This is an extremely important topic. There are several more Biblical verses, that talk about God knowing us, that need to be taken into consideration. I'll push them forward first chance I get.
Depart From Me, I Never Knew You
- Thread starter Johann
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Subject Heading:- 'Depart From Me, I Never Knew You.'
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'
(Mat 7:21-23)
Hello @Johann,
You used the latter part of Matthew 7:23 as your subject heading, 'I never knew you: depart from me'. You may not have intended for these words to figure largely in what followed in your OP, but it is worth taking note of it's context: For it is clear that those to whom the Lord spoke these words were not doing the will of The Father. The will of Father being, that they believe on Him Whom He had sent.
* If that belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is there in the human heart, then those words, 'I never knew you: depart from me', will never be spoken to them. See John 20:31:-
'... ... But these are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and that believing ye might have life through His name.'
(Joh 20:31)
In Christ Jesus
Chris
'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'
(Mat 7:21-23)
Hello @Johann,
You used the latter part of Matthew 7:23 as your subject heading, 'I never knew you: depart from me'. You may not have intended for these words to figure largely in what followed in your OP, but it is worth taking note of it's context: For it is clear that those to whom the Lord spoke these words were not doing the will of The Father. The will of Father being, that they believe on Him Whom He had sent.
* If that belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is there in the human heart, then those words, 'I never knew you: depart from me', will never be spoken to them. See John 20:31:-
'... ... But these are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and that believing ye might have life through His name.'
(Joh 20:31)
In Christ Jesus
Chris
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Let's take the word "known" (Koine Greek: γινώσκω). When does the Bible say that we are "known" by God? It's when we turned away from our former ways and are now known by God (See Gal 4:8-9).
Gal 4:8 But then, indeed, not knowing God, you served as slaves to those not by nature being gods.
Gal 4:9 But now, knowing God, but rather are known by God, how do you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you again desire to slave anew?
Wait a minute. Isn't God omniscient? How are we only now known by God and not before? Actually God is omniscient but it's only in Christ that we are relationally known (γινώσκω) by God. γινώσκω is a bidirectional two-way relational way of knowing. For example, we are all familiar with the fact that Christ knows (γινώσκω) His sheep and we (His sheep) follow Him.
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know (γινώσκω) them, and they follow Me.
John 10:28 And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand.
This all means that His sheep are already in a deep relationship with Him. They are already "in Christ" because they already believe "in Christ". In other words, they are not an arbitrary set of elected individuals "before time began" independent of whether or not they believe "in Christ". They are believers positioned "in Christ" by virtue of their current belief "in Christ".
It's only "in Christ" that we are now known by Christ as His sheep. There is no such thing as an unconditional election to salvation and 2 Th 2:13 proves it.
