By Tin-chee (TC) Lo
The source of wisdom is God. God is willing to give wisdom to His children — those who believe in Jesus Christ. This is the teaching of James 1:5-9. The question is: Can non-Christians have wisdom? If so, where do their wisdoms come from?
“Knowledge” is what the mind knows. “Wisdom” is how to properly “apply” that knowledge to achieve good results; this includes “planning”, “counsel”, or “strategy” which means, in a word, doing things smartly.
For example: “You know that what you say when you are angry can hurt others” is “knowledge”. “When you are really angry, you choose to be silent and calm instead of fighting back immediately” is “wisdom”. Christians certainly know these principles because they can learn it from the Bible and receive help from the Holy Spirit who is called the “Spirit of wisdom and of revelation” and the “Spirit of counsel.” But can’t non-Christians who do not have the Holy Spirit know these truths? Based on our daily observation and common sense, I think we can all agree that they do know it without reading the Bible.
There is also such a relationship between “wisdom” and “knowledge”: Not all knowledgeable people are wise, but all wise people are knowledgeable. There is no such thing as “wisdom of ignorance”. So, we must strive for gaining knowledge so that our wisdom can be accumulatively built upon them.
The above assertion “all wise people are knowledgeable” may seem difficult to accept at first glance and requires further explanation: I am not saying here that only those who have “Academic Knowledge” have “wisdom.” I am emphasizing that one must first know “something,” and then one can act wisely based on that “something” one knows—this “acting wisely” is what I mean by “wisdom.”
For example, when a child is skating on a frozen lake in winter, his father yells at him, “The ice here is very thin, don’t get close to it.” The child then “knows” something. As for whether this child believes and obeys his father’s instructions, that depends on “wisdom.” If the child does not even know that “thin ice is dangerous”, then there is no such thing as wise or unwise actions on his action. This description of wisdom can be understood by even non-Christians; it is called “General Revelation.”
In fact, the same is true with spiritual matters. We are born dead in sins and trespasses and have no knowledge of the things about God; we don’t even the ability to know due to our spiritual deadness. But one day, God’s “grace of election” comes upon us, and the Spirit of God makes us alive (Ephesians 2:1). We then experience “rebirth,” and immediately become a “new creation.” This new person is given a new ability to judge; when the Holy Spirit lets him “know” that he was indeed a sinner, he will act wisely: Based on this “knowing” of his sinfulness through the “renewed reasoning” given to him by the Holy Spirit, he makes a “wise” move of choosing to believe in Jesus, even though his knowledge of Jesus or the Bible at the time was very limited. Once again, we see the relationship between “wisdom” and “knowing”.
Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Clearly, we see the relationship between “wisdom” and “knowledge”. The word “beginning” in Proverb can also be traced back to the moment when one first gained “spiritual wisdom,” that is, the moment he believed in the Lord. It can be seen that believing in Jesus itself is wisdom, because Christ is the source of wisdom. Only Christians can understand this truth. This is called “Special Revelation.”
I cannot honestly hold that non-Christians are unwise. This will not only insult the unbelievers, but also not cohere with our daily observations. I used to know quite a few “hawkish” atheists in my workplace; not only did they not believe in God, they even openly insulted Jesus and slandered God’s name. But when I worked with them in the research and development (R&D) field, I found that they performed excellently, and I was amazed at the ideas they came up in solving problems. I also sometimes felt intimidated to even open my mouth to preach the gospel to them. In society, we have also seen many non-Christians with extraordinary achievements, some even were Nobel Prize winners. Whether in science, literature, medicine, or other fields, oftentimes they have achieved more than many Christians do, so their wisdom and strategic-thinking are undeniable.
Some Christians, however, say mindlessly, “Ah! All of theirs is worldly wisdom”, or theirs is of the “wisdom of the devil.” This is unjustified accusation only to blunt our thrust of evangelism. Don’t we realize that mankind, including Christians have benefited from the fruits of their “wisdom” in many areas? Therefore, we cannot but admit that non-Christians too have wisdom and strategies. Wisdom and cleverness do not belong to Christians exclusively.
So where do non-Christians’ wisdoms come from? I give you an amazing answer: “Their wisdom also comes from God.” As the Bible says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17). God gives wisdom to non-Christians, including atheists and pagans, just as God gives rain to good and bad people, and air to righteous and unrighteous people alike. This is what the Bible calls, “God’s “common grace.”
We all know that whoever receives grace receives it freely, otherwise grace cannot be called grace which means “free gifts.” Although the recipient does not have to pay any price, the benefactor (grace-giver) must pay a heavy price. As the idiom goes, “There is no free lunch in the world.” This price clearly points to the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
The blood of Christ was shed for the elect for their redemption. But for those who do not believe in Jesus or atheists, the “common grace” they receive can only be obtained at the cost of Christ’s precious blood. In this sense, the precious blood of Jesus Christ was shed for ALL people in the world. This is what John 3:16 means: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.”
Two different types of “world people”:
- Christians are those chosen by God the Father before the foundation of the world according to His infinite wisdom and holy foreknowledge. God the Father gives these elect people to Christ and gives them the gift of “saving-faith.” Through the precious blood of Christ, these people who are given saving-faith “will not perish but have eternal life.” And no one of them will be lost.
- Non-Christians: refers to those who are born dead in sins and in transgressions and are not chosen. God does not promise “fairness,” but God will never excise “unjustness.”
Two different kinds of love:
- Jesus says to the elect, “As the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Abide in my love” (John 15:9). Jesus loves His elect who believe in Him with the same love as He receives from the Father. What an incredible love Christians enjoy!
- To non-Christians, God also loves them but with the same love that he loves His enemies and gives them “common grace” in spite of their unbelief.
Two “Effects” of the Precious Blood:
- For the elect, this precious blood of Christ is the blood of redemption.
- For those who resist God, this blood is the basis for the “common grace.”
Two completely different “destinies”:
- Christians: eternal life.
- Non-Christians: eternal judgment.
The above is the interpretation of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
