Do We Really Know Him?

I John 2:3-6 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Many of us claim that we know Jesus. Do we really know Him or do we just know about Him? The Apostle John pulls no punches about what it means to know God. The word "know" means to have intimacy with the Lord. The word is used as a Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. It implies that when we say that we know God what we are saying is that we love God. John says that if this is so, then it will be made obvious by our obedience to God's commands. Jesus plainly told us that if we love Him, we'll obey His commands. The Bible, in these verses is clear that if we say we know, or love, God and keep not His Word, we are liars and the truth is not in us. Can the Lord communicate this any clearer than that? Sadly, we are very quick to claim that we know and love Jesus before stopping to consider if we really know Him. To know Him is to walk in obedience to His commands. It means that we are not just hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word. The only way to know Him is to obey Him, and as we walk in His truth He will reveal Himself. As He reveals Himself, our love for Him and others will be manifest and our lives will glorify Him. We are either living as liars or walking in truth. So, I ask again, "Do we really know Jesus or do we just know about Him?" If we claim to know Him (and love Him), is it evident by the way we live for Him? Do we walk as He walked, in obedience to the will of the Father?

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13).