Knowledge is of two bodies: truth and deception. Often truth is used to deceive by tempering it with wrong information. Satan tempers truth with lies. Satan knows truth and has the ability to spin it just right to deceive.
That raises the age-old philosophical question: What is truth? Socrates raised that question early on and it's still being debated. For instance, Is doing the physical things which humans sense real or images which the mind constructs? When we taste fruit for instance, is it the natural essence of what we eat or is it what our minds make it? For those who question truth, deception is used as a shield from that which is profound.
When God performed the miracles of Moses, most are inclined to think that God controlled the world to produce miracles. The truth is that God did perform miracles, but the deception is insisting that God used natural events for his miracle working. An omnipotent God created the universe. Why would he need to steer a wind into the water to create dry land when he could just will it, as he did when he created everything? That God divided the waters is truth; that he couldn't just will it is deception! Knowledge is taking into the mind that God can will anything and it will happen, plus considering that God is powerful enough that he can do that. Satan confounds the mind by submitting the thought: God must use nature for his miracles. We deny God credit for his Almightiness by robbing him of his powerful will, not to be confused with will-power, or the ability to "not do".
The example just presented is validated by God himself:
Romans 1:19 "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead..."Therein Paul explains knowledge: 1) "known" is what the mind does with it's input. It's how the mind processes information. 2) The source of knowledge is God because he manifests it to them. It's truth that God makes known and truth is knowledge. Falsehoods are never knowledge, but deception! 3) God uses the things seen as input to the mind. In this case the sense of sight processes the input. In other cases it's the other senses. When we "see" flowers fully for instance, it's by sight, smell, touch and sometimes even tasting and hearing. Yes, growth produces noise, mostly at a level that's unheard, but in the cornfield growth can be heard. We know that life exists because we can hear it as well as see it! 4) Because God created things tangible, we can accept the fact that invisible, or intangible things, are real as well. The things unseen cannot be sensed, but knowledge is taking the inputs from God and using knowledge to persuade the mind as to what is truth.
Truth is the action which causes the reaction of faith. In order for the action/reaction pair to be, is because of knowledge. In order to believe in God, we don't have to DO anything but process the truth of God in our mind and turn the information into knowledge.
Proverbs 15:14a "The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge..."What do we have to DO? Understand knowledge. Wisdom is accepting this truth! To understand one must have knowledge. What knowledge is most wise? That no one can save himself. That no one can save herself.
If we accept truth, God's word, as input to our mind, therein it is processed and stored. Any sane individual understands the knowledge: I can't save myself! But because everyone wants to live forever there must be a recourse. Wisdom is not accepting eternal death. Wisdom seeks a way to live forever. Knowledge is important. Stored there in the mind is knowledge. The mind is full of it! A rational mind desires a true remedy for eternal death. Truth provides the remedy. It's stored in the conscience, but because some can't see the forest for the trees, the knowledge must be found in the dusty files of the sub-conscious.
As youngsters, many learned about God. Those biblical stories were passively heard, seldom understood, but filed away. When we come to fear eternal damnation those dusty files are opened as we seek a way to have eternal life. The creation of the seen jogs repressed knowledge and submits them again to the mind for processing.
What one sees exists, it didn't just happen by chance, so therefore the truth is that everything was created. The mind uses this knowledge to make a conclusion: since God created everything he is Almighty and has the power to save me. When the knowledge is processed rationally, the person is enlightened. I know I can't save me, but perhaps God can! That is knowledge because it's truth! Submitting our little god to God to save, is trusting God, and one is born-again when Jesus' sacrifice is accepted.
Furthermore, the mind uses knowledge to think, and scripture tells me what it takes to be saved. It's accepting the self-sacrifice of God himself on the cross in my place! That happened. We KNOW it happened because righteous men witnessed it. They saw it happen! They saw a man crucified, rise from death and ascend to heaven, not to be seen again. The apostles witnessed the seen progressing to the unseen and when the unseen returned again as the Holy Ghost they saw the presence of the unseen again because of the knowledge that they had. Experience is an example of an excellent source of knowledge.
The apostles remembered that Jesus died and rose again. Because of that knowledge they accepted that he returned in spirit as the Holy Ghost. That he is with us still is historical knowledge. We know that because witnesses testified to it!
Knowledge is a good thing. It's the mind's processing of truth. False knowledge can contaminate the mind so that fantasy is accepted as truth and the knowledge base is filled with partial truths and lies. The faculty of the mind begins to confuse one for the other until false knowledge prevails. Satan implanted that capacity within each of us genetically. We were designed to operate with knowledge. However, eating of the fruit of the tree allowed deception to become inputs as well. We rationalize our actions by having contamination in our knowledge base. We were born with it there!
Proverbs 15:14b "...but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness."Fools feed on foolishness. Foolishness is what contaminates our knowledge base. Truth resides in our knowledge, but the fruit of the forbidden tree allows reason to confound knowledge. "You won't surely die" (if you eat of the fruit) contaminates the knowledge which resides in the mind. Adam thought "She didn't die and neither will I!" God's truth was "You will die." The serpent twisted the truth with "Well, Eve didn't die" and the knowledge base re-prioritized the information: "I will chance it and eat of the fruit!" With that said, faith in God was not forthcoming since Adam didn't trust what God said. False knowledge is mingling trickery with truth. We are deceived by verbal slight of tongue.
Discernment is realizing when knowledge is being contaminated by falsehoods. Those especially discerning easily recognize near truths or unrighteous but harmless thoughts.
"The truth shall set us free!" it is said, but before freedom comes when the knowledge of truth is considered. Knowledge can be accepted or rejected. Fools reject knowledge; the wise accept it!
If wealth is the root of all evil, then knowledge is the root of all that's right. God provides knowledge, but Satan contaminates it to suit his purposes. Satan trusts us to do wrong because he knows that we will. You see, even Satan has knowledge. Our propensity to sin is knowledge and even Satan knows that. He uses knowledge to defeat us and I guarantee that since he was once an angel he is well aware of truth and because he rebelled, he knows how to contaminate it. Why would you even think that you stand a chance with fools knowledge when he uses true knowledge in devious ways?
Now you know about knowledge and what is necessary to seek truth. The wise will do just that. Fools will accept their destiny without aforethought, hiding that knowledge in the back of the mind's vault in dusty files never to be retrieved again into the knowledge base.
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