Articles
'Know God' or 'No God'?
We are likely familiar with the words of the psalmist when he wrote, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psa. 14:1); the fool, it seems, believes there is no God and, thus, no accountability. Additionally, we may be less familiar with the period in the history of the Israelites when the northern kingdom was headed towards certain failure because of their persistent idolatry, when God spoke through Hosea and warned of their coming punishment. It would be in the midst of that punishment they would cry out to the Lord, “My God, we know You!” (Hos. 8:1, 2). Oh, they should have known God but, as He went on to say, “Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue him” (Hos. 8:3). Earlier, He had stated the sad fact of how they got to that point: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hos. 4:6).
We might also be familiar with the condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees [the religious leaders of the first century Jews], when Jesus quoted Isaiah and applied the words to them: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matt. 15:8); it seems these men claimed to know God, but their hearts were far from God. They didn’t really know God at all, nor did they truly honor Him by what they were doing.
This would be addressed again when Jesus was speaking to certain Jews, some of whom believed Him (cf. John 8:31), but He called some of them out on their persistent unbelief, saying, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him” (John 8:54, 55). While they claimed Abraham as their father, and God as their heavenly Father (John 8:39, 41), the truth was that they really did not know God; if they had, they would have gladly listened to what Jesus said, and believed!
And then there is the warning of Jesus to those who say to Him, “Lord, Lord”; as He closed out the Sermon on the Mount, He directly addressed those who listened [and us who now read those words], saying, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7:21-23). It will be a truly sad and tragic day when many stand before Christ their Judge, claiming to have intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ [the phrase, ‘Lord, Lord’ indicates a close knowledge], yet not really knowing Him at all. While they claimed to be doing all those wonderful things in His name, He did not know them, i.e., Jesus was saying, “You never knew Me.”
Now, having considered these examples, what is the point? The point is, there will be some who claim there is no God [the fool], and it is certain that they will suffer eternally for their disbelief in God; but there are also many more who not only believe in God, but who will likewise claim to have an intimate knowledge of God and/or Christ, but who do not really know God or Christ; these, too, will suffer eternally for their lack of knowledge of God. Some, like the Israelites, actually did know God at one time, but will turn away and follow after the world, and only when facing their punishment will they protest, “My God, we know You!” Others, like those of whom Jesus described in the Sermon on the Mount, will face Him in judgment believing that they have served the Lord all their lives, but who really did not know Him. Here is the point we need to learn from these examples: Not knowing God will mean we face eternal punishment. Paul said as much when writing to the brethren in Thessalonica (2 Thess. 1:8-10).
So, how can we ensure that our claim to know God is true? Or, if I don’t believe there is a God, what would lead one to believe, and then get to actually ‘know God’? If God’s own people can be destroyed for a lack of knowledge under the Old Covenant [though they had ample opportunity], then they can be destroyed even today, too, under the New Covenant. If sincerely religious people can live their entire lives falsely believing that what they have done was done ‘in the name of the Lord’ but, in reality, only demonstrated ignorance of the Lord, then it is quite possible that we are among the deceived, and in danger of eternal punishment, too.
First, for the unbeliever, it must be noted that God has given us abundant evidence of His existence (cf. Rom. 1:18-20; Acts 14:14-17); to argue otherwise is simply denying reality or merely ignoring the evidence. That is nothing new, as illustrated by Paul in the first chapter of Romans. And regarding the claim of Jesus to be the Christ and Son of God, we must acknowledge there is abundant evidence there, too (John 20:30, 31). When it comes down to it, there really is no excuse for disbelief or for not knowing God. Will we have to put forth effort? Yes, but as has always been the case, God can be found by those who genuinely and diligently seek Him. There will also be a reward for doing so (cf. Heb. 11:6).
Second, for those who already claim to believe in God and Christ and who claim some knowledge of either, it is not enough [in fact, it is quite foolish and dangerous] to simply take someone else’s word for what God has revealed about Himself and about Jesus the Christ. Even within the first century, the apostle John warned the disciples, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). The apostle Peter likewise warned the early disciples there would “be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet. 2:1-3). Unfortunately, “many will follow their destructive ways” and would “allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error” to the point those once saved from their sins would be “entangled in them and overcome, [so] the latter end is worse for them than the beginning” (2 Pet. 2:18-20). If it could happen in the first century, it could happen today! Don’t just believe without investigation.
Because of the abundance of false prophets and false teachers, many sincerely religious individuals today will be convinced that they are doing the will of God when, in reality, it is nothing but a well-dressed lie. Just because a man quotes Scriptures doesn’t mean he is teaching the truth. Just because he claims to love the Lord doesn’t mean he is teaching you about the true and living God or the world’s one true Savior.
I appeal to you, the reader, to do your utmost to check your beliefs against the word of God regularly — the entirety of God’s word. Picking out portions while ignoring those parts that contradict what we believe [or want to believe] will not lead us to know God. We will be deceiving only ourselves, if that is our practice.
God has given us the standard by which we will be measured in our knowledge of Him (1 John 2:3, 4). — Steven Harper
