A false teaching had seeped into the Colossian Church, called Gnosticism.
This teaching has attacked the very person-hood of Jesus Christ and denied His deity.
Today the Gnostic belief is still alive and well, in the form of the New Age movement and other, shall we say, “Created” faiths.
Jesus said in: [John 14:6] “‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
Elaine Pagels (author of The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ) says she had an epiphany while reading the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas during graduate school, particularly this passage, which reads:
“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.”
According to Pagels, “This saying DOES NOT tell us WHAT to believe but challenges us to discover what lies hidden within ourselves….”
This Gnostic perspective essentially says that salvation is within ourselves, and that through a process of self-discovery we are able to find redemption.
In other words, you have the ability to save yourself if you will look deep enough within.
Let’s look at verse 15 of Colossians chapter 1 and compare the truth with fiction.
1. This verse tells us that Jesus is the “image” of the invisible God:
The word “image” here is from the Greek είκών [pronounced I-cone] which means the exact image, the very person of God.
What this word tells us is that Jesus was the perfect manifestation of God.
God is invisible but Jesus Christ reveals God to the world because Jesus IS God in the flesh.
2. Gnosticism says there are many mediators between God and man:
This is the very same teaching, TODAY, that tries to convince you that there are many ways to get to God and you do not need Jesus ALONE to get there… just jump on any of these roads that make you feel comfortable.
Now you can add a little Jesus if it makes you feel better but you don’t really need Jesus to get to God… just try one of these other, more easier to deal with ways.
Let me show you some facts that Jesus teaches us about God that destroys this gnostic teaching.
a. The fact that Jesus came to earth shows that He and He alone is supreme and the only one who is qualified to get you to God.
b. His coming to earth and mingling with people proves that God is near, unlike the gods of the world, He is not some distant and uncaring being who is separated from you and me by a multitude of go-betweens or many different ways.
c. The fact that Jesus died at the hands of men proves that He willingly sacrificed Himself for you and me.
Don’t forget what Jesus told Peter, when Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest: [Mat 26:53 NKJV] “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?”
3. Early Gnosticism taught that matter is evil, therefore the body is evil:
Here’s what happened
The early Gnostics believed that God, being holy and pure, could have no contact with matter because physical matter is evil and if God were to take on a human body He would become contaminated. But they also believed they could combine their theories with Christianity.
To do so, however, they had to explain how God could have created the world with all of its evil and be seen as blameless.
There was two parts to their solution.
1. God created a lesser god who in turn created another who god who created another… for at least 30 times. This way thru true God would not get too close to matter.
Christ, in their teaching, was nothing more than one of these created beings.
The second part of the solution was:
2. Christ really didn’t become a man but only appeared to have a body because, even if He were just a created subordinate, by receiving a real body He would become contaminated and would no longer be qualified to be the Savior of all mankind.
So, in reality, by claiming that Christ was just one of these created gods, sent to free us from the evil matter they were denying the deity of Christ by saying that He is not true God. And so God Himself would not have been contaminated by evil when Christ came in the flesh. (Lutzer 1998)
But it seems to me, by this conclusion that the Christ of Gnosticism has been disqualified as a Savior.
I would like to show you how Jesus coming in the flesh proves Gnosticism to be nothing more than a myth.
The body is not evil but is held in high honor before God. If the Gnostic belief were true, Jesus would not have taken on a human body when he came to earth.
Now think about this; Gnosticism tried to convince the early church that Jesus didn’t really have a physical body but pretended to.
They taught that if the body is evil that God would literally be touched by evil if Jesus were truly God, in the flesh, and actually took on a human body, when He was born in that stable long ago. God would have been contaminated and He Himself would be in need of a savior. BUT
Paul tells us in; [Rom 12:1 NIV] “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your BODIES as a living sacrifice, HOLY and PLEASING to God--this is your true and proper worship.”
According to Paul; my/your physical body is to be offered to God as a living sacrifice. Not only that; our bodies are to be considered holy and pleasing to God.
Why would I offer my body to God if my body or ALL physical matter is evil? The only thing, according to the Gnostic belief worthy of surrendering to God is my mind/my thoughts…
[1Co 6:19-20 NIV] “19 Do you not know that your bodies are [WHAT?] temples of the Holy Spirit, who is [WHERE?] in you, whom you have received from[WHO?] GOD? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your BODIES.”
If matter is evil and God deliberately placed the Holy Spirit in me/you then we have a major problem. If the Holy Spirit is God, then God just contaminated Himself…
I cannot imagine God placing His Spirit in me/you if the body were nothing but pure evil…
4. Gnosticism teaches that the way to God is through knowledge:
The emphasis here is on SELF here. Gaining wisdom and knowledge, personal improvement. We can see this teaching, today, in those self-help books and such. It’s all about filling your head while ignoring your heart.
Let me say that acquiring knowledge is not a bad thing and God desires for you and me to learn BUT knowledge, alone, is not salvation. Knowledge is a good place to start in order to find true salvation BUT knowledge must move from the head to the heart.
Let me show you just a tidbit of what God’s Word has to say about wisdom and understanding.
[Pro 1:7 NIV] 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
[Pro 2:6, 10 NIV] 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; (pause) from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. ... 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
[Pro 8:10 NIV] 10 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold,
[Pro 10:14 NIV] 14 The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
[Pro 12:1 NIV] 1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.
God desires that we gain wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
[Pro 17:27 NIV] 27 The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.
Do you see the importance of knowledge and understanding from this verse? The one who has knowledge knows when to KEEP THEIR MOUTH SHUT.
Those without knowledge [without knowing the whole story] are constantly stirring up strife. Single handedly they are able to tear the church apart and destroy the ministry, without placing a hand on another person… all they need is a phone with a willing ear and voice to help spread their garbage, on the other end…and before you know it there is no church to come to; because you and your little posse have destroyed it.
The person with understanding stays out of other people’s business, while those without understanding are constantly looking for a fight and usually find one even if they have to stir up a bunch of lies, without knowing the whole story…
Yes God’s desire is for you/me to gain wisdom and knowledge…
But simply knowing about someone is not knowing the person. Having nothing more than a personal knowledge of God is not what brings salvation.
You can know about God…You can know about religion…You can know a lot of church words and split hell wide open. You can be baptized until your skin wrinkles and not know the One who gave His life for your sins, on that cross.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a different perspective from that of Elaine Pagels:
He said, “The fact that Jesus Christ died is more important than the fact that I shall die, and the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is the sole ground of my hope that I, too, shall be raised on the Last Day.
Our salvation is “external to us.” I find no salvation in my life history, but only in the history of Jesus Christ.
Only he who allows himself to be found in Jesus Christ, in His incarnation, His cross, and His resurrection, is with God and God with him”
Here is what I want you to understand: we cannot save ourselves.
Salvation lies outside of who or what you are.
You cannot depend on events that have happened in your history unless you depend on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So what are you depending on to get to heaven? Anything short of a REAL & PERSONAL relationship with Christ is as useful as a screen door on a submarine…
