welcome to this episode of real Christianity my name is Dale Partridge reach Micaiah for 15 to 20-minute answers to tough the illogical and pastoral question the show is 100% listener supported audio Ministry of relearn. Org and for those who don't know our mission at free learn.org is to help ordering Christian plant biblical house churches for more information please visit relearn. Org forward slash house
 all right guys good conversation today I'm going to open up with a question do you know God and the Bible teaches that if you don't know God that you cannot be saved by God will make this complicated is that Jesus in Matthew 7 declares to a group of what looks like followers of Christ that he does not know them so what does this mean to know God how can Christian be sure that they truly know him and will not hear those terrifying words on Judgment Day I never knew you depart from me you workers of lawlessness three of you discussing this and more but before we dive in I just want to make one quick announcement
 it's about think Justin's our companion Ministry and church planting school which dark house church planting School more more Christians are exploring the concept of biblical House Church in fact I would say in many ways that the homeschooling movement has paved the way for the home churching movement and just because a house Church model change locations doesn't mean that the structure of the church or the qualifications for the church or the past or the the training for the church would change in other words you know after being a house church pastor and planter and part of the house for Community world for several years now I don't encourage anyone to plant a house Church Without formal pastoral training for 3 or 4 years and have fluency in Hebrew and Greek but due to the closeness of a house Church community the relational risks are
 very high you know if you don't have a trained and qualified Pastor shepherding that house Church the group often implodes and I seen this actually happened a few times and so you know that she said that you have a guy that is married to a woman and he's addicted to pornography and he refuses to stop looking at pornography it keeps doing it and it keeps coming to church how do you inflict churches to put on that but also his wife was a genuine believer and is filled up with edification with her three children does she leave did they leave how does that look you need to know how to deal with that you know let's just say that four out of the ten families in your house church start giving away to some false Doctrine and adopt the hyper spirituality movement that sled by Bethel and then the other six families don't how do you deal with bring those people back on track without a dividing your church cuz that's 40% of your church
 you know what to say that one girl wants to take the ladies in your church and start doing yoga on Sunday evenings and she's going to be very offended and divisive if you say know how do you deal with that so these are the types of things along the relational side not even counting the theological and they cleaned the logical side this is why we really created our Biblical house church planting school I think Justin's. Org it's a one-year Seminary grade program that's both online and in-person we very limited space but if you're interested in doing that and you are a man feeling called into Ministry not full-time a part-time I'm meeting you can keep your job just visit st. Justin's. Org and just get the more information button and we'll set up a discussion an interview if that's something that you would like to do all right
 going on to today's question to this question is from Christina and Helena Montana and she asks past revealed in Matthew 7:21 through 23 Jesus makes a terrifying statement to a group of people who buy all visual accounts look like followers of Christ they are prophesying casting out demons even doing miracles in the name of Jesus in fact they even called Jesus Lord however Jesus respond to them and then I will declare to them quote I never knew you depart from me you workers of lawlessness how can I be sure that I will not be one of these people who think they know Jesus but in reality they do not
 well Christina this is a great question and a deep question in this I believe really is a discussion about how can someone tell the difference between false assurance and true assurance and as you may have heard me say before dr. Steven loss instead of quote that I'll never forget he wrote the only thing worse than not having the Assurance of Salvation is having the false Assurance of Salvation in other words that the only thing more tragic than not coming to Christ would be to believe that you did come to Christ when in reality you did not and I believe that you know I think that's the essence really behind this discussion today and I'm going to I'm going to cut this two ways the first way has to do with God's willingness to know us the second way has to do with our response to know him
 and I want to preface this by saying that it is impossible to know God without him first knowing you for example by the end of this episode you determine that you do truly know God it is only because God first knew you and I think of a similar display of this idea or Concept in John 4:19 or 1st John 4:19 that says we love because he first loved us or 1st John 4:8 anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love these are basically illustrations that Arlo is merely a reaction to his love the same is true with the concept of knowing right our knowing him is merely a reaction to him knowing us so you know ultimately just like you don't initiate the loving you also don't initiate the knowing he does and he initiates not knowing by the Regeneration of your heart
 the born-again experience and the revelation of himself by way of his word will make this difficult territory from our perspective is that people confuse knowing god with knowing about got freaked out but you can go to church for decades read your Bible regularly serve at your local church and still not know God and this is exactly what the Pharisees were doing right they were highly religious and knew a lot about God but they did not know God and you know how can a person this is the real question is how can a person tell if they are confusing spiritual activity with spiritual security like how can they be sure that they truly know God they're not just doing God likes things for those of you who have read my testimony you know that false Assurance was actually part of my story you can read that a tree learn.org Ford's testimony by the way
 and if you've ever heard John Wesley story you know about he he graduate from Seminary goes in a full-time Ministry travels from England to be a missionary in the United States and then after a failing missionary Voyage year he leaves on a boat where he pens these words and I quote I went to America to convert the Indians but oh who shall convert me what when you hear testimony like this you begin to see how real the possibility is for someone to come to church without ever truly coming to Christ now my goal is to generate doubt in your Assurance anybody that's listening however I am interested in removing any security someone might have in their false assurances okay so there's a distinction there before we talk about our response to God's knowing us let's start by understanding what it means for God to know a person in Romans
 8-bit says and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose for Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and For Those whom he predestined he also called an ocean be called the also Justified of those can be justified he also glorified and theology circles this passage is called the golden chain is made up of five pieces of Those whom he foreknew he predestined he called he justified in a glorified does 5 pieces basically if God knows you
 or knew you he has predestined you he will call you with the gospel he will justify You by faith and glorify you and Heaven it's an unbreakable chain and basically if you're known you will be saved but this this golden chain begins with this word for new protein Osco in the Greek K4 new but what does it mean that God foreknew us so here's my understanding this passage that word isn't necessarily referring to that God had foreknowledge of us or about us it's my belief in men like John Piper r.c. Sproul Charles Spurgeon also agree that if you're saved and know God it's because before the foundation of the world God for knew you know you don't think of this isn't like that that word for new don't think of it as an awareness of you
 think of it as a relationship with you think of it as the same way the Bible says that Adam knew his wife that is it God intimately knew you before you were born think about Jeremiah 1:5 where God says before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you I appointed you a prophet to the nation think about Amos 32 where God says to Israel you only I have known of all the families on the earth God's not saying that he was he was unaware of the jebusites in the Canaanites right he's saying that he knows Israel in a unique way that he does not know the other families on the earth and there are dozens of passages in the Old Testament and New Testament that make the case that knowing us that God knowing us means that God has a relationship with us and if God has a relationship
 he will save us however just like God did not know the other nations like he knew is real God only knows his elect the church those in the church that is his bride are the only people he quote knows in this special way now he knows about the rest of humanity but he does not know them in the same way that he knows the elect the church for example I know many women but I don't know them like I know Veronica this is this is the difference between what what I would call General knowing and special knowing this is a theological Concepts not mine God has a general knowing for all people but he has a special knowing of the church and so my point is people who don't know God don't know him
 because he has not known them first and I know that's a hard one to draw for their people who don't know God don't know him because he has not known them first he knows of them in a general sense but he has not chosen to know them in a special sense and if God does not know you you will never know him now don't panic this doesn't mean that someone could want to know God and he might not want to know them that that's not a possibility that's an impossibility I should say and I'm going to tell you why when were born nobody wants to know God okay Romans 311 says there is no one who seeks for God no not want this means if you genuinely want to know God it's only because God already knew you revealed himself to you and enabled you to want to know him
 so no this is heavy theology but just stick with me here in this this should help us as we read this passage that Christina is referring to in Matthew 7:21 2:23 and I'm going to read for you real quick not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day many will say to me Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and you might many mighty works in your name and then I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you workers of lawlessness all right so now that we understand that Jesus is using the term knowing as a synonym for relationship and not simply awareness and we know that we can't know God unless he knows us first let's look at what the Bible says is true of people who do know God and you get to examine yourselves against these attributes to determine if you truly do know God going to begin kind of first year with
 the only Channel by which God offers us to know him and I'm going to talk about that through John 17 John 17 is the high Priestly prayer Jesus praying on 73 and he prays and this is eternal life that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent the only way to know God which is very different than knowing about God is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ there is no way to know God apart from Jesus I'm going to say that one again okay there is no way to know God apart from Jesus and basically what I'm saying here is whoever says they know God but does not believe in Jesus does not know God and this is why Jesus says in John 14 6 or 7 I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me for 7 if you had
 you had known me you would have known my father also from now on you do know him and have seen him Philip said to him Lord show us the father and it is enough for us Jesus said to him have I been with you so long and you still do not know me Philip Whoever has seen me has seen the father how can you say show us the father all right that's a powerful scripture I could preach on that one for an hour but to close out this point in order to know God you must know Jesus there's no way to know God except through Jesus and when you know Jesus you know God and this means that the only way that God will demonstrate he knows you is through a relationship with Jesus Christ so this also means that every other religion who claims to know God outside of Christ and the mistaken and does not know God okay now I'm moving into some of the attributes
 of those who do know God until we're doing basically a physical theological perspective of the word knowing today I should have clarified that but hey we're here and so we talked about the only way and God gives us to know him is to Christ I want to talk about what the Bible says is true of the people who do know God I'm still going to call yourself a Christian this is that opportunity where you to examine if you have the attributes of someone who knows him
 because there is against some confusion that some people think that they know of God and some people actually just know about. So this is a good test here in 1st John 2:3 through 6 it says and by this we know that we have come to know him how convenient is that right and by this we know we have come to know him if we keep his Commandments whoever says I know him but does not keep his Commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him the truth that is Christ is not in him for 5 but whoever keeps his word in him truly the love of God is perfected by this we may know that we are in him whoever says that he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked all right so John makes some observations
 about people who know God and some people who think they know God and it gives really three attributes of the people who know God and they are this number one they keep his Commandments number to to keep his word number three they walk in the same way in which Jesus walked now get these are observations of Saved people they're not necessarily commands and here's what I mean by that John is saying that people who know God keep his Commandments keep his word and walk in the same way the Jesus walk it's just what safe people do another words is this is really the natural result of a redeemed person do they do it perfectly know they don't but they do it consistently
 I'm in Jesus said and confirm this and John 10:27 when he said my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and basically if if you're known by God you will know your Shepherd you will hear his voice and you will follow him and think about that the three commands their right keep the Commandments keep its word and walk in the same way which Jesus walked in the Jesus FM 1027 basically you'll hear his voice you'll know him and you'll follow him AKA you'll walk in the same way he walks right through this and parallels there now if you're struggling really to determine still at this point I still don't know to what do I know him are these attributes clear my life am I am I in obedient Christian do I do I deeply desire to keep his word and do I walk in a similar lifestyle giving honor and glory to God in my life
 as Christ did if you're still struggling to determine if these things are true I'm going to close just real quick cuz we're going a little longer today with three more quick personal observations and attributes of State people that way there's strength in your Assurance or it might reveal some of your false Security in either case it's actually a win and here's why it's these things are from you that you do know God than amen I'm in a few things confirm that you might not know God then amen and why do I say that because this is the Lord waking you up calling you to repentance and faith and seeking a relationship with you and so either taste is fruitful we have so many people in the church today that came forward at nine years old and prayed a prayer and really were never born again and then we have people who you know are actually saved but maybe just need some more assurance and confidence in their salvation but they just don't
 theological promises of the word that would give them that so there's a lot going on here and it's important that you examine yourself and and release it before the Lord and see if these things are true of you and these things are not linear these things are really organic and they grow consistently so keep that in mind so I'm going to do these three points that I think are just
 classic signs of a saved person number one is that you absolutely love the gospel now this doesn't mean that you know you have to be your city's leading evangelist but you fully understand what Jesus has done for you and your gratitude for your salvation produces a type of joy that keeps you in love with the gospel again it doesn't mean that you have to write books on evangelism but it does mean that you have a constant endearment in Devotion to the gospel you love thinking about it and you love sharing about it with others that the deep meditation upon the gospel can maybe make you cry this is I think of course sign of someone that truly knows God do you understand the gospel number two
 you love and understand scripture that doesn't mean that you're a theologian but this does mean that you long to be in his word you have a unquenchable appetite for the scriptures and and God is one year when you're reading. It's regularly Illuminating by the Holy Spirit the meaning of scriptures to you now. That doesn't mean that you understand all the ins and outs of the mysteries of God of the theological diagrams and and you know paradigms that are going on there but the scriptures makes sense to you and you can comprehend the gospel Doctrine that's being presented in the scriptures does me that you don't need help still but it means that things are not fuzzy to you you can really see and how they apply to your life so you love and understand scripture number 3 you genuinely love other people your patient with people because God is patient with you your merciful with people because God was
 merciful with you your gracious with people because God was gracious with you you were loving and forgiving because God has showered his love and forgiveness on you in other words you're not a bitter and angry person that doesn't mean that you don't get bitter and angry because those attributes are parts of our flesh that we will still sadly fall into those but these attributes don't find you so again you love the gospel you loved and longed to be in the scriptures and you feel like a holy spirit Illuminating these truths to you and then you love other people
 I'm in these things should continue to grow in you week after week month after month year after year decade after decade I'm so I'm going to close just with this brief statement here 2nd Timothy 2 19 it says but God's Firm Foundation stands bearing the seal colon the Lord knows those who are his
 so if you know God God knows you God doesn't know people and then disown them he knows them eternally and I want you to rest in that Assurance if you've struggled with insurance and you know that you know him rest in that that you were the Lords and that you will be sustained by him forever and there's nothing wrong with sitting before the Lord in making his examination asking the Lord for more Assurance asking the Lord to to get clear with with where you stand with with him at the court the basic thing you want to ask yourself is am I trusting in Christ alone
 to earn the righteous verdict that I cannot earn when I stand before God on Judgment Day am I trusting the Christ and his righteousness his sinless life
 his spotless reputation is what what what will stand before God not me I can't stand before God I'm gross I'm a sinner I'm guilty but my belief in faith in Christ will earn me that righteous Verdict by God's grace alone is that like you do trust there and because of that great work that Christ has done for you and saved you from Damnation you are so grateful you are repentant you are are seeking to love him and tear him in and be with him and longing for him that's the truth of the Gospel if that's the true reality in your life then believe me my friend you are assured and you do know. Don't be that answers your question Christina I'm going to leave you guys with 2 actually 3 resources today that you can find on the post page for
 episode which is titled how can you know if you really know God episode 111 and so three episode or three resources one of them is a podcast and it's out of what does Jesus mean by I never knew You by John Piper it's a similar discussion that I had with you here we go in just a couple different dimensions though so I think it'd be good to have another perspective from a theologian is far greater than I am never to is a book called knowing god by j.i. Packer it's a bit of a beast too but if you like the illogical reads get on it and the number 3 is a video and it's with Sinclair Ferguson and it's how do I know that I am electric how do I know my faith is genuine that's from Ligonier Ministries that's really great resource there so guys if your regular listener to the real Christianity podcast we just ask that you would leave a review you don't even need to write anything but just tap the stars have another thing also is that if you don't already
 follow us on Instagram at relearn hq4 headquarters at relearn hq2 verified account come follow us there we have lots of content going out on a regular basis there at 9 for your journey to understand Church understand the Christian life and that would be just a blessing to have you over there and follow us in our journey online for this episode thank you for joining me today my name is Dale Partridge and we will see you next weekend
 thank you for listening to this episode of real Christianity if your regular listener to this show would you perfectly consider making a donation to support our ministry effort simply visit relearn. Org donate again that's relearn. Org forward slash donate and for those looking to explore the idea of joining or planting a church in your home you can download our free pdf ebook titled the basics of biblical House Church by visiting relearn. Org house lastly do you have a few logical question you would like answered on the show The Mayor question a tree learn.org for question thanks for joining us on this episode of real Christianity will see you next Wednesday