Gnostic Gospel

[RandyPNW]

Someone said:
No. All i heard was [the Gnostics] claimed to have "secret knowledge" for salvation. Which doesn't really make sense given the Gospel.

I answered:
Yes, the Gospel is pretty up front. It just shows that some people want wisdom and knowledge, in place of the knowledge of Christ. Their own "knowledge" is accessible at all times, and can serve their own purposes, in place of Christ's purposes.

It's like having an encyclopedia set, or Wikipedia. You have all that information at your disposal to enact with it, to use it, as you please. You can cut out the parts that talk about Christ and his ways.

But the knowledge of Christ means that you put him 1st as Lord. His interests in the Kingdom come before all other interests, including your own and those of your friends and loved ones.

There can only be one Lord in God's Kingdom, and we can serve that purpose by listening to His ways alone.

Apart from simple knowledge there are other religious beliefs and strange philosophies. They tickle the ear because they tend to build up the pride of those who "understand" and practice them.

But unless the knowledge is based on the Word and Spirit of Christ they cannot produce virtue that lasts for Eternal Life. Knowledge apart from Christ's Spirit cannot produce anything but carnality and a poor imitation of Christ's virtue.

Col 2.20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

The Wisdom of the World bypasses the knowledge of Christ and seeks to establish a righteousness apart from the righteousness of Christ. As such, it cannot free the body from the compulsions of Sin.

Personally, I think that even though we live in an "Age of Grace" God has not stopped judging people, including Christians who are really Gnostic teachers, though tempered by His patience and tolerance. We should make every effort to warn those heading in the wrong direction. But if they won't listen, don't waste time on them--there are plenty of others who need to be warned!

 

[ARBITER01]

Someone said:
No. All i heard was [the Gnostics] claimed to have "secret knowledge" for salvation. Which doesn't really make sense given the Gospel.

I answered:
Yes, the Gospel is pretty up front. It just shows that some people want wisdom and knowledge, in place of the knowledge of Christ. Their own "knowledge" is accessible at all times, and can serve their own purposes, in place of Christ's purposes.

Not to change your topic/subject,......but a lot of times people will tend to trust in only what their mind can conceive.

Faith can be a somewhat hard thing for people to learn. Faith goes beyond the mind into the realm of eternity with GOD,....and some folks really have a hard time trusting outside of what they "know."

Instead of asking GOD about a subject and waiting on His answer, a lot of people try searching out the answer from other people instead.

 

[RandyPNW]

Not to change your topic/subject,......but a lot of times people will tend to trust in only what their mind can conceive.

Faith can be a somewhat hard thing for people to learn. Faith goes beyond the mind into the realm of eternity with GOD,....and some folks really have a hard time trusting outside of what they "know."

Instead of asking GOD about a subject and waiting on His answer, a lot of people try searching out the answer from other people instead.

I don't disagree with that. God is "other." To have faith in Him, we need to trust in His own self-revelation, and not in what our minds conceive of Him.

A lot of what we get about God, of course, utilizes the knowledge we acquire as we grow up. But we are still called upon, by God, to meet Him in His "other" place, outside of our own dimension. We sense Him, but words probably don't do Him complete justice?