From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 2 of a series. Read part 1.

A growing number of "woke" pastors echo the words of megachurch leader Steven Furtick: "If you want to be fed God's Word or have the Bible explained to you then you are a fat lazy Christian." God has given much of the so-called church over to this reprobate state of mind. Authentic Christians, in contrast, will relentlessly pursue the unique knowledge to be found in God's Word alone.

As we have seen, in Colossians chapter one the Apostle Paul declares that the key to living a godly life in the midst of a pagan world - and even paganism in the visible church - is to "be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (verse 10) and to "walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God" (verse 11).

Such knowledge is, in the original Greek of the New Testament, not merely gnosis (the general knowledge that the world apart from Christ possesses) but epignosis - the superior knowledge that is accessible only to the Spirit-regenerated believer, who now has that same Spirit, the illuminating Author of the self-interpreting Scriptures, living within.

How is this knowledge superior to the world's? We now begin to explore that question.

First of all, the Christian's knowledge is unique. It is entirely different from the world's knowledge. It has an entirely different basis.

The Christian's knowledge is not the speculative knowledge of human philosophers or the mystical knowledge of false religions - even the false knowledge that is taught by counterfeit versions of Christianity.

As we have seen, the Greek word for knowledge in the original language of Colossians 1:9 and 10 is not gnosis, mere general knowledge, but epignosis. This word signifies superior knowledge - precise and correct knowledge; real knowledge; true knowledge; confirmed knowledge; tested knowledge; knowledge that conveys understanding, not merely the accumulation of facts without a true understanding of the significance of those facts.

The Self-Willed Ignorance of the Unbeliever

Romans 1:28 says that in contrast to this, unbelievers do not even like to retain God in their knowledge. The sense of the original Greek is that the unbelieving mind has tested God against the false standard of human wisdom, and the human mind has declared that it rejects God. Unregenerated man says, "The God of the Bible does not meet my intellectual standards." What the unregenerated really means is, "The God of the Bible makes demands of me to which I will not submit." And so, in that same verse in Romans, Paul says that God has given unbelievers over to a reprobate mind. In the original language, the sense is that God has given them over to the control of a mind that would not even meet the test of measuring up to the purpose for which a mind was meant.

Someone once said that a mind is a terrible thing to waste, and that is exactly what the unbeliever does by rejecting God. Our minds, our thinking, were meant to glorify God and to seek to know Him. But the sinful mind rejects God, and goes after anything and everything else that calls itself wisdom, rather than seeking after the true wisdom that is found in the knowledge of God and His Son Jesus Christ.

The Effects of Ignorance in Society and the Visible Church

We see this in society at large today. The epignosis of God and of Christ is rejected. The very idea of precise and correct knowledge is rejected. The knowledge of the basic fact that 2 + 2 = 4 is rooted in a knowledge of the facts that God created an orderly universe in which He has established laws and principles for its operation, and that Jesus Christ is the One who by His almighty power holds the universe together. "In Him all things consist" (Colossians 1:17); He is "upholding all things by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3).

Today's society rejects these facts more vehemently than ever. Children are now taught "woke" mathematics in school - that 2 + 2 does not necessarily equal 4, that "fuzzy" answers are acceptable, and that the very idea of 2 + 2 = 4 is to be rejected as a symbol of so-called white privilege, homophobia, and a long and growing list of other alleged evils that godless leftists continually devise as assaults upon the very idea of society and government based on Biblical precepts.

We also see it in the so-called church today. Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and a product of the Southern Baptist Convention's seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, summed up the attitude of growing numbers of post-Evangelical pastors when he said this to his congregation:

We don't teach from books of the Bible because it gets in the way of evangelism. We don't offer different kinds of Bible studies because it gets in the way of evangelism. We don't teach doctrine because it gets in the way of evangelism. If you want to be fed God's Word or have the Bible explained to you then you are a fat lazy Christian and you need to shut up and get to work or you need to leave this church because we only do evangelism. [1]

"Evangelism" in Furtick's vocabulary is nothing but raw numerical growth based on self-improvement preaching, and has nothing to do with regeneration by the Holy Spirit. He also tells his people, "If you know Jesus, I am sorry to break it to you, this church is not for you." Such a man, arrogantly promoting Biblical illiteracy, knows nothing of genuine evangelism or the genuine Jesus, and is disqualified for the ministry.

It is men like this who are deliberately cultivating the environment in which self-described Evangelicals reject the essentials of the Christian faith and the superior knowledge of Christ. Furtick's congregation of people who "love to have it so" numbers over 20,000. That number is multiplied by millions in similarly-darkened "Evangelical" churches across America and the rest of the world. Furtick, among others of similar mind, is a celebrity and hero in the post-Evangelical Hillsong Church movement based in Australia, which reaches into the United Kingdom, most nations of continental Europe, several nations in South America and Africa, and now also the United States. Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, and other agents of unbelief borne of Biblical illiteracy have their own worldwide followings in the tens and even hundreds of millions.

Authentic Christianity In Contrast

Authentic Christians must reject all such efforts to keep them in the inferior knowledge of the unbelieving world, and pursue the superior knowledge that is to be found in God's Word alone.

A church will only be a body of truly regenerated people who understand and practice sound doctrine, if it is a Scripture-driven church. A Scripture-driven church pursues a walk that is worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its pastor seeks to lead the people in "growing into" the vast knowledge of Christ so that they may be equipped to walk that walk. The Bible must be its exclusive source of doctrine - its sole authority, and infallible critic, in every area of life and ministry. Christ must be the undisputed Head of the church. He must be the only One whom men and churches follow. All illegitimate authorities must be rejected and removed.

True believers must pray for revival, beginning with the Holy Spirit's changing of their own hearts. They must come out of, and be separate from, local and denominational bodies and other ecclesiastical associations that are "Evangelical" in name only, but no longer truly committed to Christ and His Word.

References:

1. As quoted at https://c3churchwatch.com/tag/steve-furtick/ (as viewed on 10/31/2016) and a number of other sources.

Next: Knowledge of Jesus Christ: The Distinctive Mark of the Christian

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