The apostle Paul wrote the letter we know as 1 Corinthians to reintroduce the church in Corinth to Jesus Christ. He then used this as the basis for addressing several problems that were limiting the church and threatening its unity. One problem arose from differing opinions about eating food that had been sacrificed to idols. Paul’s response to this problem occupies all of chapter 8. However, in verses 2-3 he makes a couple of remarks that stood out to me. “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.”
The initial part of Paul’s remark reminds me of the testimony of Milt Rodriguez. It is possible to know much about Jesus and serve him in many capacities, and yet not know him. You can listen to it in his own words in the first ten minutes of this recording.
T. Austin-Sparks also had something to say on that subject:
The fact is this, that we may advance a long way in spiritual knowledge (I mean in information, the knowledge of the truth) beyond our own real measure, and then have the shock, under terrible conditions, of discovering that all that we have accumulated through the years does not help us. We are right up against things and have to say, “I have not got the realities I thought I had, they are not helping me; I am being brought right back to foundations in my real, personal, living knowledge of the Lord Himself.” The peril then, of course, is to jettison all the teaching we have had and to say that it is a valueless thing. It is not valueless; but we must recognize that there is all the difference between knowing the thoughts of God in our minds, and the Holy Spirit’s using that knowledge to accomplish God’s ends. Thus we have to come back with every fragment and have very real dealings with the Lord. (from “Conformed to the Image of His Son”)
The something we know—our understanding of things, even of scripture—is not of primary importance. Later in the same letter, Paul states that “knowledge will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes the partial will pass away.” And, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:8-12). So, the most important thing for us is whether we love God. With respect to knowledge, what matters most is that we are known by Him. His knowledge of us is a full knowledge, whereas our knowledge of Him is continually dawning on us.
One thing we are learning about Him is His voice. As Jesus said when he presented himself as the Good Shepherd, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). We learn, morning by morning, to distinguish his voice from all the competing voices. Listening leads to obedience. The more we hear and follow Christ Jesus the King, the more we disengage ourselves from the world and its influence.
Our knowledge of many things may be very limited. Nevertheless, we can rest assured that if we love Him, we are known by Him—fully known. He will join us to the flock of others who also are known by Him, and we will follow Him together.
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