Knowing God by the Spirit of Life

Written May 5, 2015

God is spirit, and true knowledge of Him comes through our spirit, our inner-most part which is one with Him. Intimacy with Jesus Christ is the only means for us to know God, for He Himself is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 4:24; Eph. 3:16; John 14:6-7). Note that effectual knowledge of God is not cognitive (of the mind, part of our soul); we cannot know God through the knowledge of good and evil any more than either Adam or the seemingly faultless Pharisee Saul could. Most Christians strive to differentiate right from wrong without realizing that we thereby reject the grace of the indwelling Spirit of Life and subject ourselves to the law of sin and death (see Gen. 2:9, 16-17; Ro. 8:2). It is a grave error: You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. (Gal. 5:4). Indeed, we are deceived and rebel against God every time we reason good from evil; furthermore, we are presumptuous and gratify only the desires of our flesh when we plan “good” things to do for Him (see Gal.5:16-18). Effectual servants of the Lord are humble and contrite in spirit, and relinquish control to Him who is All-in-all; we rest in Christ’s victory, and trust Him to keep us by His power (see Is. 66:2b; Ro. 6:2-3; 1Peter 1:5).

So how does God cause His humbled servants to know Him as we are intimate with Christ? [T]he Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. (John 16:15b). As we rest in Christ our Sabbath, we receive all the grace we need from the tree of Life. We have… received… the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to spiritual men. …we have the mind of Christ (1Cor.2:12-13 margin, 16b).

Now, God’s children must usually be quiet to hear what He is saying, and we must be still to discern the direction of His subtle movement within us. Discerning Life from death is a far finer faculty than reasoning good from evil; we must make time to be still with God and hear what He is saying if we are to truly serve Him. Recall that Jesus had to withdraw to lonely places and pray in private on many occasions, with one key time lasting through an entire night (see Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:28; 11:1).

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength

If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.

Be still and know that I am God – Isaiah 30:15b; John 14:7a; Psalm 46:10a

Knowing God through repentance and rest in Christ with you, your sister deanna