Part 20 of 25 - Two Kinds of Knowledge

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called A New Way Of Living.

Another blessing of enduring suffering is that it brings us to genuine knowledge of and greater intimacy with the Lord. I want to address two important kinds of knowledge that operate in every believer’s life whether they recognize it or not.

The verse below indicates the first primary kind of “knowledge” that operates within the believer’s life. This knowledge is dependent upon the literal presence of “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” who indwells every believer’s spirit from the moment of their rebirth. This first kind and level of knowledge is automatic and spontaneous, it’s always there as the sense of inner peace or the inner sense of Spirit that indicates something is wrong or we are about to go wrong.

The first kind of knowledge is seen here below.

1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knoweth (eido, innately by an intuitive sense) the things of a man, save (except) the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth (eido) no man, but the Spirit of God.

We see the word “knoweth,” transliterated from the Greek word “eido,” meaning an innate inborn kind of knowledge that operates spontaneously by the indwelling “Spirit of Christ” as God. Every believer has the spontaneous operation of “the Spirit of God” who indwells the “spirit of man” from the moment they are reborn.

“Eido” speaks of a “sense knowing” that every believer has by the “anointing” or deposit of “the Spirit of Christ.” (Rom 8:9-10). It is a “sense knowledge” that was added to our five physical senses. We sense the peace of God or that peace is disturbed.

It is a sense we have by the indwelling “Spirit of Christ” that you all know [the Truth] or you know all things.” (1John 2:20 below). John speaks of this kind of innate knowledge when he here writes to the diaspora (scattered) of Israel .

1 John 2:20 But YOU HAVE BEEN ANOINTED BY [you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from] THE HOLY ONE (CHRIST), and YOU ALL KNOW [THE TRUTH] OR YOU KNOW ALL THINGS.

Rom 8:16 is an example of such innate knowledge for the believer. We have the innate sense that we are God’s child and He is our Father, made known to us by the innermost witness of Christ’s Spirit within our spirit. Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself (Himself) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

1 Corinthians 2:12 Now WE HAVE RECEIVED, not the spirit of the world, but THE SPIRIT which is of God; (so) THAT WE MIGHT KNOW (ginosko, come to know by experience) the things that are freely given to us of God.

In 1Cor 12:12, above, we see the second kind of knowledge. Paul says “we have receivedthe spirit which is of God (so) that we might (come to) know.” The word “know” here is the Greek word “ginosko,” which is a kind of knowledge that we come to or arrive at though experience.

Even while having “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2a) within us as our innate sense knowledge, we still begin our Christian life with a “knowledge gap.” This gap exists because, though we have that innate knowledge by Christ’s Spirit of life as the anointing within us, we’ve not yet come to know” who we are by Christ in us as the new us. We’ve never yet realized all that Christ is to us by His Spirit dispensed into our spirit…as our new all-sufficient life.

This second kind of knowledge is gained from the Spirit through the experience of our daily walk as our heart is… made to turn to the Lord. This knowledge comes to us by the indwelling Spirit as our teacher, who speaks within us as we endure the situations of life.

Every believer has received the “Anointing” of “HIM.” This “Anointing” is known to us by the sense that is of “the Spirit of CHRIST…IN YOU”; teaching us.

1 John 2:27 But as for you, THE ANOINTING (THE UNCTION) which you RECEIVED FROM HIM abides [permanently] IN YOU; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as HIS ANOINTING TEACHES YOU concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must ABIDE IN (LIVE IN, NEVER DEPART FROM) HIM [being rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do].

This second kind of knowledge is neither the innate sense knowledge, nor a mere mental ascent to a truth of Scripture as may be gained by memorization or Bible study and then recorded in the mind. Learned knowledge gained by mental effort would be the Greek word “gnosis,” mere head knowledge.

This second kind of knowledge I speak of here arises out of our personal experience, so we call this “experiential knowing.” This is the kind of knowledge that we gain by an intimate moment with the Lord. It comes out of the intimacy of that moment when we come to know or perceive by His indwelling Spirit.

We know that when the Bible says “Adam knew Eve” (Gen 4:1) it obviously was an intimate moment, which was fruitful and actually produced children. The word “knew” here is the Hebrew “yada,” as the Hebrew equivalent of the New Testament Greek “ginosko,” which speaks of “coming to see or perceive” as an  “experiential knowing.” When the word “know” is transliterated from the Greek “ginosko,” it is speaking of this kind of intimate personal experiential knowing. For the believer, this then speaks of a personal revelation of Christ or of our relationship and walk with Him.

We gain this kind of knowledge by revelation from “the Spirit of God” within us. Quite often this is a perception or even as an inner voice that comes to us from Him in our spirit in conjunction with the experience of recognized failure and/or need. It often comes to us on the heels of suffering a situation we cannot fix or control. What we experience for ourselves, personally, is what is most real to us, and this is forever life-changing.

1Cor 2:12 says we have “received… the spirit of God (so) that we might know (ginosko, we might come to know by experience) the things that are freely given to us of God.”

Example: We can only come to know His “grace” that is “freely given to us” by an experience where God brought it to be revealed in us. We always were saved by grace through faith…apart from works, but now…we know it by experiential revelation that is only of “the spirit of God.” This new revelation likely came to light through the instrumentality of us having labored and suffered under “the law” of religion for many years before we came to really see “the grace of God” as it really is. This is that second knowledge, revelation knowledge that we come to by the experience of our living and suffering the experiences of life.

Tribulation and trials are the tools our Father uses in our lives for our good. We often gain revelation knowledge by the experience of life’s situations. Would you like to become more patient? Then consider this verse. Romans 5:3-4 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: KNOWING THAT TRIBULATION WORKETH PATIENCE 4 And patience, EXPERIENCE; and experience, hope: 

The other side of our suffering brings the fruit of His life – a knowledge that permits us to endure, knowing that we will thereby gain the attributes of Christ in our soul. We cannot produce such knowledge, or patience, or experience in and of our self. This is the work of God in our lives, as He orchestrates all the happenings of life…for our eternal good (Rom 8:28). God develops the “fruit of the Spirit” of Christ’s life in us … by allowing us to experience trials, circumstances and situations in which we are tempted to express the exact opposite quality as we would express if we were to live by the indwelling “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”