Quote from TraderZones:
No trick at all. "I never knew you" is because no one chooses God. He chooses his people. People are dead in their sins. It says that the Lord has looked down upon the sons of men to see if there is any who are righteous (do what is right) and there are none, no not one.
There was a good illustration of what salvation really is. Many evangelicals/Pentecostals think it is like being in a boat, and tossing life preservers to those who are in the water, drowning. But the much better truth is, all are lying at the bottom of the ocean, dead. And salvation is a dredging operation, bringing up the dead, and restoring life to the bodies.
In the Old Testament, Israel were his chosen people. But it constantly refers to a "remnant" or a subset of those who were true believers. In the New Testament, Jesus tells his disciples, "did I not choose you? And yet one of you is a devil." In Acts after the disciples receive the Holy Spirit, 3000 come forward and can only ask "Brethren, what must we do?" And they need to be instructed. God changed their heart, they did not choose him. And it says that God was adding daily, to those who were being saved. Believers in the New Testament are often called "the Elect" which means - chosen. God knew who would be His from before the world existed.
But the real joke is, those who laugh from the outside, when they themselves have no idea from where they came or where they are going. Or why they exist. Or why anything exists, for that matter. And the scripture clearly states that this is the way it will be.
Another smart answer will likely follow this post, but the truth is, you have no idea what you are doing here.