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Gnostic Ideas Into Christianity

 

Gnosticism is called Gnosticism (Nastism in English). Gnosis is a Greek word meaning mystical, revelatory, high knowledge, or enlightenment. The word Gnostic means spiritual knowledge,

According to Wikipedia, “Gnosticism is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) above the orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Viewing material existence as flawed or evil, Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity (sometimes associated with the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who is responsible for creating the material universe. Gnostics considered the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the supreme divinity in the form of mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance, but with illusion and enlightenment.. 』

The fundamental idea of Gnosticism is that human beings have divinity, but the spirit is trapped in the physical body, which is the substance, and thus the divinity has been hidden. So they think that through wisdom they can restore divinity and become divine beings. Those who advocate Gnosticism have diverse ideological views. Perhaps all religions except Christianity are a branch of Gnosticism. However, it would be surprising if such an idea came into Christianity.

Church people say that God created human beings to resemble God's image, but the image of God disappeared because Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. So they say that we must get out of sin and restore the image of God. The way to be free from sin is to believe in Jesus Christ. They believe that God forgives all sins through the blood of Jesus, and through this, God sends the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Jesus, so that the image of God is restored.

And, although they are freed from the original sin they committed in the Garden of Eden, they must live a thorough life of faith while examining the commandments to avoid sinning now and in the future. They also believe that in order to overcome sin, they must lead a holy life, following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The image of God is not the deity that can be God, but Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1:15, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:.”

It is Jesus who appeared in the "image of the visible God." Those who do not have the image of God are without Jesus Christ. The reason that believers work hard to maintain the image of God and lead a religious life is because they do not understand the meaning of the image of God. Those who believe that the image of God does not disappear by working hard and living a good life of faith among Christians. They may be thinking of the image as a deity capable of becoming a god. If you think so, it is no different than believing in Gnosticism.

Many Christians today have a misunderstanding of the problem of sin. They consider sin to be a violation of God's command. Of course, this is not wrong, but the heart that leads to sin (greed) has the consequences of sin. However, they see only the consequences of sin and are indifferent to the cause of sin. So, in order not to sin, they consider the commandments every day, and repeat the process of checking whether they are sinning or not. They think that breaking the commandments is a sin, and breaking the commandments is not a sin. So, in order to avoid sinning, some believe that they can live a life of faith alone with their own lifestyle, or that they can keep away from sin through good activities, or they say, “Go away, devil,” because it is the devil that causes them to sin.  These actions are of no use until the greed of the human heart is resolved. The solution is to die in union with Jesus Christ, who died on the cross. God resurrects those who have died with Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is rebirth. Being born again is not the degree of change of heart, but of becoming a new creature.

Many churchgoers believe that when they believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will come. To believe in Jesus is to believe in dying with Jesus and being born again. However, people think that if they believe in the name of Jesus, all sins will be forgiven and they will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

The Holy Spirit does not come unless we die with Jesus. However, they are trying to receive the Holy Spirit without dying with Jesus. In the book of Acts, it was thought that Simon the magician could buy the Holy Spirit with money. Even today, many churches emphasize the gift of experiencing the Holy Spirit. They believe that God works through mysterious experiences. Through the mystical experience, the Holy Spirit works on that person and they think they have become holy people, or they think that the person has the divine.

Regarding the gift, they are said to have received the prophetic power of God, and they also prophesy about the future of others, or foretell certain events that will occur in a nation or society. They communicate directly with God through mysterious words (tongues) to heal their sicknesses, and they pray for blessings and prosperity on this earth. This is no different from awakening the hidden divinity of Gnosticism. All of these actions were what God allowed His disciples in the time of the Early Church to spread the gospel of Christ, and many church people today think of it as awakening the divinity (image of God) in their hearts.

Most of the religions that pursue Gnosticism share the same ideology. It awakens the divinity in the heart. So they are trying to make it work. So they speak of religious unity. However, Christianity is a completely different story from religious unity. The Bible (Romans 1) says that there is no divinity in the human heart, only evil greed. The greed of this heart is the old man called self. The Bible does not tell us to live a holy life and keep the image of God, but to unite with Jesus Christ and die. It is with these words in the background that Jesus said to deny himself. Why is the greed of the heart a sin in Christianity? Because it is greed to become like God. Gnostics do not consider it a sin to want to be like God. Because they think they can become gods themselves.

Many Christians today not only believe in Jesus Christ, but also emphasize the activist gospel in which human beings must act. This is an activist gospel that mixes legalism with believing in Jesus. They stress that beliefs without works are false. They claim that Jesus also achieved righteousness by keeping all the laws. This is based on the doctrine of active obedience. “Belief that accompanies works” means that works appear by faith. Faith without works is not true faith. However, in today's church, faith refers to "faith without works." They say that as long as you believe in the name of Jesus, all your sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus. Faith that accompanies works is believing in "to die with Jesus and to rise with Jesus." To die with Jesus is an act of faith.