Epignosis

Let's begin with just a simple definition of the word epignosis.

  

The New Testament of the Bible was written in koine, or common, Greek; a language many believe to be the most exact language in the history of mankind. The Greek alphabet and the Greek spelling of words will not be used on this webpage, only the English transliteration of Greek words.

 

1 Timothy 2:4  who [God our Savior, Jesus Christ] desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

This verse expresses Jesus Christ’s 2 overall desires, or objectives, for the human race. Here we are going to focus on His second desire, come to the knowledge of the truth.

The Greek word for knowledge found in 1 Timothy 2:4 is epignosis (pronounced e-pē-nō'-sis, the g is silent). This is one of the most important words in the Christian life. This word is sometimes translated full knowledge, true knowledge or just knowledge. I like to interpret epignosis as faith knowledge and the reason for this will be shown later.

Two Greek words that can be considered more important than epignosis are pneuma (pronounced new'-ma) and pistis (pronounced pis'-tis). Pneuma, translated spirit, is used for both the Holy Spirit and the human spirit, both of which only believers in Jesus Christ have. Pistis is the word for believe or faith. Without these two Greek words, there can be no epignosis. This will also be shown later.

 

Let’s establish what is meant here by truth. Truth is not a mere intellectual subject, not some nebulous academic principles of homespun wisdom. It’s not an almanac or an encyclopedia.

We can look to Jesus Christ to tell us what truth is.

He states very directly and simply what truth is in His prayer to God the Father that is recorded in John chapter 17. In John 17:17b, Jesus says:

John 17:17b   Your word is truth.

 

The Word of God is truth. The Word of God is the content of the Bible, also referred to as the Scripture.

 

 

Jesus also states what truth is in John 14:6:

John 14:6  Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

 

Here our Lord provides an amazing all-encompassing view of Himself. There is no verse in the Scripture that is more encompassing concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and who He is.

Jesus claims to be the truth. He is the only absolute truth, not some relative truth that humanity embraces. As truth, He is the ultimate revelation of God and divine viewpoint.

The Bible, the Word of God, is the very mind, the very thinking of Christ the living Word (John 1:1) expressed in written form. This is stated in 1 Corinthians 2:16:

1 Corinthians 2:16  For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. NLT

 

The Word of God, the mind of Christ, truth – these are synonymous terms. For us, truth is found in the divinely inspired Scripture. Absolute truth is the content of the mind of Christ found in His teaching. It can be found in no other place. Jesus Christ as truth is the only norm and standard of Christianity. All that we know and all that we believe comes directly from Him.

Truth, i.e. the Word of God, the mind of Christ, the Bible, is reality. It reveals God.  It reveals our world through the eyes of our creator. It reveals God’s relationship with us. There is no greater reality in life than how God views us and our life. Through a knowledge of truth, we can understand who God is and what our relationship with Him is all about.

 

With just this small amount of information, a very simple definition of epignosis can be formed:

Epignosis is knowledge of the content of the Bible (truth) that the believer in Jesus Christ learns from a qualified pastor while being filled with the Holy Spirit (pneuma) and that is believed (pistis).

 

Truth + pneuma + pistis = epignosis

 

Truth + the filling of the Holy Spirit and the human spirit + faith = epignosis

 

 

The most important thing to understand and remember is that epignosis is the actual assimilation of the very thinking of Christ into the believer’s soul and that the process for doing so itself is as supernatural as is the Christian way of life.

 

One of the things that indicates the importance of epignosis is the fact that Jesus Christ desires it for the entire human race. This fact cannot be taken lightly.

 

 

Perhaps this simple definition of epignosis is enough for you to understand how epignosis is actually used in the Christian life as discussed in Think Like Me. If you would like a more in-depth understanding of epignosis, please read on.

 

 

So, let's continue with a little more in-depth explanation of what epignosis knowledge is. Epignosis is not truth, the content of the Bible, the Word of God, the mind of Christ, as it exists on the written page. Epignosis refers to the content of the Bible that has been learned through a study of the Bible.

There are three keys to epignosis.

The first is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is necessary for the believer in Jesus Christ to learn truth. Jesus Himself emphasized this in John 4:23&24.

John 4:23  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

John 4:24  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." NIV

 The phrase in the Spirit here refers to the filling of the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit and studying truth, i.e. the Word of God, are a necessary part of worship.

 

The second key to epignosis is spiritual gifts. God has provided spiritual gifts for human beings to be able to teach His Word, i.e. truth. Jesus Christ Himself distributed teaching spiritual gifts to men on His final ascension to heaven after His resurrection.

Ephesians 4:8  Therefore it says, "WHEN HE [Jesus Christ] ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."

 

Ephesians 4:11  And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

 The first teachers of truth in New Testament time had the spiritual gift of apostle; Paul, Peter and John for example. Paul emphasizes this in Titus 1:1.

Titus 1:1  Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge [epignosis] of the truth that leads to godliness-- NIV

 God’s elect here are believers in Jesus Christ. As an apostle of Jesus Christ, part of Paul’s objective was exactly the same as Jesus’s desire for all believers – to further their knowledge [epignosis] of the truth.

 

The other gift for teaching truth is stated in Ephesians 4:11 as pastors and teachers. Properly translated from the original Greek, this should be designated pastor-teacher. The gift of pastor-teacher is related to epignosis in Ephesians 4:13.

Ephesians 4:13  until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge [epignosis] of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

 

Even though God has provided spiritual gifts for human teachers of the truth, the filling of the Holy Spirit is necessary for both the teacher of the truth and for the believer when they listen to the teaching of the truth. It is the Holy Spirit that makes the truth understandable to the believer when they listen to the teaching of the truth. This is expressed in Romans 8:16.

Romans 8:16  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

 

The Holy Spirit teaches the truth to the believer’s human spirit. The believer is incapable of understanding the truth without this ministry of the Holy Spirit.

 

The third key to epignosis is faith which Paul mentioned in Titus 1:1. The truth that has been learned must be believed. This principle is stated in 1 John 4:16a:

1 John 4:16a  We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.

 

That is epignosis - truth, i.e. the Word of God, the mind of Christ, that has been learned and believed. When the believer believes, i.e. expresses faith in, what has been learned, that triggers the Holy Spirit to convert that truth into epignosis. If there is no expression of faith, if it is not believed, then the truth that is learned never becomes epignosis and it is of no value in the spiritual life of the believer.

The spiritual life of the believer is mentioned by Paul in Titus 1:1 as godliness – knowledge [epignosis} of the truth that leads to godliness.

 

The fact that faith must be expressed is why I like to refer to epignosis as faith knowledge. Epignosis is faith knowledge - knowledge of truth - i.e. the Word of God, the thinking of Christ - that has been learned from a pastor-teacher while filled with the Holy Spirit and has been believed.

 

The most important thing to understand and remember is that epignosis is the actual assimilation of the very thinking of Christ into the believer’s soul and that the process for doing so itself is as supernatural as is the Christian way of life.

 

If you would like an even more in-depth explanation of epignosis knowledge and how it is obtained, please read on. Otherwise,  if you would now like to see how epignosis is actually utilized in the spiritual life of the believer, see the section Think Like Me.

 

Before we continue with a more in-depth explanation of how we obtain epignosis, there’s another phrase that is important to understand: Bible doctrine.

When we think of the Word of God, the Scripture, we have a tendency to think of the content of the Bible, how it’s presented in the different books, chapters and verses. This makes for easy reading and for easy reference to different parts of the Scripture. However, this is not the way the Bible is communicated.

Bible doctrine refers to the entire realm of God’s Word presented in nomenclature, categories, concepts, and principles that define God, man, salvation, sin, the angelic conflict, the spiritual life and eschatology. Bible doctrine is drawn from the content of the canon of Scripture, with emphasis on the communication of that content to the individual souls of believers.

An example of Bible doctrine might be the subject of love. Love is the premier Christian virtue as stated in 1 Corinthians 13:13.

1 Corinthians 13:13  But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

However, just reading this one verse, or other verses about love, will not give the believer an understanding of the entire concept of love. For that, all of the verses in the Bible that talk about love – God’s love, man’s love – must be brought together in concepts, nomenclature and categories. This is Bible doctrine about love. It can be referred to as the doctrine of love. It is the Bible doctrine about love that must be communicated to and learned by the believer to obtain epignosis about love.

 

Let's look at what a few Biblical scholars have said about epignosis.

Another Greek word used for knowledge in the New Testament is gnosis (pronounced nō'-sis). Gnosis can be defined in this way:

Gnosis: Knowledge. Not to be confused with epignosis, which is a higher sort of perception unavailable to the unregenerate. (Gnosis refers to) knowledge in the sense in which science normally uses the term.

Vine, W. E., Merrill F. Unger, and William White, Jr. An Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984), 629, 631.

The word unregenerate in the above quote refers to the unbeliever, the person who has never accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. As mentioned above, epignosis depends upon pneuma, both the Holy Spirit and the human spirit. Unbelievers have neither the Holy Spirit nor a human spirit and therefore cannot have epignosis.

An explanation of epignosis and its comparison to gnosis is expressed here:

EPIGNOSIS, denotes exact or full knowledge, discernment, recognition; a strengthened form of gnosis expressing full knowledge. Paul uses the former 15 times out of the 20 occurrences; Peter 4 times, all in his second Epistle. In all the four Epistles of the first Roman captivity [Paul’s "prison Epistles"] epignosis is an element in the Apostle's opening prayer for his correspondents' well-being, Philippians 1:9; Ephesians 1:17; Colossians 1:9; Philemon 6. It is used with reference to the will of the Lord in Colossians 1:9.

Vine, W. E., Merrill F. Unger, and William White, Jr. An Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984), 629, 631.

Here is Colossians 1:9 mentioned in the above quote:

Colossians 1:9  For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge [epignosis] of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

As indicated, the word for knowledge in this verse is epignosis. Here is a comment on this verse:

Colossians 1:9, Comment: To know the more efficient and perfect will of God we must have more than gnosis. We need the perfective epignosis which is available only to the regenerate. Such wisdom is unavailable except to those who have the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

This (Colossians 1:9) is Paul’s opening salvo against the Gnostics, who were bothering the Colossian Christians. Epignosis is a koine addition to the classical gnosis. It was not used in pre-Hellenistic days. Polybius, Plutarch and others used the word for full knowledge. Paul uses it here to reply to the Gnostics who pretended to know it all. The Gnostic assumes that with his native intellectual powers, unaided either by the Holy Spirit or the revelation of Scripture he can arrive at what he calls maturity. He will never know the blessedness available only to the child of God who has epignosis and who thus knows enough to know that until we get to heaven, and perhaps not even then, will our thought be as high as God's.

Yeager, Randolph O. The Renaissance New Testament. (Gretna: Pelican Publishing Co., 1985), 15:10-11.

Understanding the gnostics and gnosticism can help to see the importance of the word epignosis. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis which, as shown above, means knowledge.

In his “Ryrie Study Bible” (1978) in the introduction to 1 John, Dr. Charles Ryrie had this to say about gnosticism and its place in biblical history:

    The heresy of gnosticism had begun to make inroads among churches in John’s day. Among its teachings were: 1) knowledge is superior to virtue; 2) the non-literal sense of Scripture is correct and can be understood only by a select few; 3) evil in the world precludes God’s being the only Creator; 4) the incarnation is incredible because deity cannot unite itself with anything material such as a body (Docetism); and 5) there is no resurrection of the flesh.

The ethical standards of many gnostics were low, so John emphasized the reality of the incarnation and the high ethical standard of the earthly life of Christ.

Docetism is the belief that Christ’s body was only an illusion as was the crucifixion. Of course, without these there is no salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. This would eliminate Jesus Christ’s first desire for the entire human race - Believe in Me.

Epignosis came from the fact that the gnostics - and before the gnostics got started, philosophers - said that the Christians do not have knowledge, gnosis. Gnostics claimed: “We are the smart ones. We have the knowledge.”

The gnostics said that Christians have no knowledge, all they have is pistis, faith. They started calling the Christians pistics. The gnostics claimed that knowledge is superior to faith and that they are smarter than the pistics. So, there was the great struggle in the first three centuries of gnosticism versus pisticism, a struggle that has continued until this day under different titles.

But the Apostles Paul and Peter came along and said, “Wait a minute, we have something through our faith, we have something higher and greater than gnosis, we have epignosis.” And that’s how epignosis was born.

 

Gnosis can be understood as academic knowledge, the knowledge gained of subjects like math, science, philosophy in some kind of an academic setting.

Gnosis, an academic knowledge, can also be attained by the study of the Word of God. But gnosis, or academic knowledge, of the Word of God is not sufficient for the Christian way of life. The Christian must have epignosis (full knowledge, true knowledge, faith knowledge) of the Word of God for spiritual growth and application in the Christian life.

 While the meaning of epignosis in classical Greek is "full knowledge", in the koine Greek of the New Testament the word actually becomes a descriptive technical word for Bible doctrine residing in the believer's soul. Taken from two Greek words - epi, meaning "over" or "beyond", and gnosis, "knowledge" - this "over or beyond knowledge" is Bible doctrine that forms divine viewpoint thinking, advances the spiritual life and becomes wisdom for the believer. The existence of spiritual knowledge beyond gnosis is confirmed by Ephesians 3:19.

And to know the love of Christ which surpasses [goes beyond] knowledge [gnosis, academic knowledge], that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.

 Knowledge of the love of Christ that goes beyond gnosis is epignosis.

Only epignosis has spiritual value and can be applied to every circumstance of life.

That you may be filled with the knowledge [epignosis] of His will [sovereign purpose and design] in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (Col. 1:9b)

 

So, how do we obtain epignosis knowledge of the Scripture, of the truth?

 Throughout history, Bible doctrine has been communicated by those with a spiritual gift of communication. In Old Testament times it was done by prophets and the Levitical priesthood. In New Testament times, Bible doctrine was first communicated by the apostles (Paul, John and Peter for example). As Christianity expanded, the apostles were soon joined by men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher and teacher (Timothy and Titus for example). In our time, the communication of Bible doctrine is done by those with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher (from the pulpit of the local church) or just teacher (other teaching situations such as in a prep school).

When Christ finally ascended permanently to heaven after His resurrection, He distributed these teaching gifts. This is brought out in Ephesians 4:8 and 11.

Ephesians 4:8  Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."

Ephesians 4:11  And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

The purpose of the teaching gifts is given in verses 12 and 13.

Ephesians 4:12  for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

Ephesians 4:13  until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge [epignosis] of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

The communication of Bible doctrine by those with these teaching spiritual gifts is necessary to obtain epignosis.

 

This is an illustration of what actually occurs in the soul of the believer in the perception of Bible doctrine.

 

I refer to this illustration as the grace perception system (GPS) because everything about this system of perception is based on the grace of God. The believer neither earns nor deserves this system of perception. Everything necessary for it to occur is provided by the grace of God; Bible doctrine, the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, the Holy Spirit and the human spirit. The only thing believers have to offer is their non-meritorious positive volition, their faith. Because it requires the believer’s positive volition to function, I also call this illustration operation V; V standing for volition.

Another important factor regarding the GPS is that is not dependent upon the believer's human IQ; rather, it operates completely on the power of God. The GPS provides what can be called a spiritual IQ. Hence, the GPS provides equal opportunity for every believer to gain epignosis. Basically, if a person has the mental capacity to understand the Gospel and accept Jesus Christ as Savior by faith alone (our Lord’s first desire for the entire human race), that person has the mental capacity to utilize operation V to come to the epignosis knowledge of the truth (our Lord’s second desire for the entire human race). A low human IQ is not a hindrance. No believer is left out. The only thing that keeps a believer from coming to an epignosis knowledge of the truth is their own negative volition toward Bible doctrine.

 

Now, human beings do not have an actual V in their soul. This is just an illustration to help explain how epignosis is formed.

 

The first area believers use their volition is for the filling of the Holy Spirit which means the Holy Spirit is controlling the soul (Ephesians 5:18). When the believer sins, the Holy Spirit is either grieved (Ephesians 4:30) or quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and the Holy Spirit no longer controls the soul. This means the Holy Spirit cannot function for the believer in operation V. To recover the filling of the Holy Spirit requires the confession of sins as per 1 John 1:9.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Believers must use their volition for the confession of their sins to ensure the filling of the Holy Spirit before they begin any Bible Study.

 

The first step in operation V is the communication of Bible doctrine by the pastor-teacher. This is the next place believers exercise positive volition, to expose themselves to the teaching of Bible doctrine; either through attendance of Bible class at a local church or through some electronic media.

It is the pastor-teacher’s job to teach Bible doctrine. However, the pastor-teacher is just the mouth piece, if you will, for the Holy Spirit. As shown in the illustration, it is actually the Holy Spirit who takes the Bible doctrine taught by the pastor-teacher and teaches it to the believer’s human spirit so that it is understood. This can be seen in 1 Corinthians 2:12-13.

1 Corinthians 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

Every believer is the recipient of “the Spirit who is from God”, the Holy Spirit, at the moment they accept Christ as Savior. One of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is that “we may know the things freely given to us by God”. The only way we can know all the things God freely gives to us is through His Word, through Bible doctrine. Notice they are freely given – grace. We don’t earn or deserve the things God gives us, including Bible doctrine.

The Apostle Paul, who wrote 1 Corinthians, mentions teaching in verse 13:

1 Corinthians 2:13  which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

which things we also speak - what are the things that Paul speaks? Which things refers to the things freely given to us by God at the end of verse 12, specifically Bible doctrine. Paul speaks or communicates Bible doctrine. As we have seen, this communication in the local church is now done by someone with the gift of pastor-teacher.

Notice what Paul says next: not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. Paul does the speaking, the communicating of Bible Doctrine, but it is the Holy Spirit that actually teaches the human spirit. This principle is stated in Romans 8:16:

Romans 8:16  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

The Holy Spirit testifies with, i.e. teaches, our human spirit.

The Holy Spirit teaches the Bible doctrine to our human spirit and makes it understandable to us. It is automatically transferred from the human spirit into our soul, the mind, by the Holy Spirit. At this point it is gnosis; it is understood academically. It has no spiritual value at this point. It has no more value to our spiritual life than any other academic subject we might study; math, science, philosophy, etc.

Gnosis is academic knowledge and it must be converted to epignosis, spiritual knowledge. How is this accomplished? As shown in the operation V illustration, it is positive volition, faith, that triggers the transfer from the mind to the heart as epignosis. It is the Holy Spirit that converts the gnosis into epignosis and transfers it to the heart when the believer believes what is taught. This principle is expressed in 1 John 4:16a:

1 John 4:16a  We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.

First, we have to come to know it and then we have to believe it. It is that belief, that positive volition, that faith, that triggers the Holy Spirit to make the transfer to epignosis in the heart.

You might think of it like this. As believers listen to the teaching of Bible doctrine, they could say in their mind, “Pastor, I understand what you’re teaching and I believe it.” It doesn’t have to be expressed exactly like that but there has to be some kind of indication in the believers thought process that they believe the Bible doctrine they are being taught. This is called faith perception. It is the most critical part of learning Bible doctrine, of operation V. Without this faith perception, the Bible doctrine remains gnosis, academic knowledge, and is never converted to epignosis. It is only epignosis that causes spiritual growth and can be applied in the spiritual life.
The fact that faith must be expressed is why I like to refer to epignosis as faith knowledge. Epignosis is faith knowledge - knowledge of truth, i.e. the Word of God, that has been learned from a pastor-teacher while filled with the Holy Spirit and has been believed.

 

Paul also expresses his role in epignosis for the believer in Titus 1:1:

Titus 1:1  Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge [epignosis] of the truth that leads to godliness-- NIV

Paul mentions 2 components of operation V in this verse, faith and epignosis. God’s elect refers to believers in Jesus Christ. Paul’s job is to see that Bible doctrine is taught so that believers can exercise faith as a nonmeritorious function under the policy of grace and that under the ministry of the Holy Spirit they can have epignosis knowledge of the truth. This leads to godliness which is the spiritual life of the believer or the use of epignosis in the heart.

I think what is significant here is that the job of “an apostle of Jesus Christ” is to further the believer’s “knowledge [epignosis] of the truth”. Coming to the “knowledge [epignosis] of the truth” is the Lord Jesus Christ’s second objective, or desire, for the entire human race, our Lord’s objective for the believer. As an apostle of Jesus Christ, Paul had the same objective.

This was Paul’s job as an apostle and as we have seen, it is now the job of the pastor-teacher.

 

The components of GPS are found in 2 Corinthians 8:7a.

2 Corinthians 8:7a  but even as in every thing ye do abound, in faith, and word, and knowledge YLT

“Word and knowledge” in 2 Corinthians 8:7 are the Greek words logos and gnosis respectively. These words focus on the function of operation V. Logos, “word”, is Bible doctrine found in the Scripture. This doctrine is initially understood academically through the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit and becomes gnosis, academic knowledge. By means of faith (Greek pistis), this gnosis is converted by the Holy Spirit into epignosis.

The fact that epignosis is provided by the Holy Spirit is brought out in 2 Peter 1:3.

2 Peter 1:3  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. ISV

The divine power that is available to the believer is God the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 2:12; Ephesians 5:18). He gives us everything we need for life and godliness through epignosis, full or faith knowledge. As we have seen, godliness refers to the spiritual life of the believer or the use of epignosis located in the heart.

When believers believe the Bible doctrine they have learned, God the Holy Spirit converts gnosis into epignosis.

This entire process of operation V can be illustrated by the process of the metabolization of food.

When food is consumed, the human body converts it into nourishment for physical growth and eliminates harmful waste material. Food sitting on a shelf in a cupboard is analogous to a pastor communicating Bible doctrine. The food on the shelf doesn't do your body any good. It can't be of benefit until it is prepared and eaten. Food on the table is analogous to the Holy Spirit converting doctrine into gnosis or understandable doctrine. It's prepared, it is ready to be eaten, but it has no value in and of itself. It must be eaten to be of benefit. So, food being consumed is analogous to the metabolization of Bible doctrine. The only food that does the body good is that which is eaten.  By analogy, when Bible doctrine, spiritual food, is ‘eaten’ under the filling of the Holy Spirit, it is converted into nourishment for spiritual growth, i.e. epignosis, and it eliminates human viewpoint from the soul.

This analogy of Bible doctrine, God’s Word, being eaten is expressed in Jeremiah 15:16a.

Jeremiah 15:16a  Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;

In this verse, the destination of God’s Word when ‘eaten’ is the heart, the same final destination of epignosis shown in operation V.

This analogy between eating food and eating “spiritual food” is also expressed by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:4:

Matthew 4:4  Jesus answered, "It is written, 'Man doesn't live only on bread. He also lives on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" NIrV

Epignosis is metabolized Bible doctrine, they are synonymous.

 

As has been shown, the Bible, the Word of God, is also called the mind or thinking of Christ in 1 Corinthians 2:16. So, when we have epignosis, or metabolized Bible doctrine, in our soul, we have the thinking of Christ formed in us, we think Christ’s thoughts. We can live life through the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ. We fulfill the command given in Philippians 2:5:

Philippians 2:5  You should think in the same way Christ Jesus does. NIrV

Proverbs 23:7a states:

Proverbs 23:7a  For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

 

The objective of the believer’s spiritual life is coming to the faith knowledge, i.e. epignosis, of the truth. But usable epignosis Bible doctrine accumulates gradually in increments. Truth builds upon truth. The believer must persist in learning as Isaiah 28:10b says: “Line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there”. Bit by bit the believer develops a frame of reference for receiving and retaining ever more complex doctrines, thereby unveiling the whole panorama of his magnificent spiritual life. This system explains why the believer must faithfully listen to Bible teaching as a consistent routine and emphasizes the value of repetition by the pastor. Bible doctrine cannot be absorbed and used through sporadic bursts of enthusiasm but through tenacious reception, retention, and recall. This consistent perception and metabolism of Bible doctrine always result in faith, confidence in Christ, and love of God (1 Cor. 13:13) necessary to reach spiritual maturity and enter in to the Christian service God designed for the believer in eternity past (Eph. 2:10).

 

This is just a brief explanation of what epignosis is and how it is obtained. To see how epignosis is actually utilized in the spiritual life, see the section Think Like Me.

 

A detailed teaching on epignosis is available free of charge from Rev. RB Thieme Jr, former pastor of Berachah Church in Houston, TX and from Rev. Joe Griffin, pastor of Grace Doctrine Church in St. Charles, MO.

Rev. Griffin taught it as part of his 2003 Clanking Chains series from lessons 180 to 204. Each lesson is available on-line and includes an MP3 file of the Bible class, class notes and some include visual aid handouts.

Here is a link to the first lesson on the subject:

http://www.joegriffin.org/media-archive/class-catalog/cc02-180/

Rev. Thieme taught it as part of his 1984 Protocol Plan of God series from lessons 43-67. These lessons can be obtained in MP3 format from RB Thieme Jr. Bible Ministries.