What is Gnosticism?
- It’s a philosophical & religious system, teaching that knowledge rather than faith is the key to salvation
- It swept over the church from Syria to Gaul like an epidemic
- This teaching believes the Jews God is not the supreme God
- For those who believed in heaven, believed heaven was imaginary
- It is a mixture of various religions of Christianity, Buddhism, etc.
- This was starting to disturb the saints in the faith
- It also caused much confusion among Christians from the 1st to the 6th century
First-century Gnosticism
- The Epicureans – they did not believe in any gods except in name they held the chief good consisted in pleasure (eat, drink, & be merry) Acts 17:18, Dakes ref. H
- The Stoics – they believed that no supreme good was virtue (Dakes ref. l)
- Both these sects denied the resurrection of the body (Dakes ref. l)
- Both of these sects of Gnosticism claimed that Paul was bringing two new gods to them (Jesus & the Resurrection) Acts 17:18
Modern-day Gnosticism
- Evolution – creation evolved without God
- Big Bang Theory – the universe was created without God
- Religions like Catholicism, Mormonism, etc.
- Catholics teach Mary was divine & didn’t have children after Jesus
- Their doctrine of Christ says we can’t be like Him & live free from sin
- Their excuse for not living free from sin is they say that Jesus was God
- This appealed to many in the church who were dissatisfied with the simplicity of the gospel
- They believe Jesus and the Father are the same person
- For the Christians who believe, they have an intellectual salvation
- Some music like hip hop is used to entice people
- When people who listen to hip-hop come to Christ, they need to be delivered because that music is a strong hold & possesses people
Unlike Gnosticism, we believe what the Bible says about God & Jesus
- God created the world Heb 1:1-2
- God keeps the world under control
- For this cause, saints do not have to fear global warming
- John writes this epistle to show Jesus as a human being 1 John 1:1; 4:1-4
- If Jesus did not come in the flesh, there would be no need for Him to fast 40 days Matt 4:1-11
- After the fast, the devil left Him for a season
- For this cause, there is no crutch to lean on to sin
- We can live holy because Jesus lived in the flesh free from sin Heb 4:15
- This was because some were teaching “another Jesus” 2 Cor 11:4
- John is talking about Jesus “AFTER” his resurrection I John 1:1-2
- God and Jesus are one in UNITY but not the same person John 17:21
- Saints should operate in the Spirit of unity like God and Jesus John 17:20-21
Some saints are affected by Gnosticism & sci-fi movies today
- They have a hard time believing Jesus came down from heaven John 6:38
- There are differences of opinion on who Jesus is Matt 16:13-15
- They have a vague idea where heaven is
- This is because they watch too many science fiction movies I John 2:15-17
- It’s hard for them to open their heart to the gospel
- It’s hard for them to believe
- Satan invents those science fiction movies to prevent you from believing 2 Cor. 4:4
