Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Knowing God

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." 2 Peter 1:2-3
How does this passage say that grace and peace will be multiplied to us? "In the knowledge of God." How does this passage say that we are granted everything pertaining to life and godliness? "Through the knowledge of Him." Everything you need to be godly, to live a godly life, God gave you by His divine power. How? "Through the knowledge of Him." The main thing you need in order to be godly is to know God. You do not need different circumstances in your life in order to grow in godliness. You do not need new family or new friends or new people in your life in order to grow in godliness. You do not need new roommates in order to grow in godliness. You do not need a new personality in order to grow in godliness. What you need is to know God.

How do you get more grace and more peace? How do you live a godly life? You do so by knowing God. The reason people do not live godly lives is because they do not know God. When someone comes to know God, you will always get a godly life—because knowing God changes you. True, genuine, born again Christians have everything they need for life and godliness because they know God. He has lit up our hearts, given us a heart of flesh, regenerated us, made us spiritually alive, given us the new birth, and now we see Him as beautiful. He is our all in all. Nothing is more precious to us than Jesus. Before you are born again, you cannot even see the kingdom of God. Once you are born again, the very things that look foolish to the world—the cross, a dying Saviour—all of a sudden become the most attractive things to you in the world.

If you do not live a godly life, if your life looks no different now than it did before you were "saved," the reason is because you do not know God. Chances are that you are a false convert, have never been saved, are still dead in your trespasses and sins, and will spend eternity in Hell. Paul tells us to examine ourselves; test ourselves to see if we are indeed in the faith. If you are indeed outside the fold, all is not lost. If you truly desire to be saved, then seek God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Earnestly pray to Him and ask His forgiveness and salvation. Do not cease until He has given you an answer. Better to be sure you know Him than to find out you never knew Him and have Him declare, "Depart from me...I never knew you."
"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8
The true knowledge of God renders you neither useless nor fruitless, but ensures you are growing in these qualities. If these qualities are not yours and are not increasing, be assured that you do not know God.
"They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him." Titus 1:16

"For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8

"The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:8