“But if any man love God, the same is known of him.”
But whoever loves God is known by God. — The inversion climaxes here: not knowing God but being known by God (egnōstai hypo tou theou) is what matters. The knowledge that counts is God's recognition, God's covenant knowledge of the believer. Love toward God (agapē ton theon) becomes the criterion for authentic faith. The shift from knowing to being known reverses the order of importance: standing before God matters infinitely more than possessing information.
Church Fathers on 1 Corinthians 8:3
“But if any man love God, the same,” he does not say, “knows Him,” but, “is known of Him.” For we have not known Him, but He has known us. And therefore did Christ say, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” And Paul elsewhere, “Then shall I know fully, even as also I have been known.” Observe now, I pray, by what means he brings down their high-mindedness. First, he points out that not they alone knew the things which they knew; for “we all,” he says, have…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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