Will Christ Know You?

"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 do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." (Mat 7:21-23 ESV)

Friend, I don't know about you, but to me this is one of the most ominous passages of Scripture in the Bible! To think that a person might live out their days, believing they are a Christian, only to eventually hear Christ say "I never knew you; depart from me you worker of lawlessness" ought to cause all of us to "be all the more diligent to make [our] calling and election sure"! (2 Pet 1:10 ESV) It matters not to me whether ye be a pastor or a youth group member, the Bible is clear that you should "examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith" (2 Cor 13:5 ESV).

As a Calvinist, some might wonder why I would even bring up such a scary passage of Scripture. I mean, after all, isn't this a proof-text against our understanding of Perseverance? Doesn't this prove that true Christians can be truly saved and later forfeit their Salvation and be cast away at the judgment? No. I don't believe so...

One thing about this passage that I want to call your attention to, is that Jesus says that He will tell the workers of lawlessness "I never knew you." For Christ to say this is very interesting. As God, we know that He actually has perfect knowledge of all sinners and saints that have ever lived, or that will ever live. When Christ tells them that He "never knew" them, the type of knowledge in which He is speaking cannot possibly be the knowledge in which He has from Omniscience, or else Christ would be lying. Therefore, Christ must be speaking in some other sense of the word.

Have a look at John 10: 14-15. Jesus said:

"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep."

Here we see Christ proclaim that he KNOWS His sheep and that His sheep KNOW Him. The Greek word for "know" in these verses is "ginōsko." Strong's Concordance defines it as "to 'know' (absolutely), in a great variety of applications and with many implications." Our Lord takes things even further when He says that that this mutual knowledge is "just as the Father knows me and I know the Father." This is obviously speaking of a close relationship, and a very intimate realtionship at that.

Those who believe that the "workers of lawlessness" in Matthew 7 were at one time true Christians, now have a problem. When Jesus tells them "I never knew you," the word for "know" is the very same Greek word used in John 10: 14. In addition, the problem is multiplied when we understand that the word for "never" is the Greek word "oudepote" which Strong's defines as meaning "not even at any time, that is, never at all: - neither at any time, never, nothing at any time." In essense, Christ is saying is "Never at any time -never at all- did I know (have a close intimate relationship with) you, depart from me you workers of lawlessness."

If in John 10, Christ says, that He knows His sheep and His sheep know him, I ask now (as I have asked in previous articles): Can Christ lie? Is there duplicity in the Godhead? If these people had ever been a part of Christ's flock, would Christ be able to tell them that He never at any time knew them at all? Obviously not. He would have to say "I once knew you, but now I do not" or "I knew you at one time, but I forgot you."

By examining the Greek words in these passages, we see that the people who Christ will tell to depart are those within the visible church that profess to know Christ, but were never Born Again. Had they been one of His sheep, He would know them on that day. Had they truly known Christ they would have followed Him (John 10:27) and would not have been "workers of lawlessness."

Now, I want to draw your attention to John 10: 27-28, where our Lord says:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

As I have noted in a previous article, Christ clearly teaches that a person whom He knows (ginōskō) will follow Him and they will "never perish". The Greek word for "never" in this verse is a bit different from the word used in Matthew 7: 21-23. Here the Greek word is "oo may." Strong's Concordance defines the word as "a double negative strengthening the denial; not at all: - any more, at all, by any (no) means, neither, never, no (at all), in no case (wise), nor ever, not (at all, in any wise)." Here Christ is telling us that it is utterly impossible for one of His sheep to perish.

When we compare Matthew 7: 12-23 to the passages I cited from John 10, we can clearly see that the truly redeemed cannot perish. Those who will be told to depart were never known to Christ in the sense of having a New Covenant relationship with Him. For Christ to tell a single one of His sheep to depart, would be for Him to contradict everything He says in John 10: 27 & 28. It would also contradict what He says in John 6:37, because there he plainly declares "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never [oo may] cast out."

Dear reader, I now ask you: Does Christ know you? Do you know Christ? Will Christ know you on that Day? If so, your life will demonstrate it. You will follow Him; you will obey Him; you will do His Father's will; you will abide in Him! If you are in Him and He is in you, you can be assured that you will never perish. If He knows you today, He will know you then. If you are a pretender; if you are a worker of lawlessness hiding behind your outward show of "good works," you are not fooling Christ and on that day he will surely say unto you "I never knew you, depart from me you worker lawlessness."

How do we know that we know Christ? That's simple. The Apostle John has addressed this question also:

"And by this we know that 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, 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 he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." (1 John 2:3-6 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria!