Wisdom

1 Corinthians 12:28 CSB

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues.

Wisdom in General

Several Scriptures reveal the true beauty and fruit of wisdom.  Psalm 111:10 says: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”  Wisdom begins with the fear of the LORD.  It begins with knowing who God is and who we are in comparison to Him.  That leads to understanding and then to practicing righteousness.  A life of wisdom ultimately results in the praise of God.

Wisdom Defined

Wisdom is the gift that discerns the word of the Holy Spirit in the body and applies His teachings and actions to the needs of the body.

James 3:17 says “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” This is undoubtedly a work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.

The highest wisdom is found in the cross of Christ, which is “folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Spiritual Gifts are to be used for unification, not division. Wisdom is a unifying gift. When emotions, preferences, or what have you attempt to sway left or right, this way or that way; the person with Wisdom will point others back to the Word, back to Jesus, and seek His way.

What Wisdom is NOT

In some Charismatic and Pentecostal movements you will often hear someone say something akin to “I have a message from the Lord for you”. The claim is that God has given them a specific message for a specific person, and therefore, the message must be obeyed.

This is NOT wisdom. The practice of this risks breaking the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture.

This is very important. In the Baptist world, the reformed world, we hold very strongly to the 5 Solas.

The five solas of the Reformation, which distinguished the Reformers from the teachings of Rome, include sola scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone).

Scripture alone

Christ alone

faith alone

grace alone

glory to God alone

Sola scriptura is the belief that because Scripture is God’s inspired Word, it is the only inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the church. So the idea that God is going to give someone a specific message, for a specific person is not dangerous, but the impact, “that the message must be obeyed”, is very dangerous!

So someone may have a sudden urge to deliver a message to you. For example: gray fox, silver raven. Weird. Or God loves you. Or to go pray with a seemingly random stranger in Jacks. All of these are acceptable. But they become unacceptable when there is a specific word, for a specific person, which requires absolute obedience; along with the claim that it originated from God.

Wisdom is Application

Earlier I stated that the person with wisdom will point others back to the Word, back to Jesus, and seek His way. This means that wisdom is application.

Wisdom knows when and how to apply God’s truth to a specific situation.

The spiritual gift of wisdom, like the gift of knowledge, is also referred to as the “word of wisdom” or “utterance of wisdom.”  The Greek word for wisdom is sophia and it refers to the intimate understanding of God’s Word and His commandments which results in holy and upright living.

1 Corinthians 12:8 CSB

to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit,

 In the context of 1 Corinthians 12:8, it means to speak to the life of an individual or to a specific situation with great understanding and a righteous perspective, with the goal of guiding others toward a life of holiness and worship.

The Holy Spirit gives some the spiritual gift of wisdom to not only impart the truth and understanding to believers, but to invoke a response of holiness and worship lived out in the world and amongst God’s people. Wisdom doesn’t end with knowledge, but is expressed in transformed hearts and lives.

When someone is given the gift of wisdom, the more they dig into and marvel at God’s truth, the more treasures of wisdom they find. Time spent with Jesus through prayer, meditating on the Gospel, and learning biblical truth deepens and develops the gift of wisdom. Intimacy with Jesus is the secret place where wisdom takes shape.

A person who has the gift of wisdom is a person who spends time with Jesus.

Those with the gift of wisdom have a deep understanding of the holiness of God and the lack of holiness in their own hearts. They can recognize this in others as well and have the compassion and boldness to share that truth with them. They are able to take from their own life experiences and share what God has taught them through those things.

They can easily recognize where a decision or action may lead and can warn against those that may be harmful or unfruitful. They can often see through the confusion of a situation and can give direction that would help an individual or group obtain a God-glorifying goal.

Just as any gift is given freely, the gift of wisdom is given freely through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit plants truth deep within us to allow wisdom to flow forth in the time it is needed.

The church needs those with the spiritual gift of wisdom to guide her though uncertain or difficult times.