ACADEMIC
KNOWLEDGE VS. THE TRUTH – Part 2
2 Pet 1:2 Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you through the knowledge of Elohim, and of Yahushua our Master,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called
us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises:
that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;
and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to
patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness
charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Master Yahushua
Messiah.
“It is entirely possible, even after years of dedicated study of
the Scriptures that one can arrive at a relatively accurate understanding of doctrines
while still not at all possessing the Truth.
Yahushua, not doctrine, is the Truth.”
Academic knowledge of the Scriptures
is of little benefit to the believer if they are content with information as an
end in itself. Within religious circles,
people rise to positions of respect and esteem, even honor, if they possess a
vast knowledge of the Scriptures. It is
intimidating to the masses of Christians who spend very little time at all in
the Scriptures; and such learned people are looked upon as worthy teachers and
leaders. The problem with amassing knowledge
is that it produces a reward in the natural world, a fleshly reward of
exaltation, which generally produces pride.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 8:1, that “knowledge puffeth up.”
Throughout the book of Proverbs we see
repeatedly instruction to “get wisdom,”
and “with thy getting, get understanding.” Solomon does not instill the notion that we
must accrue knowledge. Knowledge, the possessing
of information, does not profit in the Kingdom of Heaven as an asset by itself. Without wisdom and understanding, knowledge
is like a loaded pistol in the hands of a child. It is more dangerous than
good.
Last week we discussed the necessity
of the “Aha!” moment when information is converted into revelation. This transition is absolutely critical;
because it takes knowledge which is obtained in the natural world and converts
it into wisdom in the spiritual world.
Yahushua concluded his famous “sermon on the mount” (Matthew 7:24-29) with
a description of two people: one who built his house on a rock which could
withstand the storms of life; and one who built his house on the sand, which
was totally destroyed by the storms of life.
Do you know the only thing that made the difference between these two
men? It was the foundation they chose
for their house. What was the rock and what was the sand?
Matthew 7: 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock:
Matthew 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand:
Knowing the Scriptures is not the same
as doing them.
James 1: 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like
unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and
continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Let me illustrate the difference
between knowing and doing the Scriptures.
I would dare say that ALL of the men and women who are teachers or
preachers in contemporary Christianity; as well as a large percentage of the
general masses of believers in the world today are familiar with the following
verses of Scripture…and probably many could quote them.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of Elohim in
Messiah Yahushua concerning you.
19 Quench not the Spirit.
20 Despise not prophesyings.
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
How many people do you know that
always rejoice? Today, most have no concept of rejoicing unless it comes from an unexpected blessing, a
worldly promotion, a victory over one’s enemy, etc. How many go throughout their day rejoicing simply
because of their relationship with IAUE or Yahushua?
Do we pray without ceasing? Many believers avoid prayer like
the plague. For the most part, it is regarded as just a waste of
their time.
How about giving IAUE thanks in every
circumstance of life, throughout every day?
What about not just avoiding evil; but avoiding the very appearance of
evil? Most
believers aren’t truly bothered with avoiding evil; much less the appearance
of it.
I could use many other passages of
Scripture that provide clear instruction for us to do this or that; and we
would be able to understand that we KNOW these passages of Scripture; but we
are not DOING them? So, according to
Yahushua’s teaching in the sermon on the mount, does that not make us people
who are building our houses upon the sand?
What makes the difference between
these two? How can we move from building on sand to building on the rock? It is obvious that it is DOING the word and
not hearing it only; but it is the “Aha!” moment that ultimately makes the
difference. Let’s look more closely at
our opening verses, today.
2 Pet 1:2 Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you through the
knowledge of Elohim, and of Yahushua our Master,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Master Yahushua Messiah.
The apostle Peter makes it abundantly
clear that all of our advancement in grace and peace and in the virtues of
righteous living are through the knowledge of our Father and our Master
Yahushua. We must pursue our study of
the Scripture in such a way as to seek to know IAUE and Yahushua more
perfectly; not just to know the letter, the academic understanding of the words
we are reading. Paul tells us that the
letter kills. It is the spirit that gives life (1 Corinthians 3:6).
The passage we just read from James
describes it like this:
James 1:25 But whoso looketh into
the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his
deed.
We look into the Scriptures, the
perfect law of liberty, with the purpose of seeing our Master reflected back to
us. We hear his commands and we do
them.
How do we facilitate “Aha!” moments of
revelation? First, we must be committed
to DOING what we read in the Scriptures.
If we are instructed to DO something, we cannot content ourselves with
just KNOWING it says we should do it. Without
that purpose of heart to fully obey the Master, we cannot expect Him to show
Himself to us. Secondly, we must
understand that knowing doctrine is not an end unto itself. It is a pathway to knowing our Heavenly
Father and knowing our Master Yahushua.
They sent us the Holy Spirit for this very purpose.
To the Pharisees, the ultra-religious
Jews of the day, who paraded around their superior knowledge of the Scriptures,
Yahushua said:
John 5:39 Search the scriptures;
for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of
me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
If knowledge of the information
contained within the Scriptures was enough, the Pharisees would have recognized
Yahushua was the Messiah the Jews had been awaiting for centuries. The very
writings whose purpose was to REVEAL Yahushua had shown them nothing of the Messiah.
They believed that knowledge of the Scriptures was an end in itself. Without revelation, without seeing the
Scriptures revealing Messiah, it profited them no more than if they were proficient
in the writings of any worldly author.
We must begin to DO what we read in
the Scriptures when they give us something to do. We cannot be satisfied with just knowing what
they tell us to do. That will help begin
the process of living in “Aha!” moments of revelation. There are other obstacles, however, to receiving
Truth. We will take them up next time.
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