GENERAL REVELATION AND SPECIAL REVELATION | GNOSIS AND EPIGNOSIS

In the past couple of days I have been in discussion with a few friends over a very common disputed subject. It was more of an argument rather than a discussion I must admit. One thing was constant, none of my co-arguers could establish a proper scriptural quote without quoting wrong and out of context, and yet vehemently insisted they were right. Every item I put up in defence were direct quote of scriptures. We therefore argued, and I was clearly wasting my own time. But I kept at it because the online community is a repository and archive of valuable information for future generations, this was my motivation for the continued argument on my part because I was thinking of the future breeds who will need the information. If you are interested on reading that story, click HERE.

One thing was very clear though, it was the contention between gnosis and epignosis.
GNOSIS means knowledge of spiritual matters; mystical knowledge.
EPIGNOSIS means precise and correct knowledge.

Apparently, my contenders possessed general revelation and knowledge. This is called gnosis. And by the way, gnosis is a Greek word. We find it in the Bible. General revelation is the knowledge of God, as well as the knowledge of right and wrong, that can be obtained through nature.  This general revelation of God’s existence and basic morality is known by everyone.  First of all, the apostle Paul tells us that the people can obtain knowledge of God in creation.



Knowledge of God,  Rom. 1:18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Paul goes on to tell us that there is a natural order of morality written on the hearts of all people.

Knowledge of Morality,  Rom. 2:14-15, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.”

This morality, however, is obscured by people's natural sinfulness and the cultures in which they are raised.  So, though the basics of proper morality are written on the hearts of everyone, people's different situations, culture, upbringing, etc., obscure proper moral understanding.

The Bible tells us that non-Christians have sufficient knowledge of God as well as knowledge of right and wrong, but that they are suppressing the truth of this knowledge in their own unrighteousness.  Therefore, all people are without excuse before God since the Scriptures tell us that the knowledge g special of God and the knowledge of sufficient moral responsibility can be seen in creation as well as known in the heart.

Epignosis on the other hand being special revelation, and more accurately precise and correct knowledge is higher and requires intimate participation with the truth. General revelation does not provide sufficient information for the gospel message.  The gospel, which is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is found in the Bible.  So, where general revelation deals with the existence of God and generic morality, special revelation, the Bible, and the person of Christ, give specifics regarding sin, salvation, heaven, hell, the nature of God, the Trinity, the incarnation, death, the Fall, redemption, etc.

The sweetest thing is that this special revelation or epignosis is the highest kind of knowledge. Let me break it down like this:

When you receive Christ into your life and the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in you, you're brought into a new kind of knowledge, which has nothing to do with your intellect. The revelation knowledge of God's Word unveiled to you. Things the human mind can't easily perceive, for instance, the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus are unveiled to your spirit. The Greek word for this kind of knowledge is "ginosko"; it's revelation knowledge. It is the same way that you can comprehend that Jesus was a sinner at one point in his life, and that much later at another point he even became sin itself. This same advanced knowledge also lets you comprehend that masturbation is not a sin, because epignosis let's you know precisely, correctly and accurately what SIN is in God's vocabulary. This is clearly shown when you read this lines of scripture:

"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence." 1 Corinthians 1:25-29 (KJV).

After that, you're brought into awareness, a different kind of knowledge that shows you all the wonderful blessings God has deposited in your life. It's like when you enter a dark room and the lights are turned on, you become aware of all the things in the room. This is another form of revelation which in Greek is called "aido" knowledge. It means knowledge with awareness.

It is not enough, however, to be merely aware of all the wonderful blessings God has bestowed on you. You have to start enjoying or living in those blessings! You have to participate  in your awareness. This is where another kind of knowledge, which in Greek is called "epignosis" comes into play. "Epignosis" is knowledge with participation; it's revelation knowledge that comes to you full through your participation in that knowledge. Through "epignosis" you understand how to apply the knowledge you have received, and the power behind that revelation. It's the highest kind of revelation knowledge, and it comes to you through meditation.

Functioning with "epignosis" will bring you to the realm where you operate in the fullness of God, and that's the will of God for you: "...that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). No wonder the Apostle Paul prayed in Colossians 1:9 for God's children to be initiated into this kind of knowledge: "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge  (epignosis) of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;"

When you have this kind of  experience with God, earthly things will fade. You will begin to see clearly the heart of God. You will understand why God will keep quiet about such a presumably big deal issue such as masturbation, when he could have specifically dealt with it like he dealt with fornication and adultery expressly, and forbidding it. But the great God of glory chose to ignore it because it is not an issue enough. At this level of relationship with God, you live in glory, you live in righteousness and because they that look at the sun do not see the shadows, you will be king and priest in God's business, conquering the world and depopulating hell.