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Do I Know God?: Finding Certainty in Life's Most Important Relationship

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There can be no question more important to a person than this one: "Do I know God?" Those who do know Him have the privilege of being adopted into the family of God and being assured of an eternity in His presence. Those who do not have no such privilege and no such hope. In America the vast majority of people claim to be Christians and claim to know God, but so many lives simply do not bear this out. People may know about God, but they do not know God as He is. And so many will perish, going to the grave with some kind of false assurance, thinking they know God when really they do not. It does us all good to ask not once but throughout life, "Do I know God?"

God wants us to know Him and not only that, He wants us to know that we know Him. He wants us to be able to find certainty in this most important relationship. This certainty, the certainty that allows us to have confidence that we are saved and that God loves and will preserve us, is the subject of Do I Know God? by Tullian Tchividjian. Though not a household name, his full name provides some important context: William Graham Tullian Tchividjian is the grandson of Ruth and Billy Graham. As a young man he rebelled and ran from the faith, but was radically saved in 1993 and has since entered the pastoral ministry having first graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. In 2003 he founded New City Presbyterian Church in Florida where he serves as pastor.

Tchividjian wrote this book to show that we can have assurance of our salvation and to teach the reader how we can have this kind of certainty. "The Bible makes it clear that if you're confused about which group [those who know God and those who don't] you belong to, you don't have to remain confused. If you do have a relationship with God, he wants you to know it. And if you don't have a relationship with God, he wants you to know it."

This book, then, is his attempt to give credible answers to any sincere spiritual seeker who may be asking that all-important question." Of course we live at a time when doubt is the highest absolute. We can believe what we want, but we always need to maintain a "healthy" doubt, admitting that we could be (and perhaps probably are) wrong. God's assurance flies in the face of this doubt.

The format of the book is as follows. Tchividjian first looks at what a relationship to God actually means and how we are to enter into one that is genuine. He identifies six ways that people deceive themselves into thinking they know God when in fact they do not and then seeks to assist the reader to examine himself through a kind of rigorous personal inventory. The purpose of such an examination is to determine if the reader really is showing the traits of one who believes. And finally, he suggests three practical spiritual disciplines that maintain the relationship with God and cause it to flourish.

The book is pastoral in its tone and is laced with stories and anecdotes from Tchividjian's pastoral ministry and from his own testimony. The endnotes show who has guided Tchividjian in his understanding of this most important theology: Packer, Sproul, Stott, Piper, Ryle and others all make appearances. The book closes with a Study Guide suitable for personal or group use. Tchividjian is a capable writer and one who makes a good personal connection with the reader. The book is suitable for any audience.

Do I Know God? is a helpful and biblical response to that all-important question. With the answers grounded in the character of God and built upon the testimony of Scripture, this book will serve anyone who may be wondering or wavering. I'm glad to recommend it.

I just read this book over thanksgiving weekend. great book. Tullian does a great job explaining how praying the sinner's prayer, making a decision, being religious, being spiritual, doing good works, and having 'faith' all don't necessarily imply that you really KNOW Jesus. He makes the point that desiring Him in your heart, living a changed life, and trusting in His faithfulness are 3 key areas that we look for assurance that we've really been born again.

But the best and most helpful chapter in the book is probably chapter 10 - "Knowing God in the dark night." It's all about those 'dry' seasons where we just don't feel His presence (and sometimes begin to wonder if we really know Him). Tullian makes the great pt that if you ache for His presence, that's an evidence that we DO have a relationship with Him.

overall great book for anyone struggling with assurance. I wasn't even struggling with assurance when I picked it up and it still helped tremendously. Praise be to God for His saving and assuring Grace.

Everyone who has agonized over Matthew 7:22ff, (where Jesus predicts that many will say to Him, in that Day, that they were certainly expecting His welcome, but were wrong), will want to read Tullian's careful Biblical study of the question, "Do I Know God.?"
Hopefully many of those that answer that question with an emphatic affirmative will read the book. The presentation is interesting; relying on personal anecdotes making the profound exposition most readable. The footnoted quotations, supporting the logical progression of Tullian's ideas will be invaluable to those asked by others for help with this question.
The strong endorsements of J.I. Packer, Ravi Zacharias, Os Guiness, and Tullian's grandfather, Billy Graham commend this book to all of us that care about our personal answer to the Title question.

I appreciate the easy to understand writing style of Tullian. So simple a child could understand and yet written with deep godly wisdom. Tullian doesn't pull his punches, he smacks you right between the eyes and at the same time he conveys the love, grace and mercy God has for his fallen children. I read this book because I thought to give it to a loved one who has drifted away from the Lord. However what I found is a book that has challenged me to a more intimate walk with my Savior. Whether you faithfully attend church or never attend this is a book that can change your life. I will be keeping this copy and I'm ordering several more. I highly recommend this insightful book that has been obviously written by a man who has stood on both sides of the fence and now stands as a witness to the power of God to transform a broken life to one that is whole and new in Christ.

In Do I Know God? Tullian Tchividjian sets out to accomplish three goals: 1) Examine what a real relationship with God means; 2) Help Christians examine their own faith so they can make their "calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10); and 3) Recommend spiritual disciplines to help Christians thrive "emotionally and spiritually" in their own relationship with Christ. In all three goals I believe the book succeeds.

Writing in a clear and simple manner, Tchividjian proceeds to explain the concept of salvation in a way that even one with little prior understanding of the Christian faith can understand. He manages to do this, however, in a way that doesn't insult the intelligence of his readers, no matter their level of spiritual maturity.

While identifying what an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ looks like, Tchividjian ensures that his readers understand the difference between knowing about God and truly knowing God. To do this, Tchividjian briefly talks about his own life experience. Though he was raised in a Christian home by godly parents, attended a Christian school and frequented church, Tchividjian never knew God as a child. This lack of a relationship, he explains, led to his rebellion as a teenager. Tchividjian writes:

"By the age of sixteen, I had dropped out of high school, managed to get myself kicked out of the house (the police literally escorted me from my parents' property), and set off party hopping across South Florida. At the time, of course, I was very pleased with my achievements. Freed from the constraints of teachers and parents, I pursued pleasure harder than most my age, trying desperately to "find myself" through promiscuity, drugs and alcohol."

Not surprisingly this lifestyle led Tchividjian down a path of self-destruction. He notes that only a few years later he "began to realize that my so-called freedoms had made me a slave to habits and desires that were destroying me." This led him to "overwhelming desperation" and what Tchividjian describes as the "end of myself." It was only then that he found peace by turning to God or, as he writes, "When I came to the beginning of God, I came to the beginning of true life." Tchividjian continues:

"I cried out to God for pardon and help, believing he was the only one who could deliver me. God answered and helped me see that my hunger for identity could be satisfied only in something that I'd never asked for when I was growing up, that I hadn't inherited from my godly parents, and that I'd certainly never found in my headlong, self-centered pursuits: a relationship with God himself."

While describing what it means to enter into a relationship with God, Tchividjian slows down and carefully defines terms that Christians often take for granted, including "sin" and "salvation." He also explores a term and concept that is often neglected in churches today during discussions of salvation: adoption. While on this topic, Tchividjian writes:

"We come into this world as spiritual orphans, relationally disconnected from our Creator. But God, because of his amazing grace, chooses to adopt sinners into his family. He chooses to turn slaves into his sons. Before God created the world, he already chose to adopt spiritually orphaned, undeserving sinners into his eternal family as fully alive sons and daughters (Ephesians 1:4 - 5)."

The next few chapters are devoted to ways many people are deceived into thinking they are going to Heaven when, in reality, they are not. Here Tchividjian lists four ways people are deceived:

Deception #1: Praying the Sinner's Prayer - Tchividjian reveals that many believe they are eternally secure because they repeated some words during a religious service at one point during their lives. Many Christian pastors contribute to this deception when, after leading a prayer, they say something like, "If you just prayed that prayer, you are now a child of God." Tchividjian says he has met several people during his ministry who falsely believed they had a relationship with Christ because they once prayed a simple believer's prayer and heard similar words from a pastor or preacher.

Deception #2: Remembering a Past Decision for Christ - This is similar to the first deception. Tchividjian reveals that many believe they have a genuine relationship with God because they can recall a past event in their life when they made some sort of vague decision to "follow Christ." While he points out that it is wonderful to "remember God's activity in our past," we simply cannot base something as important as the authenticity of our relationship with God on that basis alone. Instead, Tchividjian explains, we need to "look for evidence" in what we love and how we live. He devotes ample amount of space to these topics in later chapters.

Deception #3: Being Religious - Tchividjian writes that many people believe they can enter into a relationship with God and secure their place in Heaven by regularly performing religious activities. In other words, these people believe that by attending church, tithing, fasting, being baptized and participating in the Lord's Supper they are automatically right with god. While these things are important, Tchividjian explains they don't mean one has a living relationship God.

Tchividjian writes:

"It's possible to be in church without being in Christ, as the New Testament describes that relationship. It's possible to be connected to religion while remaining disconnected from God. Why would walking into a church make you a Christian any more than walking into a garage makes you a car?"

Deception #4: Being Spiritual - Tchividjian points out that many in our society have become enamored with transcendence, mystery and the supernatural in our society. Yet the Bible explicitly warns against participating in any such spirituality separated from the truth of the Bible. Tchividjian writes:

"It's encouraging that so many people are rediscovering their spiritual thirst and are open to spiritual answers to their deepest questions and longings. But just as salt water can't quench our physical thirst, so false and incomplete spirituality can never satisfy our spiritual thirst. Only true relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ can satisfy that thirst. True spirituality is the inner experience of an ever-deepening relationship with God the Father, through God the Son, in God the Spirit. Anything less than entering into an eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ is a false spirituality that cannot save or satisfy."

Near the end of the book, Tchividjian devotes a chapter to the "practical pursuit of assurance." Tchividjian asserts that practicing a few spiritual disciplines will help believers know they are in a real and personal relationship with God. The three main practices Tchividjian highlights are reading the Bible, prayer and church fellowship. He rightly believes that, when believers regularly engage in these three practices, they will experience less doubt and flourish both emotionally and spiritually as long as these disciplines are continued consistently.

It is when discussing these points that Tchividjian's writing really shines. He takes great care to give his readers practical advice on how to carry out these disciplines in their daily lives. For instance, while explaining the importance of reading the Bible, he mentions specific Bible reading plans that he has found helpful and recommends a few study Bibles and translations as well. It is this kind of advice that can make this book so valuable to the new believer. He dispenses similar advice while talking about his own struggle to pray consistently and emphasizing the benefits and importance of regular church attendance. While more mature Christians have probably already heard this advice before, it helps to hear it again. For new Christians, however, it is exactly the type of practical advice that can so easily make a huge difference in their spiritual walk.

When all is said and done, Tchividjian has written a great book for new believers and those currently struggling with their personal relationship with God. Tchividjian's message is timeless and something even mature Christians need to hear from time to time. That being said, I would recommend this book especially to be given as gifts from Christians to their friends and family members they know who are questioning their faith. It is a great and easy-to-understand book for this type of audience. I also think it would be a great idea for a church to use this book, if they don't already have something similar in place, as a study guide for new members to read as a way to introduce new Christians to their new faith. Either way, I honestly believe that anyone who takes the time to read Do I Know God? will benefit from Tchividjian's insightful and thorough answer given to the book's title.

How can I be sure that I know God?

Can I be a Christian and not feel God's presence?

Should I trust my feelings?

Is it right to even want assurance of my relationship with God?

Pastors and laypeople alike wrestle with these and other difficult questions about the reality and vibrancy of our relationship with God. Tullian Tchividjian's Do I Know God? Finding Certainty in Life's Most Important Relationship (Multnomah, 2007) offers answers to these questions in a way that is both pastorally sensitive and unflinchingly biblical. Do I Know God? is written not only for people who want to know God, but also for those of us who want to know that we know God.

In his exploration of the answers to this important question, Tullian takes us in three directions. First, he helps readers understand what an authentic relationship with God looks like. In the early chapters, he exposes the false assumptions of many who assume they know God, showing how knowing about God is different than knowing God personally.

Next, he helps us examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith by asking tough, biblical questions about the fruitfulness of our lives. Towards the end, Tullian shows us some practical ways to help us sense the assurance of our salvation.

Pastors who wish to preach on assurance of salvation would do well to consult Tullian's book. Laypeople who struggle with the assurance of their salvation will discover the book to be very accessible. Peppered with illustrations from Tullian's ministry and personal experience, Do I Know God? combines faithful biblical teaching with warmth that comes from the heart of a pastor. Some of the most helpful chapters deal with six ways in which people sometimes deceive themselves into thinking they know God when in reality they are far from him.

In addressing the question of certainty, Tullian emphasizes the nature of God and his promises to us. Again and again, he makes the case that salvation is all of grace. There are a couple of places where he seems to contradict himself (at one point in the book, he states that we cannot achieve salvation, but only receive it, although elsewhere he uses the terminology of achieving salvation), but the overwhelming message of the book is that salvation is all of God, which strengthens our certainty in his promises.

Do I Know God? is a well-written book that challenges, convicts and encourages us. I suspect we will be hearing more from Tullian in the days to come.

This book was written by a grandson of Billy Graham. I felt it was worth reading. It is informative and an enjoyable read, however, I feel it comes on in a strong manner but sort of fizzles out as far as keeping your attention to the end. It certainly covers very important content that needs to be taught. It answered questions for me that have plagued me from the beginning of my Christian walk.

It is a small book, you can finish it quickly. Worth buying.

If I could afford it, I would buy this book for every person I know. I have been reading through many books lately that deal with the issue of assurance of salvation and whether or not you are really a Christian. I was looking for something to give to people in my life who think they are Christians and really aren't. The other books I read are great books for people who actually are Christians and just need assurance. But this is the book for those who have false assurance. But it's also good for those of us who really are saved and just love to read about the security of our salvation. It is written in such simple, yet beautiful language. I found myself crying at several spots because of the way he describes the beauty of what my Savior has done for me. But for those who are not in a relationship with the LORD, it will make it clear to them where they stand.

It's a very thought provoking book. He gets his point across in a straight-forward, easy-to-read style. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to deepen their relationship with God or looking for a little guidance.

The Apostle John wrote his first epistle to Christians ("you who believe in the name of the Son of God"). And why did John write? "That you may know that you have eternal life" (I John 5:13). While God delights to grant assurance of salvation to His children, we're also told that assurance is a blessing that each Christian is to earnestly seek (II Peter 1:10). And in thinking about assurance of salvation we must inevitably consider questions like:

Is certainty possible in this area? What does it mean to truly know God? Is it possible to be "sure" I know God, and yet be deceived? How does being saved by grace relate to doing good works?

What I found particularly helpful about Do I Know God? by Tullian Tchividjian (pastor of New City Presbyterian Church in south Florida) is that it powerfully addresses these questions in an engaging, relational tone (including apt illustrations from Tchividjian's own life) while also explaining the gospel. All in a book that's less than 200 pages long.

For example, Tchividjian walks us through his own conversion at the age of 19 and then later devotes a chapter to explaining the relationship between saving faith and good works. He helps the reader understand the crucial difference between working for salvation (trying to earn God's favor by right living) and working out salvation (progressively, increasingly obeying God through faith as the necessary and inevitable outworking of having had our hearts transformed such that we've embraced Jesus Christ as our Savior, Lord, and Treasure). Consequently, it is the sort of book that is simultaneously useful for Christians and those still exploring the faith. In addressing assurance, Tchividjian does a good job balancing the importance of belief in God's promises, internal evidence of salvation (affections for God), and external evidence (increasing obedience, i.e., progressive sanctification). He also explains how to maintain assurance when God seems most absent.

In short, I commend this book, particularly to younger Christians or those who are investigating Christianity.