With the speed of a fast-moving world, everyone is seeking knowledge. Most people want to have the knowledge to succeed, to be one up on their competitors. Unfortunately, the idea of knowledge is restricted to the capacity of a man’s comprehension. To have knowledge, most would say that it is an accumulation of facts. When it comes to our spiritual life versus our natural life, there are two kinds of knowledge.
There are many people in the church who have knowledge about Scripture or biblical history. They might be able to quote you Bible verses. They can claim knowledge about doctrine and theology. This type of person could be very devout in the way he lives. They present themselves as born-again believers in Christ. However, their knowledge is insufficient. I might have knowledge of the life of George Washington, but that does not make me a descendent of George Washington. In the same way in a church, I might have head knowledge about the songs that are sung, but that doesn’t mean that the message of those songs is a reflection of my spiritual state; and is only a recognition of the words.
When Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) This is a declaration, demarcation between human apprehension of knowledge and that which comes as result of being saved. We must make sure that we are not acknowledging details related to Christ’s words but do not have a born-again experience that has provided us a special spiritual knowledge of God’s truth. It is a dangerous thing for a person to think that he has knowledge about church and religious matters assuming that that’s what it is to be a Christian. It is a more secure position in relationship to God that the believer has gained a spiritual knowledge as a result of Christ being his Savior.
We can think that we know but not know at all in any way because we do not have divine truth that imparts to us a heavenly knowledge fitting us to walk a path before God. To have knowledge can be gained by any person. To have spiritual knowledge from truth can only come from becoming a Christian, being born again, having a unique and eternal relationship with God. Each of us must examine whether our knowledge comes from assimilation of facts or does it come from the truth that the Holy Spirit grants to us as part of joining into the family of God through salvation.
Christian Writer 