2 Timothy 3:7
7 Ever [pantote] learning, [manthano] and [kai] never [medepote] able [dunamai] to come [erchomai] to [eis] the knowledge [epignosis] of the truth. [aletheia] KJV-Interlinear
7 always
learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. NASB
Wicked, or spiritually
dysfunctional people, are always learning.
Everyone learns day in and day out during their life. We learn from
academics, from our jobs, from our social interactions, from watching the news
or even from entertainment. Our brains
are always on, so to speak.
But, there are two
different type of knowledge. The first
is referred to as ‘gnosis, and the second is mentioned in our verse here called
‘epignosis.’
The first, is the
learning process of details or information, or better described as an awareness
of things or information.
The second, is a
reference to the comprehension, discernment, understanding, mastery, and better
stated as the possession of that information.
The first, ‘gnosis,’
can be described easily as a person who sees trees in a forest and they are
nothing more than something pleasant to see, or just trees. You see them but you don’t really see them.
They are just there.
The second form of
knowledge, ‘epignosis,’ can be described as a person looking at those same
trees and seeing an application for them, construction, lumber, art value,
sculpture, manufacturing value in the sap for syrup or in the pulp for paper,
or medicinal value, and so forth.
So you can see that
there is a vast difference between the two types of knowledge- elementary level
vs. PhD level. Not that looking at a
forest makes you a elementary school person, but what is emphasized here is the
broad range or distance between the two types of knowledge.
This is their
description in the carnal realm.
In the spiritual realm
the same terms can be applied however the differences are in their spiritual
value, which has even greater significance in a persons life.
When we get to the
study of Ephesians we will study this concept in far greater detail, however
for now, we should understand that the spiritual life has a specific function
in which spiritual value is beneficial when it is obtained and applied
properly, and of no benefit when it is mis-obtained or mis-applied.
A quick review is in
order here.
First, in order to have
a spiritual life, you must first be saved.
You have accomplished that by believing in Christ. That took you but a
moment of time.
Second, you must be in
fellowship, in order for your spiritual life to function. You acquire fellowship status by means of
confession of your sins to God the Father.
This you do on a daily (if not more often) basis. ‘Father I did, wanted, thought … this and
that and this and that.’ That confession
places you back into fellowship, a non-physical, non-emotional, non-detectable
state. Fellowship places God the Holy Spirit
in control of your soul. Out of fellowship
places the sin nature in control of your soul.
You do not ever have independent control over yourself except that, in
your volition, you give control over to either God or sin. There is no third option.
The spiritual side of
life is something that we cannot measure or detect or sense.
Third, you must then
study, and through study, you hear or see, the content of the scriptures you
are studying. This is ‘gnosis,’ or something
learned. God the Holy Spirit grabs the
spiritual aspect of that information and channels it through your human spirit. You then believe it and then it is channeled
down into your soul.
Fourth, that information
thus channeled into your soul becomes the foundation of a spiritual structure
within your soul. That foundation or
structure is called ‘epignosis,’ or possessed knowledge. Something that you own.
Fifth, this building
process, as it is repeated through daily study and learning, builds up a
structure which we call your mansion, your temple, your fortress, and so
forth. This is doctrine building up
muscle or strength in your soul.
Sixth the process of
learning continues but then you add the application component to your spiritual
growth process. And that we call spiritual production. Once you build a structure you must then
furnish it, landscape it, or in other words, make it into a home of permanent
residence. A home that is carpeted,
painted, furnished, landscaped and so forth is a much more pleasant and
comfortable home than just an unfinished leaky shack.
When you live your life
out of fellowship, then ‘gnosis’ is the only knowledge available to you. There is no spiritual benefit.
Satan has ‘gnosis.’ He knows the Bible forwards and backwards,
but has none of the spiritual benefit from it.
And so life in this
world, when the spiritual side is not functioning, is what is meant here.
People are always
learning, but in essence they are learning nothing that will help them in their
eternal life. Always learning but never
building up a permanent structure in their soul.
Whether you are a bum
on the street or a rocket scientist, if you have no doctrine, then your
spiritual value is exactly the same – zero.
Academic knowledge in
this world gains you nothing for your next life. It may make things better for folks to live
in this world. Certainly cars are better
than horses, and home ovens are more convenient than campfires, and cell phones
are better than pigeons. But they only
make life easier.
And by the way, with so
many conveniences in this world today, that only eliminates your excuses for
not studying and growing up spiritually.
It should be far easier, today, for folks to study and grow in their spiritual
lives, than at any time in the past.
And yet, this verse
applies. People are always on the go,
always learning something, but really never learning anything. And certainly never retaining anything that will
benefit them in their future, eternal life.
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