The Words

I want to take a slight detour here, to look at epignosis [1922]. It is a stronger knowledge than gnosis [1108], for gnosis is the general knowledge, where epignosis is the full knowledge - a knowledge that powerfully impacts and influences the one who knows it.

Amongst verbal forms, there is ginosko [1097] - to come to knowledge, understand, to know in the sense of realizing. It often indicates a relationship between the one who knows and the thing known, generally with approval. Oida, or eido [1492], indicates a having seen or perceived and thereby knowing. By comparison, ginosko is the coming to knowledge, whereas oida is the fullness of knowledge (Jn 8:55 - you have not ginosko Him, but I oida Him. You haven't begun to know, but I know perfectly.) Oida, on the other hand does not have the implication of relation to the knowledge that ginosko has. Epiginosko [1921], the verbal form of epignosis, indicates a fullness of perception, an attentiveness in discernment. It is a more direct and special knowing than ginosko, indicating a greater degree or completeness of the knowing. Epiginosko tends to suggest a participation in the thing known. As a comparison point, Jn 8:32 indicates that you shall ginosko the truth - a general knowledge. By contrast, 1Ti 4:3 speaks of those that believe and epiginosko the truth - the knowledge having led to belief. It is a knowledge that fully unites the subject with the object.

Another way to view the three ways of knowing is that eido is to know intuitively - it is knowledge perceived immediately, and requiring no application of reason. Ginosko is to know experientially - it is knowledge gained by trial and practice. Epiginosko takes the experiential knowledge of ginosko a step further, the thing becoming so known as to cause profound change in the one who knows it.

This idea of epignosis or epiginosko has been showing up so frequently lately in various bits of my studies. It is the knowledge so fully participated in that it can change my life. As such, and as my prayers move toward that degree of knowing, I want to see those places it has been used. Vine notes 20 places that epignosis shows up in the New Testament:

Verses

Ro 1:28 Sinful man no longer acknowledged God, but chose to do the improper. I.e. - they chose not to allow knowledge to change them.
Ro 3:20 Here, we see that the Law served to bring man to such a knowledge of sin as ought to show them their need for God's own redemption.
Ro 10:2 The Jews - in rejecting Messiah - showed that they didn't understand God's righteousness to the point that it changed them.
Php 1:9 In his prayer, Paul notes that real, life changing, knowledge will abound in love and discernment.
Eph 1:17 Such knowledge of God can only come by the revelation and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
Eph 4:13 That all might have such a knowledge of Christ is the unifying purpose of faith, and the Church's role in redemption is to provide a place where such knowledge can be found.
Col 1:9 Again, by the work of the Holy Spirit, we may attain to such a knowledge of God's will as will cause us to change our lives.
Col 1:10 Our growth in this knowing will necessarily be accompanied by works befitting a child of God, a life pleasing to Him in all its ways.
Col 2:2 Our understanding begins in the place of unifying love (the safety net), giving us to know that our true wealth comes from the assurance of true, life-changing, knowledge of the mystery of Christ.
Col 3:10 It is to this true and life-changing knowledge that we are being transformed and renewed, so that we might resemble our Creator.
Phm 6 Our fellowship is only effective when it is founded on true knowledge of all the good gifts of Christ which are in us for His sake!
1Ti 2:4 God's desire is that all men should know His truth in such a way as changes them.
Ti 1:1 Paul is an apostle of that true knowledge which will bring one into line with godly character.
Heb 10:26 If we have attained to this true knowledge of Christ's work, and yet continue on in willful sin, there remains no further hope for us.
2Pe 1:2 True knowledge of God multiplies our grace and peace.
2Pe 1:3 For in that knowledge, He has granted us to know all that pertains to godliness and life.
2Pe 1:8 As we allow faith to provide moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (each proceeding from the prior), and as they increase, we are made useful and fruitful in true knowledge of Christ. [For they are evidence of that life-changing knowledge.]
2Pe 2:20 This true knowledge of Christ's salvation frees us from the world's defilements. If we then return to our ensnared state, we are worse off than at the start [for as Hebrews points out, no hope then remains for us.]

Summary

Looking at these verses, we see the cause, the object, and the effect of that life-changing knowledge. From Eph 1:17, Col 1:9, and Col 3:10, we learn that we can attain to that knowledge only by the work of God's Holy Spirit within us. From Ro 3:20, and Ro 10:2, we learn that there are only two essentials to know in this degree: that we are utterly sinful - which knowledge is the purpose of the Law, and that faith in Christ is our salvation. Joining this with 2Pe 1:3, and Ti 1:1, we come to realize that this is the sum of all we need to know to come to godliness and life. Ro 1:28 (and Ro 3:20) show by the negative, what the impact of that knowing is: for to refuse that knowing is to reject God, and having rejected Him, to reject life. This life-changing knowledge begins in the place of unifying love (Col 2:2), which place ought to be provided by the Church (Eph 4:13). That knowledge will lead to an abundance of love (Php 1:9), grace, and peace (2Pe 1:2). It will provide the foundation for discernment (Php 1:9), the understanding of our true wealth, and the assurance of our knowledge of the mystery of Christ (Col 2:2). It will cause us to line up with godly character (Ti 1:1), producing in us works befitting of a child of God (Col 1:10), being moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love - and making us useful in our knowledge (2Pe 2:20). It is the only sound basis for fellowship (Phm 6). It will free us from the world's defilements (2Pe 1:8), but having been found must be carefully held to, for to slip back would leave us with no further hope (Heb 10:26). It is God's desire that all men might come to such life-changing knowledge (1Ti 2:4), for which reason we ought to pray for those who oppose that truth (2Ti 2:25), even though some will never come to that knowledge in spite of a lifetime of learning (2Ti 3:7). It's interesting to note that such an understanding of God begins in a place of unifying love, a place of sound fellowship where we are surrounded by those who both know and express God's love, and that it brings us by steps to the point of having that love ourselves - making us a part of that unifying safety net of love whereby others may come to know!