Putting the Epi in Gnosis: Knowing Jesus Deeply

Jul 12, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Chewing on Scripture Like Daily Bread

The Christian life thrives when Scripture becomes more than information—it must be digested like nourishment. Just as physical food transforms into energy, meditating on God’s Word reshapes priorities, decisions, and desires. Joshua 1:8 emphasizes “chewing” on Scripture day and night, a practice that roots believers in God’s character. This isn’t about academic study but relational saturation. When trials come, those steeped in Scripture instinctively turn to Christ’s sufficiency. Regular immersion in the Bible trains the heart to discern God’s voice amid chaos. [01:15]

“This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.” (Joshua 1:8, CSB)

Reflection: What practical step could you take this week to “chew” on Scripture more intentionally? How might hiding God’s Word in your heart reshape a current struggle?

Day 2: From Knowing About to Knowing Deeply

True knowledge of God isn’t memorizing facts but encountering His presence. The Greek word epignosis describes transformative knowledge—like a spouse who finishes sentences after decades of shared life. Paul prays for believers to move beyond surface-level faith into intimate familiarity with Christ. This depth comes through prayer, obedience, and weathering life’s storms alongside Him. As Calvin said, “Complete happiness is knowing God”—not merely knowing of Him. [49:51]

“And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9–11, CSB)

Reflection: Where has your faith felt more like academic knowledge than relational trust? How could you intentionally seek Christ’s presence in a current area of confusion?

Day 3: Fruit Born from Rootedness in Christ

A tree’s health is measured by its fruit, not its height. Paul ties righteousness to abiding in Christ—the natural overflow of deep roots in Him. Just as a marriage deepens over decades, consistent communion with God produces patience, kindness, and discernment. These fruits aren’t self-generated but evidence of the Spirit’s work. When life feels barren, the solution isn’t striving but returning to the Vine. [01:12]

“Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:11, CSB)

Reflection: What “fruit” in your life most clearly reflects Christ’s influence? Where do you sense God inviting you to rely less on effort and more on abiding?

Day 4: When Knowledge Becomes Obedience

Biblical knowledge always leads to action. Paul interweaves knowing God with obeying Him—the disciples who left nets to follow Jesus embodied this. Obedience isn’t grudging duty but the joy of aligning with a trusted Father’s heart. Like a child mimicking a parent’s mannerisms, believers gradually reflect Christ’s character through habitual surrender. Every act of trust, however small, rewires the soul toward holiness. [01:03]

“For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:9–10, CSB)

Reflection: What current obedience feels difficult? How might focusing on Christ’s faithfulness—not your own strength—make that step lighter?

Day 5: A Love That Grows in Discernment

Mature love sees beyond surface needs. Paul ties growing love to sharpened discernment—the ability to choose what best honors God, not just what’s good. Like a parent discerning a child’s unspoken fears, this discernment comes from walking closely with the Spirit. It protects against shallow faith that chases trends over truth. Love grounded in Christ’s character stays steady when emotions fade. [01:10]

“And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you may approve the things that are superior.” (Philippians 1:9–10, CSB)

Reflection: When has discernment saved you from a “good” choice that wasn’t God’s best? How could loving others well require saying “no” to something permissible?

Sermon Summary

Philippians sets the church at Philippi in a mixed and very real place. Acts 16 gives Lydia, a woman of means, the troubled servant girl, and the Philippian jailer, the blue collar man who asked, “What must I do to be saved?” That church spans poverty, workaday life, and people of means, and that makes Philippi look a whole lot like what church ought to look like.

Paul writes from prison to people he loves, and his heart pops onto his sleeve. Philippians carries joy all through it, but Paul’s deeper North Star is Christ. Philippians 1 says Christ is his life. Philippians 2 says Christ is his mind. Philippians 3 says Christ is his goal. Philippians 4 says Christ is his strength. The whole thing keeps pressing the same point: nothing else matters but Jesus.

Paul calls the Philippians to keep growing, to keep knowing God better, because the challenges of the world cloud discretion fast. The world is full of experts, religious-looking voices, and alphabet letters after names, but Scripture is the authority. Paul wants that church close to the God of this book, because knowing God better changes how people relate to one another. Even Euodia and Syntyche need agreement in the Lord, not personal triumphs.

Philippians 1:9-11 turns on the word knowledge. Paul prays that love will keep growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that believers may approve superior things, stand pure and blameless in the day of Christ, and be filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ. That knowledge is not bare facts. The word is epigenosis, gnosis on steroids, knowledge that is thorough, complete, experiential, and transformative.

Paul’s word reaches beyond classroom information into relationship. The Old Testament idea of yada helps show it: not just “I know about it,” but “I know by relationship.” Marriage gives the picture. A couple grows into love, learns the other’s ways, and can almost finish sentences. Paul wants that kind of deep, lived acquaintance with God.

Epigenosis becomes obedience. Colossians says knowledge bears fruit. Ephesians says Christians still need to know God more fully. Romans 12 says transformation is the point. The Christian life is not measured by how much information one possesses, but by how deeply one knows God. Knowledge of the Holy One grows sacrificial love, makes superior choices in a confused world, and produces righteousness that brings glory and praise to God.

Key Takeaways

1. Nothing else matters but Jesus Christ stands as life, mind, goal, and strength, not as one priority among many. The Christian life gets distorted when family, work, comfort, or even personal religious success becomes the North Star. Paul’s vision strips life down to the one center that can hold everything else in its proper place. [40:46]
2. Knowledge must become relationship Epigenosis is not the kind of knowledge that only fills a notebook or wins an argument. It is knowledge grasped, embraced, experienced, and lived before God. The believer does not merely learn that God is holy, merciful, and good, but grows to recognize His ways the way a long marriage learns the voice, habits, and heart of the beloved. [57:26]
3. Discernment chooses the superior Paul does not pray merely for decent choices or respectable behavior. Knowledge and discernment train the heart to approve what is superior, the best thing, the God-shaped thing, in a confused and confusing world. The mature believer learns to ask not only, “Is this allowed?” but “Does this reflect the Holy One?” [70:52]
4. Obedience proves real knowing Knowledge becomes obedience because true acquaintance with God moves the feet, not just the mind. Abram did not merely agree with God and leave the tent parked where it was, but packed up and went where God would show him. Faith that knows God deeply becomes action that trusts Him concretely. [62:18]
5. Scripture feeds holy familiarity Epigenosis grows as the soul spends time in the book God has given, not in spiritual shortcuts or private inventions. Joshua’s command to meditate means to chew, to keep working over God’s holiness, majesty, glory, and graciousness until they shape the whole life. Parents especially carry the burden to wear God openly before their children, so the next generation can say, “Look what God’s done.” [72:37]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[32:59] - Glad to Be Back
[33:48] - Gratitude for Partnership
[35:19] - Context for Philippians
[35:53] - The Philippian Church Family
[37:11] - Joy From Prison
[39:40] - Christ Is Everything
[41:06] - Why Paul Writes
[45:12] - Mark the Word Knowledge
[49:35] - Putting Epi in Gnosis
[52:26] - Knowledge That Transforms
[57:26] - Knowledge as Relationship
[62:18] - Knowledge Becomes Obedience
[70:21] - Love, Choices, and Righteous Fruit
[72:37] - Growing Through the Word

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Philippians 1:9-11 (ESV)
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Observation Questions

What two qualities does Paul pray will grow in the Philippians’ love, and what result does he connect to this growth (v. 9-10)?
The sermon compared “knowledge” (epignosis) to a marriage relationship. What example was given to illustrate this kind of deep, experiential knowing? [59:18]
According to the passage, what is the ultimate purpose of being “filled with the fruit of righteousness” (v. 11)?

Interpretation Questions

Why does Paul link love with “knowledge and discernment” instead of treating them as separate ideas? How might growing in one affect the others?
The sermon emphasized that epignosis leads to obedience, not just information. How does Abram’s response to God’s call (Genesis 12:1-4) illustrate this connection? [03:27]
What does it mean to “approve what is excellent” (v. 10) in a world full of competing priorities? How does discernment help believers identify “superior” choices? [01:10:52]

Application Questions

The passage prioritizes knowing Christ above all else. What practical step could you take this week to reorient a distraction (work, comfort, etc.) around Him as your “North Star”? [40:46]
Reflect on a time when you acted on biblical truth (not just knew it). How did that obedience deepen your relationship with God? What area of your life currently needs that kind of active trust?
The sermon compared knowing God to a lifelong marriage. What habit could you start or strengthen to “chew” on Scripture daily, like meditating on God’s holiness or grace? [01:15:28]
When making decisions, do you tend to ask, “Is this allowed?” or “Does this reflect the Holy One?” How might shifting to the second question change your next major choice? [01:10:52]
Parents were challenged to “wear God openly” before their kids. What specific action could model reliance on Christ in a way your family or community might notice this week? [01:13:56]

Sermon Clips

82s

#FaithInAction

“Because once you understand who God is and then you want to obey him, It's the it's the action part of faith. You know, God told Abram, you know, go here. And Abram said, I could could have said, I believe you, and then parked his tent right there. But he did it, did he? He packed his tent and he said, I'm gonna go to the place that you will show me and when we get there, let me know. Knowledge becomes obedience. Colossians chapter one verse 10 says, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the epigenosis of God. It's got to do with fruit bearing, the knowledge that produces fruit. This is not some kind of academic theology. This is transformative theology. The more believers know God, the more they resemble him. Don't you wanna look like Jesus to your world?”

49s

#GraceTransforms

“We are dead in our trespasses, in our sins. We are bound for a Christless eternity in hell and God offers us redemption. And how do we do that? We change. We change through the power of his grace, I might add, not because of anything we can do of ourselves. So epigenosis is not just knowing facts. It is the knowledge that has been grasped and embraced and personally experienced. In other words, gnosis says, I know about it. Epigenosis says, I know it deeply because I have encountered it.”

56s

#KnowGodLiveIt

“Paul does not pray merely that his church family will learn facts about God's will. You know, it's great. You know, to to what are the characteristics of God? And, you know, when you're studying for orals and stuff like that for college, you learn all these facts, you know, and you wanna know verses to match them. And here's the thing. That's all that's all okay, but I wanna know God. He prays that they'll become so acquainted with God that that they will recognize the relationship and that they will live it because and get this, knowledge becomes obedience. Knowledge becomes obedience.”

73s

#AgapeGuidesChoice

“Love, you guessed it, agape. And I pray this that your agape love, your sacrificial love will keep on growing in the epigenosis. Number two, knowledge of the holy one allows us to make superior choices in a confused and confusing world so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ. Not just the good stuff, the best stuff. That you will have the relationship with the holy one, that you're you're on the same page with God and you see things the way that God sees things. And so that when it's time to make choices, you don't make a good choice, you make the best choice, a superior choice.”

67s

#KnowGodsCharacter

“There is a theological significance I believe as well. Paul is praying for believers to experience a fuller understanding of God's character. One of the reasons our theology of our culture is so dumbed down is because people don't take the time to learn about who God is. And then in the book of Genesis, God made man in his image and ever since then, we've been trying to remake God into our image. And so now nobody knows who God is anymore, seems like. We need to understand his character, his holiness, which I think is the quintessential element of his character. He loves, but he loves according to his holiness. He shows mercy, but he shows mercy according to his holiness.”

78s

#ScriptureShapesUs

“Number three, and this is critical. Knowledge of the holy allows us to produce fruits of righteousness that will bring glory to Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter one verse 11, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. So how do I put the epi in gnosis? Well, Wayne spent some time this morning sharing one way of doing that. Spent time in this book. This is how this is how whatever God said that he wants you to know is right here. It's not something that's delivered to you in a vision after you have pickles and ice cream for dessert. It's something that God has written in this book right here.”

80s

#NeverStopGrowing

“You don't reach this certain level and say, okay, I'm done learning. My dad's 94 98, '19 27. You do the math. And and he is he is still in his bible every single day. Every day. He can't get enough. He he can't get to the point where he said says, I can't do this anymore. It's just too much for me. Every day, I wanna be like him. I wanna know more. I wanna grow more. I wanna be more like Jesus to my world. I want people to look at me and say, they're that might not be Jesus, but I bet he looks a lot like him. I know that's a tall order. You know me, you know that's a tall order. But that's don't you want that?”

43s

#GodCenteredLife

“Know god better because when you know god better, it impacts the way you relate to others. The better you know who god is and the better you embrace him in your life, the more impact it will have on the on your ability to impact the lives of others. And sometimes we get so invested in who we are and what we feel we deserve that we forget that we are serving the great God of the universe. And we lose sight, and we we move away from that relationship with him.”

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