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Formed by the Spirit in Wisdom — 10/5/2026 10:00 AM
Today's speaker is Dr. Dan Estes, Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Ă۶ąapp. Dr. Estes teaches that the book of Proverbs is part of God's inspired word by which the Holy Spirit forms us in wisdom.
Notes
This morning in chapel, Dr. Dan Estes, Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Ă۶ąapp, answered questions people often ask about the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs as the Word of God
One question we may have is, “Is Proverbs just helpful advice for life from shrewd humans, or is it truly the Word of God for us?”
2 Peter 1:20–21 explains that nothing in the Bible comes merely from a person’s interpretation — it always comes from God. The author carefully crafted his words to produce vivid and memorable maxims, but all this human activity was superintended by the Holy Spirit, so those words were ultimately His. The wisdom sayings in Proverbs are part of God’s inspired Word that is profitable for building us into the godly people God wants us to become.
Proverbs for Skill in Living
Another question is, “Does Proverbs teach moralism, by which we become better people as we follow a code of good behavior and ethics purely as a human practice?”
Wisdom speaks about skilled living within the moral order in Yahweh’s world. Its ultimate goal is not to make a person smarter or more skilled but to transform his moral character, and this requires a radical transformation of the entire person.
Wisdom sages sought to produce people whose lives were shaped by the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning or the essence of wisdom. It is the overwhelming awe that causes us to tremble before the Lord and revere Him. This is the appropriate stance that we must take before the sovereign Creator of the universe.
By contrast, folly is evidenced by wicked behavior, the kinds of actions that deviate from what the Lord considers right. Proverbs does not teach moralism but wisdom that is rooted in the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs and Spiritual Formation
A third question is, “How does the wisdom taught in Proverbs in the Old Testament relate to sanctification by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament?”
There is a profound link between these two. Philippians 2:12–13 teaches that we should take the salvation we have received in Christ and work that out in every area of our lives with utter seriousness! We are actively involved in our sanctification, but it’s the Spirit of God within us that does the real hard work.
Spiritually mature people produce fruits — like the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 — that are strongly correlated with the qualities of wisdom taught in Proverbs. Our growth in wisdom as taught in Proverbs is our human response by which we cooperate with the Spirit as He cultivates Christlikeness in our lives.
The key question of spiritual formation is, “Am I becoming?” In Proverbs, we are students in God’s school of wisdom. As such, our goal is to make the cultivation of His wisdom the priority in our lives. Let’s ask Him to teach us to learn His way, to live His way, and to love His way.