The Roman Catholic Church is maddening. They established the canon of Scripture, and threw out the false gnostic gospels and books and yet their Hail Mary Prayer is from the gnostic gospel of Mary, and St. Valentinus, whom they venerate on February 14th is a gnostic theologian! To explain it quickly and not muddle minds, gnostic Christians are not Christians, they either believed Jesus was divine and not human (which is confronted by Apostle John, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the human body (flesh). Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist," -2 John 1:7, cross ref 1 John 4:2) or he was a man who was not divine to teach the way to salvation through a life style and teachings.In contrast we Biblical Christians believe Jesus is God and Man (John 1:14, Colossians 2:9, Titus 2:13) , and is the Savior, Salvation is in Him (John 3:16, John 6:40, John 14:6), "Salvation is found in no one else!" (Acts 4:12). Well the gnostics thought salvation was in adopting Jesus' teachings, by following them they would have ladder to heaven. I can see why the Church of Rome would venerate a gnostic like Valentinus, this is exactly what they believe aside from some necormantic mysticism they use combined with a works based gospel, which is a false gospel (Galatians 1:8-9).
We True Christians who adhere to The 27 Books of the New Testament, The Nicene Creed, and Apostle's Creed reject the Gnostic fallacy. Jesus was not a law giver or teacher who gave us some Beatitudes, He is the Door to Heaven itself (John 10:9), He is The Savior who has paid for all our sins on the cross, "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God," (Romans 5:9), "Jesus, the Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins with his own blood and has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen," (Revelation 1:5-6), "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit," (1 Peter 3:18), and "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. " (1 John 2:2), He is Salvation itself not merely a teacher of how to become saved. We also believe Jesus is fully divine and fully human, "he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 1:2-4), "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to, Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. / Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being God... but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men (human flesh). And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-11)
This distinguishes a True Christian from a false one, you either believe Jesus is your Savior, The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) who is God and Man/Human (Romans 1:2-4, John 1:1-17, Colossians 2:9) or you like the gnostics believe He has some good teachings to follow or is divine but did not pay for salvation with his body. Gnosticism is infectious, it was a real problem in the Church post the Apostles, and many doctors and apologists did battle, imperfectly, because they should have relied solely on Scripture, not their own reasoning. We must stand firm on The True Canon of Scripture, the 66 Books which are free of the infections of gnosticism. And by doing this we should in turn reject any holiday that venerates a false apostle or teacher like Valentinus, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect," (Matthew 24:24), the gnostic Jesus is a false christ, and the teachings of the gnostics against Jesus becoming a man if he is divine is violation of the Scriptures!, "On Denying the Incarnation: Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 1-3).
We should not celebrate Valentine's Day because it honors a false teacher. Valentinus is gnostic theologian and philosopher, making him an enemy of the True Gospel and the True Jesus Christ as revealed in The Holy Scriptures that were penned through Men by the Holy Spirit, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21). The True Scriptures are the 66 Books of the Old and New Testaments. We do not have the Intertestment Books because 2 Maccabees says pray to the dead which violates the Old Testament Scriptures (Leviticus 19:31, Deuteronomy 18:11), "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun," (Ecclesiastes 9;5-6), "And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19), and that we have One Mediator The Christ, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the Son of Man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5).
I say abandon Valentine's Day. Do not be seen participating in it, for we are told by the apostle, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:22, KJV). Gnosticism is evil, and to participate in venerating a gnostic theologian such as Valentinus is the appearance of evil! We must have nothing to do with false teachers, false prophets, false gospels, and false beliefs which is the gnostics! We need to remember that our eyes and hearts are suppose to be on Jesus, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God," (Hebrews 12:2) and " Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (God, Jehovah is the Hebrew name for Lord). For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death," (Philippians 3:8-10). Any holiday that does not focus on the True Christ revealed in 27 Books of the New Testament should be discarded!
The Real and True Jesus Christ is The LORD God Incarnate: Jesus Is God and Man (Male Human Being)! He is One with Father and Holy Spirit: God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity. Amen. The Scriptures testify to this in our Bibles, hold fast to it, and reject the gnostic nonesense and their teachers like Valentinus/ Valentine! Amen.
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