Wisdom- Godly vs. Worldly

This post was sparked by my Bible study on Sunday morning at my church. We were looking at 1 Cor. 1:18-31, but this post specifically has to do with what worldly wisdom is as stated in vs. 20. I had some ideas, but I really wanted to see what Scripture had to say about it. And yes, it may look a little long and daunting at first, but most of the post consists of the actual scripture that I pulled from, so unless you are adverse to reading Scripture I would say, stick with it. :)

Figuring out what godly wisdom is turned out to be easier than what worldly wisdom is since verses straight up say "this is wisdom", but I think that, one, worldly wisdom is the opposite of godly wisdom, and so therefore we can see what godly wisdom is and see that worldly wisdom would be the opposite of that, and two, there are some good verses that point to what worldly wisdom is as well. I'll start with what wisdom is and then move to what worldly wisdom is.

Job 28:28 says, "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'" - Wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

Ps. 111:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

Pr. 2:6, 9:10 says, "For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding." - It is only the LORD who gives wisdom.

So, wisdom is the fear of the Lord and comes from the Lord. Conversely, the wisdom of the world would be to uphold and value the things of this world and our carnal desires and such and it comes from man himself. Now, verses about the wisdom of the world:

Pr. 29:3 says, "A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth." - Here it seems keeping company with harlots (valuing and partaking in the carnal pleasures of this world/not fearing the Lord or obeying His commandments) is opposite of wisdom.

Is. 47:10 says, "You felt secure in your wickedness and said, 'No one sees me,' Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you; For you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one besides me.'" - Her worldly wisdom deluded her and caused her to think "I am, and there is no one besides me." - Basically her worldly wisdom caused her to reject God and think that she was God and there was no one greater than her. She made much of herself and was proud.

Jer. 8:7-10 says, "Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove and the swift and the thrush Observe the time of their migration; but My people do not know The ordinance of the LORD." How can you say, 'We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us'? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. "The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, And what kind of wisdom do they have? "Therefore I will give their wives to others, Their fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices deceit." - They were saying they were wise but were rejecting the law of the Lord. They were practicing worldly wisdom. It would also seem that from the last verse that greediness for gain and deceit are also a part of worldly wisdom.

Ez. 28:1-7 says, "The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because your heart is lifted up And you have said, ' I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas'; Yet you are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God-- 3 Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There is no secret that is a match for you. 4 "By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries. 5 "By your great wisdom, by your trade You have increased your riches And your heart is lifted up because of your riches-- 6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have made your heart Like the heart of God, 7 Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, The most ruthless of the nations. And they will draw their swords Against the beauty of your wisdom And defile your splendor." - I think this is the best example for worldly wisdom out of all the verses. He says it by his wisdom that he has acquired riches and that he is proud and thinks himself to be God. Later he says that the nations will draw their swords against the beauty of his wisdom...the beauty of his wisdom was all his gold and wealth. His wisdom was all about making much of himself and thinking himself God and running after riches and wealth. It says he made his heart like the heart of God because of His wisdom. His wisdom brought about the epitome of pride- thinking you are God.

I Cor. 2:1-5 says, "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." - Here Paul says that he didn't come to them with fancy speeches and he wasn't proud and basically that he wasn't trying to persuade them by anything which appeal to the senses or anything that he could do to try to make them like his message, and he did this so that their faith wouldn't rest on the wisdom of men. Well, then, the wisdom of men would think that because what he said sounded good or he looked good or looked like he knew what he was talking about that they should believe it.
James 3:14-17 says, "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." - Wisdom of this world is bitter jealously and selfish ambition. Wisdom from above is the opposite...it is pure, peaceable, gentle, and responsible, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, and without hypocrisy.

Well, there you have it. I hope that you have been educated and edified by reading this.