Solomon, the wisest man of his time, wrote at the very beginning of his book on wisdom:
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
– Proverbs 1:1-7
Knowledge of the Lord, according to Holy Scripture, is the gateway to fearing Him, which is just about the sanest thing any human being could ever do! If you fear someone, you listen to them with intent, right? If you fear someone, you hang on their words because they have impact on your life, one way or another, right? If you fear someone, ultimately, you learn from them. Fair enough?
Well, according to Holy Scripture, every human being has been given the faculties to know the Lord in a primitive way (ref: Romans 1:19-20). By the grace of God, everyone possesses a kernel of godly wisdom (aka, God exists). In other words, as Paul wrote, if a person denounces God’s existence, they are “without excuse” (Romans 1:20) – but that’s not the focus of this blog, I only state this for context.
The very best intention you can have as a child of God is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, our “great Shepherd” (Hebrews 13:20), for this is how you tap into His boundless knowledge, as He embodies the Word of God (John 1:14). The accompanying good news is that God the Holy Spirit is like your personal tutor along the way! He’s even there to fill your mouth in times of need (John 14:26).
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.
– Proverbs 2:1-15
An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
– Proverbs 18:15
So, why do I start out a blog titled, How Can You Love Someone You Don’t Know?, with a bunch of primitive statements about knowledge and wisdom? Because godly love is a derivative of Biblical knowledge. The point being that it’s impossible to truly love the Lord if you don’t know Him; yet, I hear all the time about the depth of love some so-called “Christians” have for Jesus. How can this be, I ask? Well, the Spirit gave us all a good hint with a blog from a couple of weeks ago titled, Another Jesus. The simple truth is that if a person proclaims to love Jesus in the absence of knowing (or having rejected) what the Bible has revealed about Him (aka – what He has revealed about Himself), then they are like a house built on “sand” (Matthew 7:26), or as the physician, Luke, recorded:
Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
– Luke 6:47-49
To love is to know. To know the Perfect One, Jesus Christ, is to trust Him with your life. The Bible calls this faith (Romans 10:17).
Anyone can say the words, “I love you.” That same person may convince themselves that their love is true in the absence of Biblical knowledge. However, the Bible paints a very different picture – if we lack knowledge, our love is vapid and easily destroyed. True love is invincible, unflappable in the face of danger, even death, something Jesus illustrated when He went to the Cross to bear the sins of those whom He loved (Hebrews 12:2; Romans 5:8; John 15:13).
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
– 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a
So, to answer the question on the table, “How can you love someone you don’t know?” Well, the answer is simple, according to God’s Word: you can’t. If you say you love Jesus, but you don’t know what the Word of God says about Him, then you are loving a Jesus that either you or someone else made up. It’s akin to saying you love a famous movie actor because of the roles they’ve played. You don’t love that person; you love the appealing image of that person. This same gross error pervades contemporary Christianity due to the simple fact that so-called “Christian” churches either purposely keep their congregants away from the Bible or the congregants, themselves, are happy to accept and support a “Jesus” that appeals to their human flesh (you know, the lopsided one that loves you “just the way you are”).
The first thing anyone should know about Jesus Christ is that He hates sin. The human flesh is utterly polluted with the thing He hates, so why in the world would anyone suppose that Jesus Christ loves sinners “just the way they are”??? That’s foolishness – why even go to the Cross to sanctify them if they are good as is? Sadly, that very lie is taught from pulpits across the world, and it’s a lie from the pit of Hell!
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
– Psalm 5:4-5
The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
– Psalm 11:5
One question clears up all the lies that are peddled these days: Does God throw sin or sinners into Hell?
While you answer that for yourself, I’ll finish my work on this blog…
To love is to know. You can’t love (additionally, you can’t trust or have faith in) someone you don’t know. To say you do is to lie to yourself. You may enjoy lying to yourself for the sake of preserving your self-life. If that’s you or someone in your life, then at least know what Jesus said:
“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.’
– Matthew 7:21-23
My friend, the Lord God has me write blogs like this one because there are too many lies being peddled by people who don’t even know Jesus Christ simply because they don’t know God’s Word. Biblical knowledge is the only way of knowing the One who can save you and keep you saved (Hebrews 7:25)!!! Strong emotions in the absence of Truth are incapable of delivering you from the throes of your own human flesh.
I recently taught Part 1 & Part 2 in a series titled, Set Your Minds on the Things of the Spirit. I highly recommend listening to them after reading this blog because they encourage us to seek that which occupies the mind, namely knowledge of Truth. Everything, including our emotions, flow from that which first takes root in our minds.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.
– Psalm 119:66-68
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins