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Life now being by faith of
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Promises being Yea and Amen in
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THE SON OF GOD.
Resurrection declaring with power
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Unity of the faith being the knowledge of
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and these may well be taken as heads, dividing the revelation concerning Him into their
various departments.
The knowledge of the Son of God is really "full knowledge" (epignosis). Delitzsch
says (Hebraerbr. 493, Cremer), "We may speak of a false gnosis, but not of a false
epignosis, for epignosis seems to suggest that the knowledge gained acts powerfully upon
the person". In Col. 3: 10 it appears that this epignosis is not so much the gradual and
mental attainment; it is associated with "renewal", and is according to the "image" of he
Creator. In Col. 2: 2 the epignosis of the mystery of God is approached by close
fellowship in love and in all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, and here
the mystery of God is Christ, the Vatican MS reading being "the secret of God, Christ, in
Whom are hid". The full knowledge of the will of God is necessary if we would walk
worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in all things (Col. 1: 9, 10).
Finally, this full knowledge must be sought by prayer. Eph. 1: 17 shows that it is the
outcome of the gift of the spirit of wisdom and revelation. It is this full knowledge of the
Son of God that constitutes the unity of the faith. While the faith rests upon historic fact,
it will be realized that in this word we have something deeper than acquaintance with
prophecy of fulfillment. The Chief Priests and Scribes, who so readily referred Herod to
the prophet's utterance that the Messiah should be born in Bethlehem of Judaea, had
gnosis, but they had not epignosis, for if they had they would have anticipated the wise
men with their gifts and their homage. Old Simeon and Anna show the heart-knowledge
which seems to be contained in epignosis. Looking at the passage once more we observe
that it suggests a threefold goal:--
"Until we all should arrive--
Unto (eis) the unity of the faith, even the full knowledge of the Son of God.
Unto (eis) a perfect man.
Unto (eis) the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ" (Eph. 4: 13).
Consequent upon that epignosis of the Son of God is the perfect man. Man, here, is
not the usual anthropos, but aner. Five times in chapter 5: this word is translated
"husband". This is a man, full grown, in his prime, fit and complete. The apostle knew
that every believer will be presented "holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable" in the
sight of God through the death of Christ, yet he longs for another "presentation", he longs
to be able to "present" every man "perfect" in Christ (Col. 1: 22, 28). What can be more
perfect than the position of Col. 1: 22? Nothing. The highest conception of the idea
"perfect" is not that of the Greek telieios. This word, derived from telos, the end or goal,
suggests the idea of having gone on to the end, having laid hold of that for which one has
been laid hold upon, as Phil. 3: 12 puts it.
The teleios is often contrasted with the child, as in Heb. 5: 12-14 & I Cor. 13: 10, 11,
where the knowledge is elementary, the sight weak, the discernment small, the food milk.