How much knowledge about God do we need to have? Just enough for salvation, right, then we are done??? This devotion discusses how God wants us to grow in knowledge of Him.
Nuggets
- God want us to make a conscious decision to follow Him, which means we need knowledge in order to do that.
- Initially, we have to learn about Who God is and what He has done.
- God’s laws and commandments are what are to guide us as to how to live our lives.
- We are to take the knowledge that we learn when we are seeking God and use it transform us — sanctify us.
Devotions in the Christian Virtues series
We’ve been talking about growing our virtues. We are going to water that plant today with the topic of knowledge. We can’t grow without gaining knowledge, right?
Let's Put It into Context
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (II Pet. 1: 5-7 CSB)
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines virtue as a “conformity to a standard of right” or “a particular moral excellence.” It is talking about how we conduct ourselves as we live our lives.
When we think about a virtue, we think about this being something on which we do not compromise. At times, we look at it as a strength of character. Peter wrote this a progression, indicating there was a growth associated with this.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defined knowledge as “the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association.” The Holman Bible Dictionary defined it as “… intellectual understanding, personal experience, emotion, and personal relationship (including sexual intercourse …).”
Why is knowledge important? Adams put it succinctly: “If men will not know God, God will not know them.” Because of this, God requires us to gain knowledge in order to grow.
Does God Really Want Us to Know?
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 3: 18 ESV)
Yes, God wants us to have knowledge. No, He doesn’t want us just blindly following Him.
God want us to make a conscious decision to follow Him. In order to do that, we need knowledge. “The more we can rule our lives by the intelligent application of principles, and not by mere use and wont, instinct, imitation, mechanism, necessity, the more we shall be the men and women that God meant us to be.”
Oh, yes. There are some things that are below our pay grade that we do not need to know — however much we think we do.
God is all-knowing and Creator of all we see and can’t see. It is okay for Him to be smarter than us. It is okay for us not to know.
But what do we need to learn?
Learn to Know God
“Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment” (Prov. 9: 10 NLT)
We have to learn to know God — that includes learning about His character. That means we have to learn about heaven and eternity, too.
We’ve talked before about the fear of the Lord. We learned in What Does Fear of the Lord Mean? that the fear of the Lord means reverence and love, not terror.
Our following God’s laws and commandments shows that we fear God (Finding Favor by Acknowledging God). Walking in the Spirit should promote the fear of the Lord (What Does It Mean to Walk in the Spirit?).
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
We’ve also talked about wisdom. Partridge defined wisdom as, “in the Scripture sense, is a virtue which makes a man not only skilful (sic) and intelligent, but also good and virtuous. It consists, not so much in knowledge, as in practice.”
Not only skilled and intelligent, but also good and virtuous. (Well, doesn’t that fit into this discussion?)
I see the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is that kernel of fact that we learn. Wisdom is how that kernel of fact changes us for the better as a person.
Initially, we have to learn about Who God is and what He has done. What He has done is the plan of salvation.
- God, the Creator of the universe, is our Father Who wants to have a relationship with His people. God Sent His Son Jesus to be the Redeemer of mankind.
- The Trinity, which consists of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are three different forms of the same Being.
- Jesus was born of a virgin, making Him 100% God and 100% man.
- Jesus gave His life on the cross for us so that His blood could pay the price for our sins.
- Because of God’s great might and power, Jesus rose from the grave, conquering death and paying the price for our sins.
- At some point, Jesus will come back to earth and take believers home with Him.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Williams argues that we also need to know ourselves and Adam and Eve as they were originally created. Additionally, he cautioned that we need to know others as to how they are under the influence of the worldview.
Then we have to learn God’s laws and commandments.
Learn to Know God’s Laws and Commandments
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deut. 6: 6-7 NIV)
Moses told the Wilderness Wanderers that they weren’t supposed to put God’s laws and commandments on a shelf, never to be thought about again.
Instead, Moses told them that they were to put them on their hearts. We’ve talked about our hearts before.
We’ve talked in Peace, Mercy, and Love about God’s peace, mercy and love is at our center. Our center is considered our hearts. That is our foundation.
Also, we’ve talked in The Fullness of God’s Love about how Jesus is the Word (Jn. 1: 1) that we are to hide in our hearts (Ps. 119: 11). Jesus is a major part of that foundation.
Obedience has to come from the heart. In Getting Obedience to the Heart Level, we said God’s Word is supposed to be a part of us. His laws and commandments are supposed to affect our character or our core – our heart level. If we are to engrave God’s laws and commandments on our hearts, we internalize them, and they change us.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
See? Laws and commandments are to go to heart level. They are supposed to be a part of us. They are supposed to change us.
These are what are to guide us as to how to live our lives. Maclaren wrote, “So this knowledge is not only of what it is right and wise to do at the moment; but it is knowledge of what it is right and wise, on Christian ground, to do at the moment and in the circumstances.”
What is right doesn’t change with the situation. If God says it is right, it stays right.
Learn to Know Our Duty
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12: 2 ESV)
We are to take the knowledge that we learn when we are seeking God and use it transform us — sanctify us. Maclaren stated it this way: “Let the perception of duty be a perception illuminated and determined by the principles of the gospel, and bring that law to bear upon all life.”
We have to daily be applying God’s laws and commandments to our lives. This isn’t something from which we take a vacation.
We learn about God’s love and let that change us until we are full. “My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another” (Rom. 15: 14 CSB).
I know. I read that and thought, “This is another one of those three-tense verses. I really isn’t going to happen until heaven.”
Maybe. Maybe not. Thompson wrote, “Knowledge is a spiritual apperception of Divine things, forming and controlling the practical judgment. A soul informed by such knowledge discerns the way of truth and duty.”
Here, we need to bounce new knowledge off old knowledge to assimilate it. There we won’t need to do that. We will already have all the knowledge we will need.
Here, we have to assimilate the spiritual truths we learn into our standards — into our virtues.
Making the Connections
I think it would be a safe bet to say that — at least at one point in our lives — we were not feeling knowledgeable. We probably were not even feeling average. We were probably feeling down right stupid.
Take heart. Peter wrote, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 3: 18 ESV). He didn’t qualify it.
Everyone can grow. No, it doesn’t matter how you did in school.
The knowledge is from God. He gives it to us. It really isn’t a matter of us learning – it is Him giving.
We just have to accept and assimilate – and keep learning.
Thompson made an interesting comment. He wrote, “Knowledge is not the cause of sin, but ignorance; for virtue is begotten and nourished by knowledge.”
Oh yes. Sometimes we feel proud of our smarts. Worse yet, sometimes we feel like we are as smart as – if not smarter than – God.
To me, this says that faith must be equal to — if not more than — knowledge.
Yes, I know it is first on the progression. I also know progressions generally go up.
I think we have to cut this one a little slack. Faith has got to be right there when knowledge lets us down.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Thompson also said, “This knowledge, combined with firmness in faith, gives beauty and dignity to character.” Our faith becomes firm through growth, fostered by self-discipline. That, in turn, helps us grow virtuous.
How Do We Apply This?
Yes, God gives us this knowledge, but it isn’t through osmosis or photosynthesis. We have to seek Him.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
To read Has God Provided Everything We Need?, click the button below.
Yes, we have to hear His Word, read it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it. All through that, we need to be in prayer, asking God to provide the meaning.
We have to actively be working to acquire God’s knowledge. Keep at it until you understand the passage.
We have to be docile. We have to be teachable.
We have to go in thinking reading and studying God’s word is going to change us. So, don’t be surprised when it does!
We have to be obeying God’s laws and commands — just as Jesus did. That will help us grow.
Knowledge is important. As disciples, we have to make sure we keep growing closer and closer to God. We do that through solidifying our relationships with Him even more by continuing to seek Him.
Father. We want to grow in You. We want to gain faith and knowledge in You so that we can grow more like You in all ways. Help us to focus on You. Help us to make our time with You a priority. Amen.
What do you think?
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I love this! “Faith has got to be right there where knowledge lets us down.” Well said, and well thought out article!
Thank you! This has been an interesting series so far.
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