The same is true about the Lord Jesus Christ. Most people in the United States know some facts about Him. About half the world knows nothing about Him at all.
The problem comes when we realize that the Bible says you must know Him. Listen to these verses from Matthew 7:22,23 that tell us something about how to be saved: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Even being able to do miracles is not enough to get into Heaven. Others may have preached about Christ, and still others may have gone to church all their lives. To Jesus it does not matter if you do not know Him. He is not a respecter of persons and He makes no exceptions.
Sometimes people even pray for Christ to save them – but they still don't know Him. Why? Because they did not pray in faith, or with true repentance. Christ desires to be Lord (Boss). He only offers salvation on his terms. What are those terms? We find those terms in Romans 10:9,10: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Notice that first there must be confession. We must admit to God that we are sinners and we deserve His wrath in Hell. Secondly, there must be a changing of our minds about our relationship to Him. Whereas we served self before, now we realize this is sin and we need Him to take His rightful place in our lives – as the Boss, which is what the word "Lord" in "Lord Jesus" means. Then, the verse also mentions that we must believe that Christ died for your sins (personal) and that He rose again.
Once again I ask: Do you really know Him, or only know something about Him? It really does not an eternal difference!
As the Bible says, if you have asked Him to forgive you and you want to stay away from sin and serve Him, and meet the other conditions, then the Bible says you are saved. Now, are you growing in your knowledge of Him? Do you know Him better than you did a month ago?
The way we get to know Him better is to follow Him and spend time with Him. We do this through reading the Bible and prayer. Just as important, though, we also need to be in a strong Bible teaching church.
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Photo Credit: Unchanged; from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rykneethling/5811681688
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Keywords: Savior, Lord Jesus, Bible, salvation, Christ died, Heaven, repentance, how to be saved, confession, Romans 10 9