Wisdom and Godliness

In Chapter eight we have Wisdom used as a poetic device called personification. Personification is a figure of speech where ideas are represented as a person with attributes of personality and human characteristics. Wisdom in chapter eight sounds like a person calling out to us and there is a debate among commentators on whether this wisdom is presented as an attribute of God or is this Wisdom really Jesus? One commentator begins by saying that this Wisdom is “the voice of the Son of God.” Now I have no problem with this interpretation and I have even capitalized Wisdom to support this idea, but this same commentator goes on to say that this Wisdom describes “not an attribute, but a Person.” Now here is the problem. Some would so emphasize Wisdom as being Someone we must know that they tend to deny that wisdom is something that should characterize us and our actions. Others would so emphasize that wisdom is only an attribute in this chapter that they would lose sight of the fact that we gain this attribute of wisdom through a Person, Jesus Christ. We must be careful to hold both.

When we substitute Jesus for the words wisdom and understanding where those words are used in the first person we find that the chapter makes complete sense. Go ahead and read the chapter that way. Jesus is all of these things. Now substitute the word godliness in the same way for the words wisdom and understanding. It still makes sense when you read it with this emphasis on wisdom as an attribute like godlines. One substitution emphasizes the person of Jesus while the other emphasizes the attribute of godliness.

There is a reason both of these word substitutions work well and we find the beginning of the explanation in Genesis 1:26.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

We were made in the image of God for the purpose of exercising dominion. This exercising of dominion under God is called godliness. But Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden and lost his dominion under God by obeying Satan. So now all the descendants of Adam still exercise dominion (they retain the image of God) but they do it in service to Satan. This exercise of dominion under Satan is called ungodliness. This is not complicated. But Jesus as the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45-47) exercised godliness (godly dominion) and destroyed the works of Satan according to Hebrews 2:14-15.

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

It was by Jesus death and resurrection that Satan is defeated and we through faith are made free to now exercise godliness (godly dominion). We exercise godliness when we are more conformed to the image of God’s Son – when we become more like Jesus as we are told in Romans 8:28-29.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Now wisdom as the activity of God in Proverbs eight is godliness. And Jesus as the express image of God is godliness. And we as we become more like Jesus through faith gain true wisdom and exercise godly dominion.

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1:30)