Contradictions with the Tongue
James 3:9-12
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”James 3:9-12
James concludes this testing of the tongue with yet another set of examples. Do you get the impression he has some strong feelings on the subject? Since James is writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit therefore God himself has some strong feelings on how we use our tongue.
As a believer you have the ability to use your tongue to praise God. We can sing songs in worship to Him; we can thank Him for the blessings and answers to prayer He provides, and tell others about His goodness. Sadly James points out with the same mouth we praise God we can also curse men made in God’s image.
John MacArthur Jr., in his sermon on James titled “Taming the Tongue” says, “The same tongue that blesses God, curses those made in His image, slanders them, criticizes them, accuses them, abuses them in anger and jealousy and envy and hatred and bitterness. To "curse" means to wish evil on someone. And man is made in the likeness of God. It is, by the way, an indestructible likeness. It has been marred but it is an indestructible likeness, even fallen sinful man is still in the likeness of God...in what sense? In that man like God is rational, man like God is personal, man like God is moral, man like God is self-conscious, man has a will, a conscience, reason. Man can know, man can love, man can act on the basis of rational thought and motive and intent. And so he is made in the image of God and how can man bless the God and curse the man when the man is made in the image of God?” (MacArthur, John; December 1986;Taming the Tongue; http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/59-17/taming-the-tongue-part-2)
James says, “My brothers (reminding us he is speaking to believers here), this should not be.” He is not just saying these things should not be happening in the lives of believers, but what he is saying is that it should be impossible for a believer to have praise for God and the cursing of men. Look at the examples to support his statement.
James asks a simple set of questions. Let’s look at them first individually and then as a whole. Question number one asks, “Can both fresh water and salt (or bitter) water flow from the same spring?” Here we have a natural spring described by James, but what is flowing out of the spring is both fresh water and salt water. Is this possible? Of course not and that’s the point he is making. Then how can a person, changed by God, a new creature in Christ, died to the old self, where all things are new, a person with a new heart, a new spirit, and the Holy Spirit living within them… how does such a person use their tongue to speak evil about someone else. How can we have so much gossip, lying, tearing down, slander, crude jokes, and constant complaining in the church?
The next question James asks is “...can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs?” I know this question sounds silly but that is the point James is making. How ridiculous is it to think a fig tree would bear olives instead of figs? How dumb is it to think a grapevine would produce anything other than grapes? If it is so ridiculous why are we so accepting of the improper use of the tongue in the church? As James said earlier ”...this should not be!” It’s impossible he says… “and neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
He closes this section by implying that a person who is using their tongue for evil is not a true believer. So how is your tongue? Do you need some work on this area of maturity in your Christian life? Not to worry… God is sending trials to test your tongue… are you ready for them?
