“Do your parents know the Lord?” If your friend asked that, you’d assume he was asking whether your parents were believers. It would be equivalent to “Are your parents born again?”
But is that what the Scriptures mean by the expression knowing the Lord?
There are four ways in which the Bible speaks of a believer’s knowing our Sovereign:
- Knowing the Lord (9xs).
- Knowing God (7xs).
- Knowing Him (14xs).
- Knowing You (6xs).
The expressions knowing the Lord, knowing God, knowing Him, and knowing You always, or almost always, refer to more than being born again. They refer to knowing God in our experience. Here are some obvious examples:
1 John 4:7-8. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Verse 7 has two elements: being born of God and knowing God. The one who loves is both born of God and knows God. Verse 8 has but one element: does not know God. The one who does not love does not know God. John doesn’t say, “He who does not love is not born of God and does not know God.” He just says that he doesn’t know God. Knowing God here (and in 1 John 2:3) is more than being born again. It is being a mature believer.
Philippians 3:10. “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Paul was already born again. He wanted to know Christ in his experience, to live out His resurrection power, and to share in His sufferings (cf. Rom 8:17-18). In this verse, knowing Him is more than being born again. It is persevering in an intimate walk with Christ.
1 Samuel 2:12. “Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.” This is generally understood to mean they were not born again. However, note that the issue is their corrupt lifestyle, not their beliefs. I think it is likely that Eli’s sons were believers and were born again.1
Exodus 33:13. “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” Moses was already born again. He wanted to know God in his experience. To do that, he had to know God’s way.
I encourage you to study these four expressions in Scripture. I believe you will see that knowing God is more than being born again.
This might help us understand a famous verse like John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” I don’t think the Lord was saying that everyone who has eternal life knows God. He was saying that everyone who has eternal life may know Him. Being born again makes it possible to know Him (Exod 33:13; Phil 3:10; 1 John 2:3; 4:7-8).
Keep grace in focus, and you’ll continue to know God in your daily experience.
1 I think Jer 31:34, a new covenant verse, refers to an experiential knowledge of God as well.
