Knowing God



"And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." (1 John 5:20) 



There are two Greek words John uses in this short letter translated as "know." Their use in these instructions to his readers is quite revealing. 



The Greek word "ginosko" (used 25 times throughout this epistle) stresses knowledge gained by experience. The next word, "ei'do" (or "oi'da"), is used 17 additional times, emphasizing comprehension and understanding.



Examples of Intellectual Confidence ("ei'do") are below:



We should "know that he was manifested to take away our sins" (1 John 3:5) and "know that we have passed from death unto life" (1 John 3:14). We also "know that \[we\] have eternal life" (1 John 5:13), and "know that we are of God" (1 John 5:19), and we all "know that the Son of God is come" (1 John 5:20). 



Of course, the intellectual knowledge we gain comes from God's words in scripture. This knowledge includes our basic belief in Christ's work for us all.



Examples of the personal experience ("ginosko") are below: 



We also "know that we know him, if we keep his commandments" (1 John 2:3). We are warned that "There \[are\] many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time" (1 John 2:18), and "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments" (1 John 5:2).



So, we see that our intellectual knowledge of God's Word we experience is as described in Philippians 2:12, and I like how the AMP paraphrase puts it:



"So then, my dear ones... continue to work out your salvation \[that is, actively pursue spiritual maturity\] with awe-inspired fear and trembling \[using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ\]." Now, that is a mouthful to chew on!



Being "born again" is just the beginning. We then need to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).



Fortunately, our heavenly Father has provided His Holy Spirit to guide us all!