Saved Unto Wisdom
Too many Christians think of salvation as if it were a divine evacuation plan. Jesus pulled me out of the wreck and now I just need to wait for my airlift to heaven. But that is not the gospel. Salvation is not a bare rescue; it is a re-creation. You were not only saved from sin, you were saved unto Wisdom.
Proverbs tells us that before there were mountains or seas, Wisdom was with God, rejoicing at His side (Prov 8:22–30). That Wisdom is Christ Himself—eternal, uncreated, the Word who was with God and who was God (John 1:1). And when He descended into our folly, bore our rebellion, and rose again, He did not intend to leave us as forgiven fools. He came to make us wise. “Christ Jesus… became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor 1:30).
This means that the Christian life is not an optional exercise in spiritual self-improvement; it is the Spirit of Christ taking up residence in broken men and women, shaping them into a wise people. Salvation is not the finish line; it is the starting line. Grace forgives your folly so that grace can now forge you into wisdom.
And what does that wisdom look like? Proverbs lays it out with a breathtaking simplicity and concreteness. Below are just a smattering of what Proverbs speaks about.
A wise man listens to counsel.
A wise woman builds her house.
Wise children hear the instruction of their parents.
Wise workers labor diligently and do not cut corners.
Wise lips speak truth, not slander.
Wise marriages are built on faithfulness, purity, and joy.
Wise families forgive one another.
Wise rulers love justice.
Wise citizens honor authority.
Wise merchants deal honestly.
Wise friends sharpen one another.
This is not abstract philosophy; it is the architecture of a life aligned with Christ, the Wisdom of God. It is not theory; it is practice. Wisdom organizes your speech, your finances, your sexuality, your work, your family, your friendships, your worship. Wisdom is Christ’s lordship translated into your Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.
So do not cheapen salvation as if Jesus died merely to spare you from hell. He died to make you holy, ordered, wise. He died to take nobodies, failures, and fools and shape them into saints whose lives shine with the beauty of His Wisdom. He saves you not to leave you broken, but to heal you into wholeness; not to let you wander in ignorance, but to teach you the way of understanding.
This is why the Christian can never say, “I can’t change.” The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you (Rom 8:11). The very Wisdom who legislated the oceans into place now works to legislate order into your soul. You canforgive. You can resist temptation. You can live a pure life, a generous life, a courageous life—not because you are strong, but because Christ is in you, and He is strong.
So cling to Christ, the Wisdom of God. Do not resist His Spirit. Learn His commands and walk in His ways. Salvation is not merely the rescue of your soul from wrath—it is the remaking of your life into Wisdom’s likeness. And the world desperately needs to see what wise Christians, wise families, and wise churches look like.
You were saved unto this. Now walk in it.
