You need to understand that for me academia is the heaven the Spirit has lured me to. I am not sure what you mean by gnosticism. It simply means knower. In early Christianity, it meant that the Kingdom of God is within us, something now. It also meant that to be saved was to follow Christ into an immaterial realm,outside the universe. It also meant that we have a direct immediate connection to God and therefore do not need the priesthood as intercessors. It also meant a number of other things as well. Some of these things I agree with, some not.
Now, I sense you are working out of a kind of TULIP concept of salvation. Right? If so, OK,fine. However, not all Christians agree with the TULIP approach. I frankly do not agree with a bit of it.
I believe that God loves everyone, not just the elect. I believe God saves everyone, not just the elect. In fact, for those who hold with the concept of election, I point out that this denotes only a tiny minority of persons. Calvin said the elect were so few in number that they may never meet up with one another. So, if you hold with election, changes are you are really really one of the reprobate. Further, I believe God as truly a God of love does not coerce people by threats of horrendous punishments, hell, damnation, etc. I reject the the TULIP emphasis that only bible-believing Christians are saved. I feel that is just another form of Christian Imperialism. For God, it is far more important how you live than any doctrines you hold. When critics academics or view it as unimportant, I point out that , ironically, the TULIP approach that went overboard on scholasticism, so that faith collapsed into simply intellectual ascent to doctrine. It really doesn't matter how you live, just what doctrines you believe .
I believe salvation and sanctification are one. The journey itself means as much as the final destination. God is the Cosmic Artist continually luring us to greater forms of beauty and that means greater depth and breadth of feeling. There is no relationship to God that cannot be deepened. I ask you this: What do you think will happen when you come before the throne of God and he asks you if you have any interesting snapshots to show?