1 John Introduction Study

[Hidden In Him]

Gnosticism: The Heresy Which Inspired The First False Christs



                                         

     Who was the epistle of 1st John written about and why? When we know the answer to these questions, it makes accurately interpreting particular passages easier because we understand the overall context. Like the letters of Jude, 2nd Peter, 2nd Thessalonians and 2nd Timothy, the heretics being referring to in First John were the Gnostics. They were a sect of so-called "Christians" who taught that the Old Testament God was not the true father of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He was a liar, and that He and the angels who served Him were wicked, dictatorial and self-serving. As such, His commandments on matters like sexual immorality were rewarded as oppressive and irrelevant, and designed only to oppress mankind, and keep them under His thumb.
     Jude also wrote about these heretics, highlighting how their lifestyles were characterized by sexual immorality and a disdain for the Old Testament God, wishing only to "murmur" and speak harsh words against Him:

     Beloved, applying all diligence to write to you concerning our common salvation, I had need to write to you, exhorting you to lay stress upon that faith originally delivered to the saints. For certain men crept in, those of old having been proscribed unto this condemnation: They are "ungodly ones," translating the grace of our God into sexual licentiousness and disowning the only Master... Enoch also, the seventh-generation descendant from Adam, prophesied to these men, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of His holy angels to execute judgment against all, and to reprove all the ungodly concerning all their ungodly works which they committed in ungodliness, and concerning all the harsh words ungodly sinners spoke against Him. These are murmurers, complainers..." (Jude 1:1-4, 14-15)

     The apostle Peter also referred to them, even more clearly spelling out how sexually immoral their lifestyles were, and how their disowning of the Old Testament God would bring upon them swift judgment and destruction even in this life:

     But there were also false prophets among the people as there will also be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies, even disowning the Master who purchased them, and bring swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sexually licentious ways, through whom the way of truth will be blasphemed… These are spots and blemishes, lounging about with deceitful intentions while feasting together among you, having eyes preoccupied with an adulteress and with incessant sin, alluring unstable souls, having a heart that has become trained to sexual covetousness, accursed children… For if having once escaped the corruption that is in the world through the recognition of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but again getting entangled in these things they are subdued, their last state has become worse than the first. For it was better for them not to have recognized the way of righteousness than having recognized it to have turned from the holy commandant given unto them. But a realization of the true proverb has happened to them: The dog has returned to his own vomit, and the sow once washed to rolling in the mud. (2 Peter 2:1-2, 13-14, 21-22)

     The perplexing thing about the Gnostics, however, was that despite these things they openly professed themselves to be "Christians," and entered in amongst Christian congregations speaking a similar language, thus making it difficult to tell on the surface who was a true Christian and who was not. But they were not there to engage in the fellowship of the Spirit, they were there to seduce believers into sin. This is why Jude made mention of how they were "creeping in" to Christian churches, entering in deceitfully seeking to indoctrinate the unsuspecting into their heresy while in private.
     This is why John will spend so much time in this first epistle repeatedly explaining how to tell the difference between a true Christian and a Gnostic. One such means was by testing the spirits prophesying through them to see what "Jesus" it was they were actually preaching:

      Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits [to see] whether they are from God. For many false prophets have departed from us into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. But every spirit which does not so confess Jesus is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist that you have heard that it should come and even now is already in the world... By this means we know the Spirit of God and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:1-3, 6b)

     The important thing to understand about the Gnostics in reading John's letter is that this heresy gave rise not only to false prophets but also to false "Christs," whom in Chapter 2 he says had once been members of the true church but had "departed from them," thereby proving they had never truly belonged to them to begin with:

     Little children, it is the last hour, and even as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many rival "Christs" have arisen, whence we know it is the last hour. They departed from us but they were not of us, for if they were of us, they would have remained with us. But they departed that they might be made manifest, that not all are of us. (1 John 2:18-19)

     When John here described them as "rival Christs," he was referring specifically to the false Christs Jesus said would come. The term "antichristos" literally meant "a rival Christ," and this is what both the Antichrist and the false Christs were: People who rivaled the True Christ in some way, whether politically or spiritually. But both could rightly be described as "rival Christs," hence John coined the term to describe them both under a single term. Likewise, John's comment that their presence proved it was now "the last hour" was a reference to something Jesus said about the Antichrist and the false Christs in Matthew 24:

     When therefore you shall see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, that having been spoken of through the prophet Daniel, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains... for then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be. And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, "Behold, the Christ is here, or there," do not believe it. For there will arise false Christs and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead if possible even the elect. Behold, I have foretold you. If therefore they say to you, "Behold, He is in the wilderness," do not go forth, or "Behold, He is in the private rooms," do not believe it. For as the lightning comes forth from the East and shines as far as the West, so too shall the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:14-16, 21-27)

     John knew it was the last hour because the appearance of these false Christs was a fulfillment of Christ's prophecy. By the phrase "and by this we know it is the end-times," he meant, "we are seeing the events described in Matthew 24 now coming to pass." Thus we can know that once we again see false Christs arising in the earth, it will be a sure sign that the Lord's return is approaching. But the return of Gnosticism taking place in the earth suggests the stage is now being set for the return of these false Christs, and if so, the last days are indeed drawing nearer, and the prophecies of Matthew 24 are on their way to fulfillment.


Simon Magus: The First False Christ To "Depart"

     But what was John referring by saying that false Christs had "departed from us," insinuating that false Christs had departed from the church? I teach on this is several other studies, but I will go over it again here because it serves as the basis for what John was talking about here in his letter. Both scripture and church tradition suggest that the first false Christ who was once a member of the church but departed from it was Simon the Magician, mentioned in the Book of Acts as being present amongst the Christian congregation in Samaria:

     Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw... But Simon, having seen that the Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them riches, saying, “Give me this authority as well, so that on whomsoever I may lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your riches come to ruin with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be obtained by riches. There is no part nor share for you in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness, and ask the Lord God if [this] thought of your heart may truly be forgiven you. For I perceive that you are subject to the poison of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." And having answered, Simon said, “You pray to the Lord on my behalf, so that nothing which you have spoken may come upon me.” (Acts 8:9-13, 18–24)

     After Simon's encounter with Peter in the Book of Acts, church historians record that he went on to found the religion we now refer to today as Gnosticism and proclaimed himself to be a god. Justin Martyr, in writing to Emperor Titus and the Roman Senate, stated the following concerning Simon and the gross deception he was foisting upon them in the name of "Christianity":   
     ... after Christ’s ascension into heaven the devils put forward certain men who said that they themselves were gods. And not only were they not persecuted by you, but they were even deemed worthy of honors. There was the Samaritan, Simon, a native of the village called Gitto, who during the reign of Claudius Caesar in your royal city of Rome did mighty acts of magic by virtue of the art of the devils operating within him. He was considered a god, and as a god was honored by you with a statue ... And the man Menander, likewise a Samaritan of the town Capparetæa, a disciple of Simon and inspired by devils, we know to have deceived many while he was in Antioch by his magical art. (Justin Martyr, Ante-Nicene Fathers, V.1, P.171)

     According to another early Christian source, Simon went about claiming to have appeared as "the Father" in Samaria and "the Son" in Judea. In other words, he used this as a clever way of proclaiming himself to be "the Christ":

     Such was his procedure during the reign of Claudius... [that he] was glorified by many as if he were a god. And he taught that it was he himself who appeared among the Jews as the Son, yet descended in Samaria as the Father, and came to other nations in the character of the Holy Spirit. He represented himself as being, in a word, the greatest of all powers, that is, that Being who is the Father over all, and he allowed himself to be called by whatsoever title men were pleased to address him by. (Irenaeus, Ante-Nicene Fathers, V.1, P.348)

     And according to the Greek philosopher Celsus, Simon openly professed to be God during his own sermons, saying things like the following:     

     I am God, or a son of God, or divine Spirit. And I have come... you see me returning again with heavenly power. Blessed is he who has worshipped me now! But I will cast everlasting fire on all the rest, both on cities and on country places. And men who fail to realize the penalties in store for them will in vain repent and groan. But I will preserve forever those who have been convinced by me. (The Other Bible, P.604)

     So was this prophecy about the coming of false Christs fulfilled during New Testament times, or is the ultimate fulfillment still ahead of us. Futurists says it still lay ahead of us, which means false Christs like Simon are going to return to the earth. When they do, they will likely teach these same doctrines and lead many astray by them. Thus, the true church needs to familiarize herself with Gnostic heresy because it is indeed resurfacing now, and times will come when they again begin seducing the unwary away into heresy and sin, if they haven't already. Their seductions will potentially lead to the loss of salvation for some naive and spiritually unstable souls, just as they did during New Testament times.


History's Most Dangerous Heresy Is Returning

     Is Gnosticism seeing a resurgence in the earth now? I can personally attest that the Gnostics are no longer anything we need talk about theoretically anymore. I have personally seen them show up en masse at a Christian forum I was active on and try to spiritually subvert the site through a number of rather insidious tactics. The scariest part was that most of the Christians at that site were not even aware of what that heresy is, and thus oblivious to what was going on, though anyone could sense there was a problem because the tenor of the site completely changing, and in a sinister direction. Thankfully the attack that was waged against that forum did not succeed, but they have not stopped trying, and if what one of them told me in private is true, they never will, and their numbers will continue to grow, making them an ever-increasing threat as time goes on.
     But such attacks have been a long time coming, and the result of a deliberate campaign waged by the powers that be over the last 50 years to promote Gnosticism as true "Christianity," the faith supposedly suppressed by the church and kept from public view until recently. In the 80s and 90s, numerous books were published by the Gnostic author Elaine Pagels promoting the subject.

                                   


     Then in 2006, Dan Brown's book The DaVinci Code was turned into a major motion picture, causing a great resurgence of interest. Numerous books and web articles were published either discussing or outright promoting Gnosticism, most notably those written by Lynn Picknett. At this point, the religion started to become more mainstream in the public's consciousness, and what followed was a mass of television documentaries on the Discovery Channel, Smithsonian Channel, A&E, and History Channel portraying Gnosticism as the original form of Christianity suppressed by the church, but now being brought to light once more.
     Is the resurgence of this religion eventually going to lead to false Christs manifesting in the earth once again? It is likely, and the reason for this is simple: Satanism is more prevalent than many think, and Gnosticism is essentially just Satanism with a Christian veneer, which allows those who practice witchcraft and sorcery in secret to pose as "Christian" leaders, and bring their religion into the light of day. By impersonating true Christians as happened during New Testament times, they will be able to use their occult powers to seduce genuine believers into their belief systems and lifestyles. There is a reason Aleister Crowley, the premier Satanist of the 20th century, created the Gnostic Mass. It was a means of converting Christianity into Satanism to lead future generations into Devil worship, whom Crowley taught to be the friend of mankind, not his enemy.

                               

     The prophecies of Matthew 24 regarding the false Christs have not been fulfilled yet, at least not in their entirety. I will cover this more in Study #5, but what people need to understand is this: Biblical prophecy often receives a partial fulfillment shortly after it is given in order to confirm it, but the ultimate fulfillment comes much later, often centuries or even millennium into the future. If this proves to be so regarding the false Christs of Matthew 24, then it is likely that many more will arise in the earth during the years ahead of us than did during New Testament times, and Gnosticism will likely be the religion through which they come.


Gnostic Websites:
http://www.gnosis.org/gnostsoc/gnostsoc.htm
https://gnosticismexplained.org/the-gnostic-demiurge/
https://moderngnosticsocietyorc.tumblr.com/post/175520851989/the-knowledge-of-the-father-is-the-dreamless-sleep
https://theaeoneye.com/category/gnosticism/
https://www.gnosticdoctrine.com/search/label/Sethians
https://gnosticwarrior.com/lord-mind-control.html
http://outerdarkness.nazirene.org/#JudgmentDay

Gnostic YouTube channels:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoCGItGjnTXKeRk4PHcQ8AQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl0W2qpBAQzwILdTpteprrw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4jQ8hed9dUuWsbjsqR8WJw