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Christianity vs. Gnosticism
by David A. DePra
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they
are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesses not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is
it in the world. (I John 4:1-3)
To whom God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory. (Col. 1:27)
My little children, of whom I travail in
birth again until Christ be formed in you.
(Gal. 4:19)
A number of the epistles in the NT were written to combat legalism, or in
the case of John’s writings, Gnosticism.
But God doesn’t waste space.
Gnosticism was nothing more than the first century manifestation of the spirit
of antichrist. That same spirit of
antichrist is being manifested today under other names and forms.
Yet the underlying error – the underlying denial of Jesus Christ – is
exactly the same. This is why it is
important for us to understand the heresy of Gnosticism.
Doing so will expose how the enemy seeks to blind people to the reality
Jesus Christ who dwells in us, in favor of a substitute.
Now, before proceeding, we need to grasp that last statement:
The enemy seeks to blind people to the reality of Christianity, which is
CHRIST IN US, the hope of glory.
(Col. 1:27) This has always been the
goal of Satan – John warns, “Any spirit which does not confess Jesus having come
in the flesh – i.e., Christ in us – is not of God, but this is the spirit of
antichrist.” Note that John does not
mention any particular error. He
simply says that any Spirit that does not confess – meaning reveal to us or do
the work in us – of Jesus having come in the flesh, is not of God.
In other words, regardless of HOW we are blinded to the reality of
Christ, the fact that we are blinded is evidence of the work of the enemy.
The Spirit of God will always reveal Christ, form Christ in us, and edify
us in Christ. Where that is NOT
happening, the spirit of antichrist is at work.
The Bible states that Satan often comes as an angel, or messenger, of
LIGHT. Light illuminates, or seems
to bring clarity. Light will seem to
provide ANSWERS – and often when Satan is at work among Christian people, those
answers will appear to provide LIGHT FROM GOD.
It is silly to suppose that Satan is going to be able to deceive anyone
by exposing himself for who he is.
No. Satan will appear as an
messenger or conveyance of LIGHT – masquerade as the Spirit of God, or even as
another Jesus.
Now, you will note that an angel of light is, in fact, a substitute for
the real. And once the substitute
for light and truth is offered and accepted, people will generally stop seeking
the real thing. Thus, it is a common
ploy for Satan to blind people to Christ BY USING a substitute that appeals to
them; makes sense to them; offers them something that they desire.
Think of this in religious terms in a Christian context – rather than in
simple material terms. Satan can
lead people astray with money and material goods, to be sure.
But what Satan really wants to do is offer a Christ, and Christianity,
that is error, but that appeals to them. If
we do not know Jesus Christ then we will be more likely to accept a Christ that
is created in our own image – mirrors our own needs and lusts.
This can be in either a positive or negative way.
Professing Christians can be led to believe error because they want to
get something from God, or because they are afraid of Him.
Satan knows how to tailor deception to our internal makeup – to our
particular version of the flesh.
But again, the only way in which we will ever be able to discern error is
if we know the Truth Himself. ALL
discernment is the byproduct of knowing Jesus Christ.
Yet if we are blinded to Him, we may be subject to our own bias, fears,
hopes, lusts, ambitions, and brain power.
Satan will jump on those.
Gnosticism was not an exception, especially in the first century Greek
world. The Greeks made supposed
wisdom, philosophy, and reasoning central.
All of this was, of course, mingled with the occult.
They worshipped false gods.
And during the first century many of the Greek converts tried to carry over
Gnostic teaching into their relationship with Christ.
Gnosticism
The Gnostics believed that each person through natural birth had a spark
of light and life in them. Thus, to
them, salvation was a matter of coming into the knowledge of this inward
capacity. Thus, we have the term,
“Gnostic,” or, “knowledge.” Of
course, in the NT, we find a, “Christianized,” version of Gnosticism that had
invaded the church, and against which John and Paul write.
This teaching of Gnosticism, that man has within himself, the essentials
for salvation, is a denial of Jesus Christ – it is a denial of the very
definition of Christianity.
Christianity, at the core, is, “Christ in you.”
(Col. 1:27) John states the same
Truth in his first epistle. He says
that the Spirit of God will always confess, “Jesus having come in the flesh” (I
John 4:1-4) – i.e., the Spirit of God will always reveal Christ in us.
This is exactly the same Truth.
But the Gnostic heresy denied this Truth by saying that, no, we do not
receive all that God has for man through the indwelling of His Son.
Rather, they taught that man already have what he needs for life and
light within ourselves through birth into the Adam race.
Thus, rather than teach that Christ IS our life, and that Christ IS our
light, the Gnostics would say that Jesus merely came to bring out those
capacities that are already within us.
And as we came into the knowledge and experience of these inbred
capacities, we come into salvation.
The
bottom line on Gnosticism – the form that corrupted the Christian church -- is
that there is something within the Adam race upon which Jesus Christ came to
build; that Jesus merely came to bring out capacities already in us.
The application could be to salvation, or really, on any level.
So note the contrast:
Gnosticism taught that Jesus came to bring out a life that is already in me.
Christianity teaches that Christ comes from the outside of me into me --
and becomes my life.
Is Jesus Christ my life? My
source for all things? Or does God
want to find something in ME? This
is the question. Christianity, as
corrupted by the Gnostic heresy, is not, “Christ in you,” or, “Jesus having come
in the flesh.” No. We don’t receive
by grace in Jesus Christ all that God has to give – i.e., the Person of Christ
within us is not the SOURCE of all life and light.
Rather, under the Gnostic heresy, man himself is the source – oh yes,
because, “God put in there,” through natural birth, but nevertheless, man
himself already has all that he needs.
Again – the Gnostics taught that Christ is not our life, and not our
light – rather, the Gnostic Christ is One who came to bring into our knowledge
those capacities from out of US.
“I AM”
Once we realize that this was the heresy that had corrupted the Christian
church, it becomes clear as to why John continually brings to the fore, not only
who Jesus IS, but the fact that Christianity is, “Jesus having come in the
flesh.” John records Jesus saying,
“I AM…the Life…the Light…the Truth.”
He says, “God is light.” In other
words, life and light are not already in man.
Only if we receive – from the outside of us INTO us from above – the One
who IS the Life and who IS the Light, are we born anew.
We are utterly barren otherwise.
John brings the church back to the PERSON OF JESUS as the embodiment of
all that God has to give to His people.
Gnosticism denied the Cross because if the Adam race already has within
the necessities for salvation then the Adam race does not have to end at the
Cross. We don’t need a new creation
in Christ – rather, we need Jesus to simply tap into the latent life and light
in us. Neither do we need Jesus
Christ to come to dwell in us and to be unto us all that we need – Jesus need
only be a facilitator – an luminary who brings us into the knowledge of
ourselves. Indeed, Gnosticism denied
that God would never dirty Himself by dwelling within a flesh and blood human
being – thus, John’s declaration that the Spirit of God will always confess,
“Jesus having come in the flesh.”
Now, all of this is quite interesting, and to some, perhaps nothing more
than a history lesson. But God did
not inspire warnings and teachings against such heresy – knowing that such error
would fade away by the end of the apostolic age.
The heresies of Satan take on many names and forms throughout the ages,
but in the end, the spiritual principles behind them are constant.
Satan always seeks to blind people to the reality of, “Christ in us, the
hope of glory,” and to offer something else as a substitute for their
Christianity. And most often, that
something else is man himself. Satan
wants to offer a Christianity that is based upon something IN US – Jesus merely
facilitating what is in us. In the
first century, that heresy was called Gnosticism.
Today it is called by other names.
All in Christ
When is the last time you heard a sermon on, “Christ in us, the hope of
glory”? When is the last time that
you were in a church, or in a group, that focused upon the Person of Jesus
Christ – and the forming of Jesus Christ in you?
Paul said, “I travail until Christ be formed in you.”
(Gal. 4:19) Today we barely
talk about this reality. Today the
reality of Jesus Christ having come in the flesh – Christ in us – is rarely
mentioned, and if it is, it is rarely mentioned as the very core of
Christianity. Yet John specifically
states that any spirit that does NOT confess this great core Truth is NOT of
God. Do we think he meant, “confess
it once in awhile as an aside.”? No.
He was talking about the confessing it as the overall governing Truth of
our life in Christ. The question is
whether we believe this and take it seriously.
Paul wrote Colossians in part to combat Gnosticism.
In that epistle, especially in chapters 2 and 3, he continually
emphasizes that ALL that God has for man is found in Christ, and NOTHING that
God has for man if found outside of Him.
Paul says, again and again, “In Him…by Him…through Him…because of Him.”
He writes this because the error of Gnosticism suggested that there is
that spark of light and life in US – meaning that ALL was not in Christ and
needed to be received IN HIM. Today
many of us continue to accept that lie – maybe not in words, and maybe not in
the same form. But if we have built
our Christianity in any way upon ourselves we are under this same deception.
How many of us realize that if ALL is in Christ then NOTHING is in us?
That we are here talking, not merely about seeing the principle, but of
actually coming to where Jesus Christ IS our life?
That will cost us OUR life – our natural man.
Therefore, rather than build upon US, Jesus came to put us to death IN
HIMSELF, that we might be raised with Him in newness of life – meaning raised
with Christ as our life. Again,
Gnosticism taught that Jesus came to bring out of US the real life that has
always been in us. Christianity
teaches that we receive Christ from above into us from the outside -- and then
once Christ is in us, He is our life.