“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #83
“But if any man love God, the same is known of him” (1 Cor. 8:3).
This short statement is a hinge in this argument. Paul has just said that love builds up, and knowledge (of a certain kind) puffs up. If a man is puffed up by his knowledge, then his knowledge is not true knowledge—he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if he loves, then he does know as he ought to know.
In short, if he loves God, then he is known by God, which means (in turn) that he knows as he ought to know. This knowledge on the part of God is clearly not saying that when one of us starts loving God, then at that point, God’s omniscience swims into focus. “Oh, there you are!” This is the knowledge of relationship, and not the knowledge of raw cognition. To say that God knows a man here is to say that the man in question loves God, and knows how to use his doctrinal knowledge in ways that are a blessing to fellow Christians. His doctrine is edifying.
It is important therefore to note that epistemology is linked to love. We can’t know as we ought to unless we are known by God, and we can’t be known by God unless we love Him. Loving God is therefore the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7; 9:10).