Dale Partridge - Real Christianity #111： How Can You Know if You Really Know God？

00:00:00.000 Welcome to this episode of Real Christianity. My name is Dale Partridge, where each week I

00:00:12.100 offer 15 to 20-minute answers to tough theological and pastoral questions. This show is a 100%

00:00:17.940 listener-supported audio ministry of relearn.org. And for those who don't know, our mission at

00:00:23.600 relearn.org is to help ordinary Christians plant biblical house churches. For more information,

00:00:28.420 just visit relearn.org forward slash house. All right, guys, good conversation today.

00:00:41.500 I'm going to open up with a question. Do you know God? The Bible teaches that if you don't

00:00:48.440 know God, that you cannot be saved by God. But what makes this complicated is that Jesus in

00:00:54.940 Matthew 7 declares to a group of what looks like followers of Christ that he does not know them.

00:01:02.820 So what does this mean to know God? How can Christians be sure that they truly know him 0.55

00:01:08.320 and will not hear those terrifying words on judgment day? I never knew you. Depart from me,

00:01:14.720 you workers of lawlessness. So we're going to be discussing this and more, but before we dive in,

00:01:20.400 I just want to make one quick announcement. It's about St. Justin's, our companion ministry and

00:01:27.020 church planting school, which is our house church planting school. More and more Christians are

00:01:31.880 exploring the concept of biblical house church. And in fact, I would say in many ways that the

00:01:37.360 homeschooling movement has paved the way for the home churching movement. And just because a house

00:01:46.340 church model changes locations doesn't mean that the structure of the church or the qualifications

00:01:51.860 for the church or the past or the uh the training for the church uh would change in other words uh

00:01:58.020 you know after being a house church pastor and planter and part of the house church community

00:02:03.540 world for several years now i don't encourage anyone to plant a house church without formal

00:02:10.900 pastoral training that doesn't mean you have to go to seminary for three or four years and have

00:02:15.700 fluency in hebrew and greek but um you know due to the closeness of a house church community the

00:02:22.020 relational risks are very high um you know if you don't um have a trained and qualified pastor

00:02:29.540 shepherding that house church the group often implodes um and i've seen this actually happen

00:02:37.220 a few times and so uh you know let's just say that you have a guy that is married to a woman

00:02:42.100 and he's addicted to pornography and he refuses to stop looking at pornography he keeps doing it

00:02:47.940 and keeps coming to church how do you inflict churches to put on that but also his wife who's

00:02:52.980 a genuine believer and is filled up with um edification with uh her three children does

00:03:00.420 she leave do they leave how does that look you need to know how to deal with that um you know

00:03:05.140 let's just say that four out of the ten families in your house church start giving way to some false

00:03:11.220 doctrine and adopt the hyper-spirituality movement that's led by Bethel. And then the

00:03:17.020 other six families don't. How do you deal with bringing those people back on track without it

00:03:21.060 dividing your church? Because that's 40% of your church. Let's just say that one girl wants to

00:03:27.300 take the ladies in your church and start doing yoga on Sunday evenings, and she's going to be 1.00

00:03:33.660 very offended and divisive if you say no. How do you deal with that? So these are the types of

00:03:37.480 things along the relational side, not even counting the theological and the ecclesiological

00:03:42.580 side, this is why we've really created our Biblical House Church Planting School at

00:03:47.760 stjustins.org. It's a one-year seminary-grade program that's both online and in person.

00:03:54.180 We have very limited space, but if you're interested in doing that and you are a man

00:04:00.900 feeling called into ministry, not full-time, but part-time, meaning you can keep your job,

00:04:09.300 just visit stjustins.org and just get the more information button, and we'll set up a discussion

00:04:15.100 and an interview if that's something that you would like to do. All right, going on to today's

00:04:20.000 question. Today's question is from Christina in Helena, Montana, and she asks, Pastor Dale,

00:04:25.480 In Matthew 7, 21 through 23, Jesus makes a terrifying statement to a group of people who, by all visual accounts, look like followers of Christ.

00:04:33.820 They are prophesying, casting out demons, and even doing miracles in the name of Jesus.

00:04:38.180 In fact, they even call Jesus Lord.

00:04:40.980 However, Jesus responds to them,

00:04:42.800 And then I will declare to them,

00:04:44.800 Quote,

00:04:44.980 I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. How can I be sure that I will not be

00:04:51.420 one of these people who think they know Jesus, but in reality, they do not? Well, Christina,

00:04:58.500 this is a great question and a deep question. And this, I believe, really is a discussion

00:05:04.360 about how can someone tell the difference between false assurance and true assurance?

00:05:10.960 And as you may have heard me say before, Dr. Stephen Lawson said a quote that I'll never forget.

00:05:15.520 He wrote, the only thing worse than not having the assurance of salvation

00:05:19.720 is having the false assurance of salvation.

00:05:23.440 In other words, the only thing more tragic than not coming to Christ

00:05:28.200 would be to believe that you did come to Christ when in reality you did not.

00:05:32.240 And I believe that, you know, I think that's the essence really behind this discussion today.

00:05:39.880 And I'm going to cut out this two ways.

00:05:42.700 The first way has to do with God's willingness to know us.

00:05:47.900 The second way has to do with our response to know him.

00:05:52.620 And I want to preface this by saying that it is impossible to know God without him first knowing you.

00:06:00.580 For example, if by the end of this episode you determine that you do truly know God,

00:06:06.720 It is only because God first knew you.

00:06:10.340 And I think of a similar display of this idea or concept in John 4.19 or 1 John 4.19 that

00:06:16.680 says, we love because he first loved us, or 1 John 4.8, anyone who does not love does

00:06:24.420 not know God because God is love.

00:06:26.000 These are basically illustrations that our love is merely a reaction to his love.

00:06:31.660 The same is true with the concept of knowing, right?

00:06:34.780 our knowing him is merely a reaction to him knowing us. So, you know, ultimately, just like

00:06:42.660 you don't initiate the loving, you also don't initiate the knowing. He does. And he initiates

00:06:49.540 that knowing by the regeneration of your heart, the born again experience, and the revelation of

00:06:55.120 himself by way of his word. But what makes this difficult territory from our perspective is that

00:07:01.180 people confuse knowing God with knowing about God. For example, you can go to church for decades,

00:07:07.980 read your Bible regularly, serve at your local church, and still not know God. And this is

00:07:12.940 exactly what the Pharisees were doing, right? They were highly religious and knew a lot about God,

00:07:19.160 but they did not know God. And, you know, how can a person, this is the real root question,

00:07:26.800 is how can a person tell if they are confusing spiritual activity with spiritual security?

00:07:34.760 Like, how can they be sure that they truly know God? They're not just doing God-like things.

00:07:41.740 And for those of you who have read my testimony, you know that false assurance was actually part

00:07:47.700 of my story. You can read that at relearn.org forward slash testimony, by the way. And if

00:07:53.200 you've ever heard John Wesley's story about he graduates from seminary, goes into full-time

00:07:59.660 ministry, travels from England to be a missionary in the United States. And then after a failing

00:08:03.840 missionary voyage, he leaves on a boat where he pens these words, and I quote,

00:08:09.340 I went to America to convert the Indians, but oh, who shall convert me? When you hear testimonies

00:08:16.220 like this, you begin to see how real the possibility is for someone to come to church

00:08:21.200 without ever truly coming to Christ. Now, my goal in this episode is not to generate doubt

00:08:26.940 in your assurance and anybody that's listening. However, I am interested in removing any security

00:08:33.160 someone might have in their false assurance. Okay, so there's a distinction there.

00:08:40.640 So before we talk about our response to God's knowing us, let's start by understanding what

00:08:47.100 it means for God to know a person. In Romans 8, 28, it says,

00:08:54.340 And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who

00:09:00.180 are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be

00:09:07.380 conformed to the image of his Son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

00:09:11.900 And for those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified,

00:09:15.720 and those whom he justified, he also glorified. All right. In theology circles, this passage is

00:09:20.800 called the golden chain. It's made up of five pieces. Those whom he foreknew, he predestined,

00:09:27.480 he called, he justified, and he glorified. Those five pieces. Basically, if God knows you,

00:09:35.180 foreknew you, he has predestined you. He will call you with the gospel. He will justify you

00:09:41.100 by faith and glorify you in heaven. It's an unbreakable chain. And basically, if you're

00:09:45.500 known, you will be saved. But this golden chain begins with this word foreknew, proginosko

00:09:55.140 in the Greek, okay, foreknew. But what does it mean that God foreknew us? So here's my

00:10:04.460 understanding. This passage, that word isn't necessarily referring to that God had foreknowledge

00:10:12.580 of us or about us. It's my belief, and men like John Piper, R.C. Sproul, Charles Spurgeon also

00:10:18.400 agree, that if you're saved and know God, it's because before the foundation of the world, God

00:10:25.840 foreknew you. Now again, don't think of this as an, like that word foreknew, don't think of it as

00:10:32.080 an awareness of you. Think of it as a relationship with you. Think of it as the same way the Bible

00:10:41.460 says that Adam knew his wife. That is that God intimately knew you before you were born. Think

00:10:50.600 about Jeremiah 1.5, where God says, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before

00:10:56.580 you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Think about Amos 3.2,

00:11:03.220 where God says to Israel, you only I have known of all the families on the earth. God's not saying

00:11:09.860 that he was unaware of the Jebusites and the Canaanites, right? He's saying that he knows

00:11:16.340 Israel in a unique way that he does not know the other families on the earth. And there are dozens

00:11:22.120 of passages in the Old Testament and the New Testament that make the case that knowing us,

00:11:27.460 that God knowing us, means that God has a relationship with us. And if God has a relationship

00:11:34.700 with us, he will save us. However, just like God did not know the other nations, like he knew

00:11:43.840 Israel. God only knows his elect, the church. Those in the church, that is his bride,

00:11:52.400 are the only people he, quote, knows in this special way. Now, he knows about the rest of

00:11:59.640 humanity, but he does not know them in the same way that he knows the elect, the church.

00:12:06.100 For example, I know many women, but I don't know them like I know Veronica. This is

00:12:13.100 this is the difference between what I would call general knowing and special knowing.

00:12:19.900 And this is a theological concept. It's not mine. God has a general knowing for all people,

00:12:26.400 but he has a special knowing of the church. And so my point is people who don't know God

00:12:33.480 don't know him because he has not known them first. And I know that's a hard one to grasp

00:12:41.440 there. People who don't know God don't know him because he has not known them first. He knows of

00:12:47.320 them in a general sense, but he has not chosen to know them in a special sense. And if God does not

00:12:53.900 know you, you will never know him. Now, don't panic. This doesn't mean that someone could

00:13:00.540 want to know God and he might not want to know them. That's not a possibility. That's an

00:13:07.380 impossibility, I should say. And I'm going to tell you why. When we're born, nobody wants to know

00:13:13.340 God. Okay. Romans 3.11 says there is no one who seeks for God. No, not one. This means if you

00:13:22.240 genuinely want to know God, it's only because God already knew you, revealed himself to you,

00:13:28.600 and enabled you to want to know him. So I know this is heavy theology, but just stick with me

00:13:33.680 here. And this should help us as we read this passage that Christina is referring to in Matthew

00:13:40.720 7, 21 through 23. And I'm just going to read it for you real quick. Not everyone who says to me,

00:13:45.900 Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in

00:13:50.200 heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast

00:13:54.460 out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them,

00:13:58.640 I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. All right, so now that we understand 0.59

00:14:04.520 that Jesus is using the term knowing as a synonym for relationship and not simply awareness,

00:14:11.020 and we know that we can't know God unless he knows us first, let's look at what the Bible says is

00:14:17.380 true of people who do know God, and you get to examine yourselves against these attributes

00:14:23.680 to determine if you truly do know God. So I want to begin kind of first here with the only channel

00:14:32.920 by which God offers us to know him. And I'm going to talk about that through John 17. John 17 is the

00:14:41.700 high priestly prayer. Jesus is praying. John 17, 3, and he prays, and this is eternal life,

00:14:48.060 that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

00:14:53.680 The only way to know God, which is very different than knowing about God,

00:14:59.260 is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

00:15:02.680 There is no way to know God apart from Jesus.

00:15:06.560 I'm going to say that one again, okay?

00:15:08.480 There is no way to know God apart from Jesus.

00:15:13.560 And basically what I'm saying here is whoever says they know God but does not believe in Jesus

00:15:17.940 does not know God. And this is why Jesus says in John 14, 6-7, I am the way and the truth and the

00:15:26.300 life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Verse 7, if you had known me, you would have

00:15:33.420 known my Father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord,

00:15:40.640 show us the Father and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and you

00:15:46.900 still do not know me, Philip. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say,

00:15:54.040 show us the Father? All right, that's a powerful scripture. I could preach on that one for an hour.

00:15:59.720 But to close out this point, in order to know God, you must know Jesus. There's no way to know God

00:16:06.540 except through Jesus. And when you know Jesus, you know God. And this means that the only way

00:16:14.020 that God will demonstrate he knows you is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. So this also

00:16:20.120 means that every other religion who claims to know God outside of Christ is sadly mistaken and does 0.65

00:16:26.280 not know God. Okay, now I'm moving into some of the attributes of those who do know God.

00:16:33.080 And so we're doing basically a biblical theological perspective of the word knowing today. I should

00:16:39.520 have clarified that, but hey, we're here. And so we talked about the only way God gives us to know

00:16:47.980 him is through Christ. Now I want to talk about what the Bible says is true of the people who do

00:16:55.520 know God. So again, if you call yourself a Christian, this is that opportunity where you

00:16:59.620 get to examine if you have the attributes of someone who knows him, because there is, again,

00:17:05.600 some confusion that some people think that they know of God and some people actually just know

00:17:10.240 about God. So this is a good test here in 1 John 2, 3 through 6. It says, and by this we know that

00:17:19.180 we have come to know him. How convenient is that, right? And by this we know we have come to know

00:17:23.220 him if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments

00:17:30.440 is a liar and the truth is not in him. The truth that is Christ is not in him. Verse five,

00:17:36.540 but whoever keeps his word in him, truly the love of God is perfected. By this, we may know that we

00:17:43.540 are in him. Whoever says that he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

00:17:49.660 All right. So John makes some observations about people who know God and some people who think

00:17:58.040 they know God. And he gives really three attributes of the people who know God, and they are this.

00:18:04.240 Number one, they keep his commandments. Number two, they keep his word. Number three, they walk

00:18:10.680 in the same way in which Jesus walked. Now again, these are observations of saved people. They're

00:18:18.300 not necessarily commands. And here's what I mean by that. John is saying that people who know God

00:18:25.320 keep his commandments, keep his word, and walk in the same way that Jesus walked. It's just what

00:18:31.100 saved people do. In other words, this is really the natural result of a redeemed person. Now,

00:18:38.600 do they do it perfectly? No, they don't, but they do it consistently. And Jesus said and confirmed

00:18:46.580 this in John 10, 27, when he said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

00:18:55.540 And basically, if you're known by God, you will know your shepherd, you will hear his voice and

00:19:02.800 you will follow him. And think about that. The three commands there, right? Keep his commandments,

00:19:09.100 keep his word and walk in the same way in which Jesus walked. And then Jesus says in 10, 27,

00:19:13.420 then basically you'll hear his voice, you'll know him, and you'll follow him, aka you'll walk in the

00:19:20.340 same way he walks, right? So there's some parallels there. Now, if you're struggling really to

00:19:26.160 determine still at this point, I still don't know, do I know him? Are these attributes clear in my

00:19:32.520 life? Am I an obedient Christian? Do I deeply desire to keep his word? Do I walk in a similar

00:19:40.220 lifestyle, giving honor and glory to God in my life as Christ did. If you're still struggling

00:19:46.940 to determine if these things are true, I'm going to close just real quick because we're going a

00:19:51.360 little long here today with three more quick personal observations and attributes of saved

00:19:56.160 people that will either strengthen your assurance or it might reveal some of your false security.

00:20:02.120 And in either case, it's actually a win. And here's why. If these things affirm you that you

00:20:06.700 do know God, then amen. And if these things confirm that you might not know God, then amen.

00:20:12.920 And why do I say that? Because this is the Lord waking you up, calling you to repentance and faith

00:20:20.020 and seeking a relationship with you. And so either case is fruitful. We have so many people

00:20:24.940 in the church today that came forward at nine years old and prayed a prayer and really were

00:20:31.720 never born again. And then we have people who are actually saved, but maybe just need some more

00:20:39.600 assurance and confidence in their salvation, but they just don't know the theological promises of

00:20:45.560 the Word that would give them that. So there's a lot going on here, and it's important that you

00:20:50.660 examine yourself and really sit before the Lord and see if these things are true of you.

00:20:56.460 And these things are not linear. These things are really organic, and they grow consistently. So

00:21:00.960 keep that in mind. So I'm going to give you these three points that I think are just

00:21:05.940 classic signs of a saved person. Number one is that you absolutely love the gospel. Now,

00:21:12.740 this doesn't mean that you have to be your city's leading evangelist, but you fully understand what

00:21:20.500 Jesus has done for you. And your gratitude for your salvation produces a type of joy that keeps

00:21:27.160 you in love with the gospel. Again, this doesn't mean that you have to write books on evangelism,

00:21:32.340 but it does mean that you have a constant endearment and devotion to the gospel.

00:21:38.080 You love thinking about it, and you love sharing about it with others. The deep meditation upon

00:21:45.760 the gospel can maybe make you cry. This is, I think, a core sign of someone that truly knows

00:21:54.020 God. You understand the gospel. Number two, you love and understand scripture. This doesn't mean

00:22:01.780 that you're a theologian, but this does mean that you long to be in his word. You have an

00:22:08.800 unquenchable appetite for the scriptures. And when you're reading, God is regularly

00:22:15.580 illuminating by the Holy Spirit the meaning of scriptures to you. Now, that doesn't mean that

00:22:22.620 You understand all the ins and outs of the mysteries of God and the theological diagrams

00:22:26.040 and paradigms that are going on there.

00:22:29.380 But the scriptures make sense to you, and you can comprehend the gospel doctrine that's

00:22:36.760 being presented in the scriptures.

00:22:38.960 It doesn't mean that you don't need help still, but it means that things are not fuzzy to

00:22:43.720 you.

00:22:44.000 You can really see and how they apply to your life.

00:22:46.600 So you love and understand scripture.

00:22:47.960 Number three, you genuinely love other people.

00:22:52.620 you're patient with people because God was patient with you. You're merciful with people

00:22:56.900 because God was merciful with you. You're gracious with people because God was gracious with you.

00:23:01.440 You are loving and forgiving because God has showered his love and forgiveness on you.

00:23:06.340 In other words, you're not a bitter and angry person. Now, this doesn't mean that you don't

00:23:12.260 get bitter and angry because those attributes are parts of our flesh that we will still sadly fall

00:23:19.220 into those, but these attributes don't define you. So again, you love the gospel. You love

00:23:25.100 and long to be in the scriptures, and you feel like the Holy Spirit's illuminating these truths

00:23:30.540 to you. And then you love other people. And these things should continue to grow in you

00:23:36.880 week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade. So I'm going to close

00:23:43.400 just with this brief statement here. 2 Timothy 2, 19, it says, but God's firm foundation stands

00:23:51.560 bearing this seal, colon, the Lord knows those who are his. So if you know God, God knows you.

00:24:01.560 God doesn't know people and then disown them. He knows them eternally. And I want you to rest in

00:24:08.600 that assurance. If you've struggled with assurance and you know that you know him,

00:24:12.680 Rest in that, that you are the Lord's and that you will be sustained by him forever.

00:24:19.300 And there's nothing wrong with sitting before the Lord and making his examinations,

00:24:23.800 asking the Lord for more assurance, asking the Lord to get clear with where you stand with him.

00:24:33.180 At the core, the basic thing you want to ask yourself is,

00:24:36.660 am I trusting in Christ alone to earn the righteous verdict that I cannot earn when I

00:24:46.080 stand before God on judgment day? Am I trusting that Christ and his righteousness, his sinless

00:24:52.540 life, his spotless reputation is what will stand before God? Not me. I can't stand before God. I'm

00:25:03.220 gross. I'm a sinner. I'm guilty. But my belief and faith in Christ will earn me that righteous 0.98

00:25:11.520 verdict by God's grace alone. Do you trust there? And because of that great work that Christ has

00:25:20.020 done for you and saved you from damnation, you are so grateful. You are repentant. You are seeking

00:25:28.340 to love him and endear him and be with him and longing for him. That's the truth of the gospel.

00:25:35.160 If that's the true reality in your life, then believe me, my friend, you are assured and you do

00:25:43.980 know God. So hopefully that answers your question, Christina. I'm going to leave you guys with two,

00:25:49.780 actually three resources today that you can find on the post page for this episode, which is titled

00:25:54.740 How Can You Know If You Really Know God? It's episode 111. And so three episodes or three

00:26:02.480 resources. One of them is a podcast and it's titled What Does Jesus Mean by I Never Knew You

00:26:09.080 by John Piper. It's a similar discussion that I had with you here. We go into a couple different

00:26:14.960 dimensions though. So I think it'd be good to have another perspective from a theologian that's far

00:26:19.040 greater than I am. Number two is a book called Knowing God by J.I. Packer. It's a bit of a

00:26:26.000 beast, but if you like theological reads, get on it. And then number three is a video, and it's

00:26:33.120 with Sinclair Ferguson, and it's how do I know that I am elect, or how do I know my faith is

00:26:38.700 genuine? That's from Ligonier Ministries, and that's a really great resource there. So

00:26:42.600 guys, if you're a regular listener to the Real Christianity podcast, we just ask that you would

00:26:47.580 leave a review. You don't even need to write anything, but just tap the stars. Another thing

00:26:51.780 also is that if you don't already follow us on Instagram, it's at relearn HQ for headquarters

00:26:58.220 at relearn HQ. It's a verified account. Come follow us there. We have lots of content going

00:27:03.200 out on a regular basis that it's edifying for your journey to understand church and understand

00:27:08.220 the Christian life. And that would be just a blessing to have you over there and follow us

00:27:13.620 in our journey online.

00:27:15.840 That's it for this episode.

00:27:17.400 Thank you for joining me today.

00:27:18.620 My name is Dale Partridge

00:27:19.760 and we will see you next week.

00:27:24.380 Thank you for listening

00:27:25.480 to this episode of Real Christianity.

00:27:27.540 If you're a regular listener to this show,

00:27:29.300 would you prayerfully consider

00:27:30.360 making a donation

00:27:31.260 to support our ministry efforts?

00:27:33.100 Simply visit relearn.org forward slash donate.

00:27:36.160 Again, that's relearn.org forward slash donate.

00:27:40.100 And for those looking to explore the idea

00:27:41.700 of joining or planting a church in your home,

00:27:43.620 You can download our free PDF e-book titled The Basics of Biblical House Church by visiting

00:27:48.540 relearn.org forward slash house.

00:27:51.480 Lastly, do you have a theological question you would like answered on the show?

00:27:55.440 Submit your question at relearn.org forward slash question.

00:27:59.240 Thanks for joining us on this episode of Real Christianity.

00:28:01.900 We'll see you next Wednesday.

Dale Partridge - September 16, 2020

Real Christianity #111： How Can You Know if You Really Know God？

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript