(Continued from above)
All the promises of the Old Covenant are fulfilled in “knowing Christ” (Phil. 3:8,10, see also 2 Cor. 1:20) “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). The “light of the knowledge of the glory of God” that shines in our hearts emanates from “the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Eternal life is knowing God and growing in that knowledge of him and Jesus Christ, who he has sent. Jesus said, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:7). It is when we come to know Jesus that we come to know the Father. This knowledge is the fruit of faith, “You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Similarly, Paul writes that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
But it would be a mistake to think that cerebrally hearing and understanding the “word of Christ” (whose words are those of eternal life) is the same thing as “knowing Christ”. The Christian religion is a revealed religion. Knowledge of God comes by revelation. We don’t get it from reading words on a page or hearing a sermon expounding on biblical truth. As Paul said, “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). Paul goes on to tell us the nature of this knowledge in 1 Cor. 2:6-13,
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
Whatever saving knowledge we have is revealed to us by the Spirit of God. This same sentiment is expressed 1 Cor. 13:8-12,
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
This entire passage is framed by the Corinthian Christians’ misunderstanding of knowledge. Many in the church at Corinth who were knowledgeable about intellectual and religious matters thought such knowledge made them superior to the more ignorant Christians around them. Paul rebukes them. The knowledge of this world will pass away. Right now, we only see dimly, but when the perfect comes, we will see face to face. We will know God fully, even as he fully knows us.
When it comes to people who have never heard the Gospel proclaimed and do not even know the name of Jesus, there is not much that we can say definitively. We cannot say that they automatically are damned to hell because they never heard and therefore never could respond to the proclamation of the Gospel. Likewise, we cannot say that they automatically go to heaven out of the abundance of God’s love and justice. But we can say that God is a god of justice, mercy, and love. We do know that he is righteous, and holy, and perfect in all his ways. We know that God has impressed upon all his creation the fingerprints of who he is and that he has instilled within the heart of man the knowledge to know what is right and what is wrong. We can only say that in whoever is a spark of the knowledge of God, then that person is known by God. In that, there is hope.
For those who have heard the Gospel proclaimed, we can speak with more accuracy. We can certainly say that the “minimum amount of knowledge” one needs to be saved is to recognize that one needs to be saved in the first place. It is this knowledge that makes us cry out to God and seek his love and life. Knowing that we need to be saved leads us to the Savior.
As I said above, saving knowledge is revealed to us by the Spirit. We are held responsible for what knowledge we do receive, however, little that may be.
