In 3:5 and 6 James likens the tongue to a fire: “So also the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Behold, how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, the world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members, contaminating the whole body and setting on fire the course of life and is set on fire by Gehenna.” Gehenna is the symbol of the lake of fire—hell (Rev. 20:15). The “fire” in verse 5 is a wildfire with spreading power, and the fire in verse 6 is an evil fire from Gehenna that contaminates us. Like the wildfire the tongue spreads its destruction, and like the evil fire it contaminates our whole body with evils from Gehenna.
In verse 6 the Greek word for “course” is trochos, referring generally to anything round or circular which runs or rolls, like a wheel. Used figuratively, it indicates a circuit of physical effects, a course, like the orbit around the sun. The Greek word for “life” is genesis, meaning origin, birth, generation; hence, the wheel of birth referring figuratively to our human life, set in motion at its birth and running on to its close. The tongue as an evil fire from Gehenna sets on fire our human life, as a wheel, from our birth to our death, so that the course of our entire life may be wholly under the tongue’s evil contamination and corruption.
In verses 7 and 8a James goes on to say, “For every nature, both of beasts and of birds, both of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human nature; but the tongue no one among men is able to tame.” Every nature of beasts on the land, of birds in the air, of reptiles in the dust, and of creatures in the water, has been tamed by the nature of man, which is stronger than all the animal natures. However, even the stronger human nature is not able to tame the tongue.
In 8b James says that the tongue is a “restless evil, full of death-bringing poison.” As a restless evil the tongue never ceases to do evil. It is full of death-bringing poison. Evil and death go together with the tongue. It spreads evil and death to contaminate and poison all human beings. It is the same even among Christians.
In verses 3 through 12, in dealing with the problem of the tongue, James in his wisdom concerning human life uses twenty different items for his illustrations: bridles of horses, rudders of ships, wildfire, the world of unrighteousness, fire from Gehenna, wheel of birth, beasts, birds, reptiles, creatures of the sea, human nature, restless evil, death-bringing poison, a spring, a fig tree, olives, a vine, figs, salt (bitter) water, and sweet water. He was rich, somewhat like Solomon, the wise king of the Old Testament (1 Kings 4:29-34), in wisdom concerning human life, but not so in wisdom concerning the divine economy.
In verse 13 James says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good manner of life his works in meekness of wisdom.” According to the context, meekness of wisdom should refer here to restraint in speaking. This corresponds to Proverbs 10:19. Such meekness equals forbearing and yielding in verse 17, in contrast to bitter jealousy and rivalry in boasting and lying in verse 14.
In verse 13 James mentions being wise before having understanding. If we do not have wisdom, we cannot have understanding. Knowing this, in Ephesians 1 Paul prayed that God would grant us a spirit of wisdom. Whereas a wise man has understanding, a foolish person is not able to understand others.
What is wisdom? It is very difficult to say what wisdom is, because wisdom is abstract. Understanding is in our mind, but where is wisdom? According to my experience, wisdom is in our spirit. This means that wisdom is found not in our mind, emotion, will, soul, or heart; wisdom is in our deepest part. When we exercise our spirit, stay in the spirit in every situation, and do things according to the spirit, we shall have wisdom.
When some hear that wisdom is in the spirit, they may say, “James was a man who emphasized wisdom in practical Christian perfection. Why did he not say that wisdom is in our spirit?” Although James does not say this explicitly, he gives us a hint that wisdom is in our spirit. In 3:17 he speaks of “the wisdom from above.” Here “from above” means from God. Anything that comes to us from God must touch our spirit. John 4:24 says that God is Spirit and that they who worship Him must worship in spirit. This indicates that in order to contact God, we must use our spirit. Likewise, when God contacts us, He touches our spirit. Hence, the wisdom that comes from above, from God, must surely come to our spirit. It does not come to our mind, soul, or heart; it comes to our spirit, our God-contacting organ. Therefore, it is correct to say that here we have a hint that wisdom is in our spirit.
Because wisdom is in the spirit, we can have wisdom only by remaining in our spirit. God is the source of wisdom, and He gives wisdom. But the wisdom that comes from God reaches our spirit. Just as we need to use the proper organs for seeing, hearing, and eating, so we need to use the right organ—our spirit—in order to have wisdom.