s battle is not only against the outside world, but also the internal foe. James calls this second enemy “sensual,” “natural” or literally “unspiritual.” 1 Corinthians 15 repeatedly uses this word to describe the “natural, earthly” body (as opposed to our future spiritual body). 1 Corinthians 2:14 says “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God.” This flesh means the “physical,” “natural”, “lower” element of life – what humanity has in common with animal life, the sensual nature! It is that nature in the man that still craves to commit sin (Jam.4:1). The battle is not just “out there”; it is in here!

DEMONIC stands for “The Devil” or “Prince of the power of the air” (Eph.2:2). There are real, evil, spiritual forces in this world to battle against. The Word of God has provided this very Balanced 3-fold Framework – especially regarding the devil and demons. People often go to one of two extremes regarding spiritual forces: either they ignore them, as if there were no devil or demons, or they see “a demon behind every bush”, and talk about every single thing that happens as if the devil did it. Both of these views are imbalanced. Not all troubles in life are caused by the devil or demons. Some of it is just the world system; others are self-inflicted. We cannot blame the devil for everything.

Beloved, we must be aware of what we’re up against. We’ve got to take this seriously. We are in a battle, every single day we live, against “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” Many other scriptures address each of these enemies individually, as we shall examine going forward. Praise God! He equips us with Wisdom for Overcoming in Life!