Knowledge of the Truth

[Once4all]

The phrase, "the knowledge of the truth," is used five times in the New Testament epistles. What is that truth that we should know?

When each instance is viewed in context, there is one subject mentioned each time in each instance, tying them all together and showing us what that truth is, of which we should know.

1 Timothy 2:1-8 NASB
(1) First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
(2) for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
(3) This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
(4) who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(5) For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
(6) who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
(7) For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
(8) Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 NASB
(24) The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
(25) with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
(26) and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

Here, in 2 Timothy 3, the knowledge of the truth is revealed by describing what it is NOT:

2 Timothy 3:2-7 NASB
(2) For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
(3) unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
(4) treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
(5) holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
(6) For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
(7) always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Titus 1:1-2 NASB
(1) Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
(2) in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,

Hebrews 10:22-27 NASB
(22) let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
(23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
(24) and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
(25) not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
(26) For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
(27) but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.

In Romans 2, Paul writes of the Jews and the Law, and states that the Law is the embodiment of knowledge and the truth. Then he mentions a few things specifically from the 10 commandments (literally, ten words). The Law embodied knowledge and truth, just as Jesus as the Word embodies knowledge and truth.

Romans 2:17-29 NASB
(17) But if you bear the name "Jew" and rely upon the Law and boast in God,
(18) and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,
(19) and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
(20) a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,
(21) you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?
(22) You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
(23) You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?
(24) For "THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU," just as it is written.
(25) For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
(26) So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
(27) And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?
(28) For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
(29) But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

The truth is that love, obedience, a pure heart... those things matter to God.

The Law, as outlined in the 10 Commandments, provided in written form what God desires of His people. Jesus also provided for us what God desires in His people, only he showed us by example, in spirit. Words on paper (stone) vs. seeing it in action (Jesus). Both are the Word of God.

[Morris]

Great post, Bev!

Here is another example of what you were saying. Though not using that specific phrase, it uses the same original word.

Colossians 1:9-12,
"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."

Knowledge, as you've pointed out, is highly correlated with character.

[Once4all]

Oct 5, 2011 8:55:47 GMT -5 Morris said:

Great post, Bev!

Here is another example of what you were saying. Though not using that specific phrase, it uses the same original word.

Colossians 1:9-12,
"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."

Knowledge, as you've pointed out, is highly correlated with character.

As soon as I read through your post, Sheldon, this verse popped into my head:

1 Corinthians 15:34 NASB
(34) Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

And then I came across this in Isaiah:

Isaiah 45:20-22 NASB
(20) "Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save.
(21) "Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.
(22) "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.

I highlighted that part in verse 21 because it brings me full circle back to the verse that sparked my study of the phrase in the first place:

1 Timothy 2:3-6 NASB
(3) This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
(4) who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(5) For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
(6) who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

[Morris]

Indeed. The word that gets translated "Knowledge" has a little more to it then what we think of with that English word. We might view knowledge as saying whether or not we are aware of something.

For example, you're playing a game and attempt to make a move that is not permitted within the rules and another player says, "You can't do that. It's against the rules". You might then respond with, "Oh, sorry. I didn't know that". That is usually how we think of the word "knowledge"; being aware of certain facts.

The Greek word that is used, however, also has the idea of "acknowledge", and is even translated as such in some places. So we are going beyond even simple knowing to the point where the knowledge changes our behaviour; where we acknowledge what we know.

Some people just don't know. While others (perhaps like some which Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 15:34) know, but do not acknowledge what they know in their behavior. I believe that is why Paul wrote "I speak this to your shame"; we might phrase it as, "you know better than that, so why are you sinning"?