Return to Index.

Knowledge
January 25, 2020

Since the start of the new year, we have been diving into a passage from the second letter of Peter looking at 2 Peter 1:5-8 , “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Last week, we looked at virtue, and today we’ll consider the role of knowledge in our spiritual growth.

Since the beginning of time when God was interacting with man, knowledge of God has been an integral part of our relationship with God. Let’s go back and take a look at one of those early interactions between God and man going all the way back to the Garden of Eden. In Genesis two we have written down for us an account of the Garden of Eden which contained a lush variety of trees that not only provided great tasting food, but also provided a pleasing visual experience. Two trees were in the middle of the Garden of Eden, the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Knowledge has always been a part of our relationship with God, even when that knowledge has been in its infancy. As the story continues, we find that God tells Adam and Eve that they may eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden, with one exception, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the modern age, it seems strange to us that God would not want Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because we already live in a world that is both good and evil. When God offered Adam and Eve the tree of life, he was also offering them only good in their life. Imagine how different this world would be if there was no evil, only good in the world. Adam and Eve gave all that up when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:1-7
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

What God desired, was that Adam and Eve would eat of the tree of life and have knowledge of good and eternal life. That didn’t happen and throughout history, mankind has found itself challenging, in disagreement with, and sometimes in open hostility against God. To make matters worse we live in a world where religion is driven by politics and societal changes, not the word of God. The decisions made by society today reflects the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and not the tree of life.

Because people voluntarily choose to disagree with what God teaches, bad things happen. Even though knowledge is powerful, using knowledge incorrectly can be just as destructive as making a mistake through lack of knowledge. When we reject the knowledge of God and the teachings of God, God rejects us, and will even forget our children.

We can’t allow politics and social initiatives to take the place of God and replace our faith. When we do we run the risk of being brought to shame, much like priests who are exposed as child molesters and sexual predators. There is nothing wrong with having a political viewpoint. There is nothing wrong with taking certain social initiatives. Neither of those take the place of what is in the Bible. Neither of those is more important than what is in the Bible. Because this world has rejected God, people who are supposedly in a position to protect us from evil have abandoned their responsibility by rejecting God and instead favoring this world, that’s a reason why this world is so evil and corrupt.

Hosea 4:4-10
Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings. For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

Knowledge is information we can pull from, and when we have more knowledge that we can pull from, we can better correctly and use the best application of that knowledge in a variety of different circumstances. That’s the power of knowledge. Of and by itself, knowledge has no power. Knowledge becomes powerful when we can correctly apply it in our life and wisdom is the best application of that knowledge in a given circumstance.

The only way to grow in knowledge and wisdom of the Bible and God is through prayerful study of the Bible, meditation on what we have read and never giving up on that practice. Foolishness on the other hand is the worst application of the knowledge we have. If we are foolish it is not that we don’t have knowledge, it’s we are not applying the knowledge that we have to our advantage.

In Matthew 25:1-13 is a parable of the wise and foolish virgins. The foolish virgins didn’t get invited into the wedding supper, the Kingdom of God, because they poorly applied the knowledge that they had. If we don’t want to be locked out of the Kingdom of God like the foolish virgins, all of this begins first with knowledge of what is in the Bible and applying that knowledge in our life the best possible way.

James 3:13-18
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Like Adam and Eve, today we have a choice between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Choose life, and then prayerfully grow in knowledge and wisdom as we come closer each day to the Kingdom of God.

All verses are from the King James Version.
This site provided by Tom Laign. To all who may believe differently, I also extend peace and love.
Copyright and Legal Information
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information