Does It Matter If We Know Jesus?
I’m going to interrupt my series on Dallas Willard’s book Knowing Christ Today with this brief interlude:
In Evangelicalism we talk famously about “Knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior.” What is generally meant by that statement is that salvation is the result of knowing Christ in an affective way, not just knowing about him. That is, it doesn’t matter if you merely accept the tenets of the faith (“even the demons believe”), and it certainly doesn’t matter if you merely do the good works of the faith (that would be either a works-based righteousness or *gasp* a “social gospel”), what matters is whether or not you have a discernible, personal connection with God. That is what “saves.”
A classic passage for supporting this notion is Matthew 7:22-23:
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
This is, I think, the most frightening thing Jesus ever said. It imparts the sense that one could work very hard to do what Christ said we should do, but in the end never really know him. Frankly, for those who struggle with self-acceptance, this passage plays into their very worst fears.
But notice two things: First, Jesus utters these words directly after saying that what really matters is what we do:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The issue is not that the “evildoers” were focused on doing, but that they were focused on doing the wrong things. I think there are strong shades of Matthew 6 here (prayer, fasting, and alms for the sake of public recognition). Second, Jesus doesn’t say the evildoers didn’t really know him. Quite the opposite: he said he didn’t know them:
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
What if the soteriological question isn’t “Do you know Christ?” but rather, “Does Christ know you?” What if salvation doesn’t depend on our knowledge of God, but on God’s knowledge of us? Consider this question from the perspective of a related passage, The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Jesus here is directly answering a question about the end of the age and judgment (Matt 24), and part of his answer is three parables, each of which successively interprets the one before. Who will be saved at the end of the age? Answer: The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Those who are “watchful” will be saved). Who is watchful? Answer: The Parable of the Talents (Those who are “good stewards” are watchful). Who are good stewards? Answer: The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Those who care for the poor and needy are good stewards – an idea explicit among certain OT prophets). All three parables ask and answer the same question, “Who, in the end, will be saved?” and the ultimate answer to all three is, “Those who cared for the poor and needy will be saved.”
Again, the key isn’t who knows Christ, but who Christ knows (an idea mentioned by Christ again in The Parable of the Ten Virgins, 25:12). In fact, it’s interesting to note that both the “righteous” and “unrighteous” seem quite surprised at the prospect of having in some way encountered Christ on earth (moreover, it seems to be that this sense of having encountered God without knowing, or being known by God without knowing it, is a frequent pattern in scripture). The bottom line is, we are known by Christ by virtue of having served him (often unknowingly) according to his will.
Of course, many will point out (rightly) that all this still depends on a certain kind of knowing on our part. Namely, that we know the will of Christ. But that’s my whole point. Christ appears to be holding people disastrously accountable for knowing his will but not doing it (and Paul seems to make it clear that everyone, to some extent, knows his will). By failing to do his will, we are not known by him. The unrighteous seem to be banking on “knowing Jesus,” when, in fact, they were never known by him – and it is the latter knowledge by God that saves.
That, to me, introduces some interesting questions:
- How is it possible to know Christ, but not be known by him? (Which is abundantly clear in these passages)
- Is it possible to not know Christ, yet still be known by him? (Which seems to be insinuated)
- How is this knowledge of us by God through our service to him still a function of grace? (Which, it absolutely must be)
), but I would offer balance regarding a “personal” relationship with Christ and being known by Christ via “works of love” for others. 
You can add to the discussion the last verse of Psalm 1: “The LORD knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” This is another instance of God knowing us. By the way, the post was very thought provoking. Thank you for posting it.