The Gnostic beliefs have been the most challenging to the ways of God and have since the beginning of time been the instigator to the path of death, while counterfeiting as another way to life.
The account in the Bible in Genesis 3 holds the basis for all gnostic beliefs and is the core contamination to mankind.
[Gen 3:1-7 KJV] 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gnostic means “TO KNOW”. The Gnostic beliefs are rooted in this strive to have knowledge. While sounding good, it is knowledge beyond what God has intended because its way is a way unto death.
[Pro 14:12] 12 There is a way [that seems] right to a man, But its end [is] the way of death.
Notice in Genesis 3 many things are going on. First it reveals that the Serpent was more cunning and subtle. The Serpent in many cases is a symbol of knowledge, but of cunning deceptive knowledge and suspicion. And represents the devil.
[Rev 20:2 KJV] 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
In Genesis, the Serpent tempted Eve into doing what God forbid, and enticed her. The first thing he said was “You shall not surely die.” That is a lie promising immortality. And that is the basis for Gnostic reincarnation, like that of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, and also Egyptian promise for the Pharaohs. And today expressed through Theosophy and New Age. Gnostics teach in their Adept levels that immortality can be acquired.
The next lie told was “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Well, you may have knowledge, but not good knowledge. The knowledge would be guilt, shame, and contempt. But Gnostics turn that into unveiling the secrets of universal knowledge through Kabbalah, witchcraft, and false philosophy. This has been the influence of the Fallen Angels to bring the knowledge of heaven to men. That it then be manipulated to drag men down and bring unto death.
In many cultures, like the Hindu and Egyptian accounts, that Serpent has twisted his reputation to become the GIVER OF LIFE. Luciferians teach that what the Serpent was revealing were the ways to reach divinity WITHOUT God. But Jesus said any way but by Him was entry as a thief (John 10). The Gnostics believe they have figured out the path to divinity without God, thus making themselves to be like god, as the Serpent offered mankind through Eve.
This carries the mantle of the rebellion of Lucifer as in Isaiah 14 when he said,
[Isa 14:13-14 KJV] 13 …I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Just like Lucifer thought he could raise himself above the stars and be like God, he offers man to be like god, offering knowledge. Is it any wonder the apostle Paul warned of such false knowledge.
[1Co 1:20 KJV] 20 Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
[1Ti 6:20 KJV] 20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane [and] vain babblings, and oppositions of science (knowledge) falsely so called:
These false ways have always been the counterfeit to the line of revelation God offered that we may be saved from sin. As sin had been introduced by the Serpent, Lucifer, Satan in order to corrupt. And it has brought false religions, false philosophy, and false teaching that has contributed to the misinterpretation of life and to entice through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
From it came Mystery Religions, Secret Societies, and the Gnostic philosophies that sound SO good, but only appeal to the flesh and to satisfy the rebellious heart of man. They fall short to the reverence to God, and only reverence the created things: the Sun, the moon, the stars, and the knowledge of men (Romans 1).
So what they offer is a way unto death that masquerades as divinity. But Jesus Christ offers life, and that more abundant.
[Jhn 14:6 KJV] 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
[Jhn 10:10 KJV] 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.