What We Believe — Scripture
What is a Gospel? The word is from the Greek euangelion, meaning “good news.” In the New Testament, it is the announcement that Jesus has brought the reign of God to our world, and salvation from death caused by sin, to all nations, both Jew and gentile. A Gospel is not only a historical chronicle but the teachings of Jesus on love, forgiveness, and obedience. A Gospel is different from the apostolic letters of instruction and encouragement.
God’s infallible capabilities, and His ability to pass all necessary information to His creation, contrast significantly with the claims of the Gnostics that they have information that no one else knows. From the writings of Moses to the Revelation of Christ by John, God’s information contains no contradiction. However, when it comes to the writings of humans, there are always contradictions and errors because they do not possess the all-encompassing knowledge that belongs to God. The typical mistakes in human literature are evident when you examine the Gnostic documents.
Comparing the Gnostic texts with the Bible, we find numerous differences. By God’s inspiration, Paul said, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed” (Galatians 1:8)! In his writing to Corinth, Paul said, “For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things” (2 Corinthians 11:5-6). And referring to the ones spreading false knowledge, he wrote, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). In Paul’s day, as they did in Jesus’ time, the false teachers contradicted each other, ignoring scripture.
The book titled “The Gospel of Thomas” is a collection of sayings that the author attributes to Jesus. However, the collection was compiled one or two centuries after the apostle Thomas lived. The following is the introduction edited into the Gnostic Bible. “The Gospel of Thomas is a wisdom gospel containing 114 sayings. Like the sayings gospel Q, which most scholars now suggest was a source used in compiling the gospels of Matthew and Luke, the Gospel of Thomas portrays Jesus as one who disseminates life-giving wisdom through his sayings.” (Quoted from The Gnostic Bible (p. 43). Shambhala. Kindle Edition). Note: Manuscript Q is a non-existent but suspected document that contained all the things Jesus said during His Judean and Galilean ministries. People who do not believe in the Holy Spirit-inspired scripture site “Q” as the source of quotes attributed to Jesus.
The leading statement of the Thomas text reads, “These are the hidden (secret) sayings that the living Yeshua spoke and Yehuda Toma the twin recorded.” Three of the 114 sayings, which Thomas supposedly copied down as Jesus spoke them, are quoted below.
“Saying (1), And he said, Whoever discovers what these sayings mean (the interpretation) will not taste death.”
“Saying (22), Yeshua saw some babies nursing. He said to his students, These nursing babies are like those who enter the kingdom. They said to him, Then shall we enter the kingdom as babies? Yeshua said to them, When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter the kingdom.” The footnote at this point says: This is a statement of human transformation. A study of this transformation refers to the fleshly outer person and the spirit or soul of the inner person. The change of genders also is treated in saying 114 but in somewhat different terms.
“Saying (114), Shimon Kefa said to them, Miryam should leave us. Females are not worthy of life. Yeshua said, Look, I shall guide her to make her male, so she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
In contrast, consider Paul’s plain words to the Galatians. “For you are all sons (Children) of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you (both males and females) who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise“ (Galatians 3:26-29).
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is found in our Bible. Why try to add confusing, secret sayings?
