Heresies 2

Overview

The Manichaean Heresy: Owning Our Sin Before a Holy God

In the third century, a Persian named Mani founded a religion based on what he claimed were special revelations from God. He called himself the last and greatest of the prophets and even identified himself as the Paraclete—the Advocate Jesus promised to send. This is the first warning sign of nearly every heresy: an authoritative source of revelation set alongside or above the written Word of God. Where Scripture is no longer the final word, the entire structure of Christian truth collapses like a house of cards. Mani's teaching gathered a hodgepodge of ideas, used familiar Christian vocabulary in unfamiliar ways, and even drew in a young Augustine before God's grace led him out.

At its core, Manichaeism taught that evil is not a foreign intrusion into creation but has existed eternally alongside good in a great cosmic struggle. The practical fallout is profound: if evil is eternal and we are simply caught up in this conflict, then no one is ultimately responsible for personal sin. "The devil made me do it"—or its modern variation, "that's just the way I am"—is Manichaeism in its simplest form. Scripture, however, dismantles this on every front:

• Sin is a lack of conformity to God's law, and it dwells in every one of us. Romans 3:10; Romans 7:19; Genesis 6:5.
• God forbids evil; He does not will it. Isaiah 1:16; 1 Peter 2:11.
• God is not the author of evil. Psalm 92:15; Deuteronomy 32:4.
• Evil is not eternal. All things were made through the Word, and what God made was very good. John 1:1-3; Genesis 1:31. Evil entered creation through human disobedience, not divine decree. Genesis 3:1-5; Romans 5:12.

Because evil is not eternal and God is not its author, we cannot deflect responsibility for our own sin. James is direct: temptation does not come from God but from our own desire, which when it conceives gives birth to sin and death James 1:13-16. We cannot appeal to our sinfulness in order to justify our sinfulness. Whether the excuse is "the devil made me do it," "my parents made me this way," or "I was just born like this," the logic is the same and the verdict is the same—we stand accountable before a holy God. Adam tried it ("the woman you gave me…"); it did not work in the Garden, and it will not work for us.

Yet here is the gospel that Manichaeism cannot give. When we stop blaming and instead confess, we discover that Christ has already borne the very sins we were tempted to excuse—including the sin of excuse-making itself. We are not helpless victims trapped in a cosmic struggle; we are forgiven sinners covered by the blood of Jesus. Stay rooted in the Word preached and the Word delivered in the Sacraments, test every teaching against Scripture, and refuse any voice—ancient or modern—that offers a "revelation" beyond what God has spoken. There alone is the clarity, the absolution, and the freedom that no heresy can give.

Transcript

Gracious Heavenly Father, what a precious time it is together as your people around 0s

your Word. And we ask as we study the heresies of old that we will hear the 5s

echoes today and be able to respond with a clarity of your Word in faithful 11s

witness. Bless our study today to your glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Well we 19s

started our walk in this class. I've entitled heresies of old responses for today. 26s

And last time we laid some foundation works on the groundwork for the class. We 33s

talked about how heresies are a fundamental departure from the Word of God, 40s

from the truth of God, and how heresy naturally appeals to our inherited 45s

disease of sin. So we are naturally drawn to heresies. Heresy is not something 53s

that we are not tempted to fall into. We explored not only our inherited 62s

disease but also the antidote, which of course is the Lord Jesus Christ, how we 70s

are forgiven not only because of for the acts of our sin but also the disease of 75s

our sin and how important it is to be regular receivers of the Word of God. 81s

Proclaimed and taught and the Word of God received in the sacrament because 88s

without that Word of God we can be a people that just drift to and fro into 93s

various different belief systems not knowing that which is right or wrong. 100s

Well today I'd like to take a look at a group called the Manakeans. The 107s

the Manakeans. The history of the Manakeans goes back to the third century to a 113s

Persian by the name of many, M-A-N-I, and he founded a new religion and it was 118s

based upon these special revelations that he had received from God. There's a 127s

flag right there. In fact one of the commonality or common points that you'll see 136s

so often in Heresy is that it is rooted in folks that say they have received a 141s

special revelation of God. If we want to hear God's voice God says you hear his 147s

voice in his Word period and so any kind of teaching needs to be put up to the 156s

scrutiny of the Word of God. Well Manakean along and he called himself the last 163s

and greatest of all the prophets. He did not lack self-confidence and to top it 170s

off he said that he was the parakeet. He was the one the advocate, the one sent by 178s

that Jesus promised that is the Holy Spirit. So not only was he the greatest and 185s

last of the prophets but he also proclaimed before himself that he was the 192s

advocate, the parakeet, the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised would come. It was a 197s

whole hodgepodge of ideas of what he pulled together and oftentimes to see 203s

that in Heresy. There can be some elements of truth but it is so woven in false 208s

teaching and quite often you'll hear words that you are familiar with but 215s

it's got a different twist in a different meaning. So simply because somebody 222s

drops a word that is a familiar word for example like justification doesn't 227s

mean that they're using justification in the same way or savior. It doesn't 234s

mean that they're using the word savior in the same way. And many as he pulls 239s

this hodgepodge of ideas together was really quite good at that. So he believes 245s

there that he's the advocate, he's the one sent by God, he is the Holy Spirit, he 253s

receives this self-revelation, he pulls together this hodgepodge of ideas and 257s

Christians were getting deceived by him. Interestingly the most famous, I'll put it 261s

this way, the most famous ex Manichin or someone who was a Manichin at one 271s

point was believe it or not, Augustin. Now Augustin is a huge figure in the life 277s

of the church, incredibly influential, Analyzer Luther and Calvin and here he 286s

had roots being caught up in the heresy of Manichins but of course by God's 293s

grace he saw the light. Here's the heart of Manichin thinking that evil is not 304s

a foreign intrusion into creation. That's the heart of it. That evil is not a 311s

foreign intrusion into creation but there was always this cosmic struggle, always 317s

this struggle between good and evil. And so according to Manichinism, evil has 323s

always existed, always existed. So in that understanding participants then are in 332s

this great cosmic struggle and practically it works its way out in the 340s

understanding that no one is individually responsible for their own sinfulness. 346s

After all, if evil has always existed and there's this great cosmic struggle, 352s

not my fault, not my fault that I sin, I am just part of this cosmic struggle. 359s

And so there is a blaming of sin on someone or something else than oneself. 367s

Remember the comedian Flip Wilson? What was his line? That's Manichinism. That's it. 378s

Right. Now I'm sure, you know, when he was used that line it was written for 388s

for total comic purposes. I'm sure that Flip Wilson was not somehow advocating 392s

for Manichinism. No, he wanted the laugh, right? And that was the line that's 398s

associated with him. That's the line that we we still remember to this day. The 402s

devil made me do it. That's Manichinism. Boyle down to its simplest form. In our 406s

Lutheran doctrinal writings it says this, we reject the ideas of the 414s

Manichians who taught that everything that happens must happen and cannot 419s

happen otherwise. Everything that a person does, even in outward things, he does 426s

by compulsion. He's forced to do evil works and deeds such as in chastity, 431s

robbery, murder, theft, and the like. So let's examine this scripturally. Evil, 437s

which can also be understood as sin, is a lack of conformity to the law of God, 447s

isn't it? Lack of conformity to his standard. So let's start in Romans the third 451s

chapter. Romans chapter three, verse 10. Romans chapter three, verse 10. 458s

And there we read, there is no one who is righteous, not even one. There's no one who's 483s

righteous, not even one. Let's go to Romans chapter seven, verse 19, 492s

Romans 17, Romans 7, verse 19. Paul writing, again, of the inspiration of the 498s

Spirit writes this, for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is 510s

what I do. Let's go to Genesis chapter six, verse five. Genesis chapter six, verse five. 517s

The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth and that every inclination 545s

of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. That's who we are. We are so 553s

tainted with sin that indeed sin so permeates us. We sin against sin and thought, word, 560s

indeed, by what we've done and by what we've left undone. That covers it, doesn't it? 566s

There you've got the sins of omission, you've got the sins of coalmission, and you've got 571s

the sin of condition that indeed we are sinners from the moment of conception on. So evil 575s

understood it's in is a lack of conformity to the word of God. Secondly, God forbids evil. God 582s

forbids evil. He doesn't will it? Let's go to Isaiah chapter one. Go to way to find Isaiah in the 590s

Old Testament is just opened it up to the middle, it's going to land you in the Psalms and then start 598s

moving your way to the New Testament. Proverbs ecclesiastes, song of Solomon, then Isaiah. Isaiah 603s

chapter one, verse 16. So sinfulness is a lack of conformity to the law of God. God forbids evil 612s

in words he does not will it. Isaiah one, 16. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove 627s

the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the 640s

evil of your doings from before my eyes. We are so unlike God. God is absolutely perfect and God is 649s

holy and we're not. And so the ludicracy when we look at ourselves and say, pretty good, pretty 659s

good. No, we are thoroughly evil has so in thoroughly infiltrated us that indeed we stand condemned 669s

before the holy God. What a frightening prospect to stand before God on judgment they cloaked in 678s

our good works and cloaked in our supposed holiness. What a terrifying prospect that would be. 688s

Let's go to first Peter chapter two. Here again we hear God forbidding evil. Go to find first 698s

Peter's, go to Revelation, the last book, turn left, he'll cross over the Johns and you come to 704s

first Peter chapter two verse 11. Beloved I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the 712s

desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. So evil is sinfulness it's a lack of 730s

conformity to the law of God. God forbids evil. He does not will it. Here's the third point. God is 740s

not the author of evil. He's not the author of evil. Let's go to Psalm 92. Psalm 92 verse 15. 748s

Psalm 92 verse 15 and then we read showing that the Lord is upright. He is my rock and there is no 779s

unrighteousness in him. There's no unrighteousness in him. How can one who is perfectly righteous and 792s

perfectly holy ever be the author of sin? It's impossible. God would not be gone or Deuteronomy chapter 32 800s

Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 32 verse 4. 813s

The rock his work is perfect and all his ways are just a faithful God without deceit, 839s

just and upright is he. So sin is a lack of conformity to the will of God. Secondly, God forbids evil. 849s

He doesn't will it. Third God is not the author of evil. Fourth point then evil has not existed 858s

from all of eternity. That's contrary to the claim of the mannequins. Let's go to John the first 866s

chapter. Matthew, Mark, Luke and then John. John chapter 1 verse 1. 874s

Remember the mannequin said that evil has always been. It's always been. There's always been this 895s

cosmic struggle. Therefore, you can blame your sin on somebody else. But John the first chapter 900s

in the beginning was the word. It's capitalized there because it's standing for Jesus. In the 908s

beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with 913s

God. All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being. 921s

All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being. So in the 930s

beginning there is just one God, three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is not the author 940s

of evil. Therefore evil cannot be what? It can't be eternal. It can't be eternal. Because if it's 948s

eternal then God is the author of it. No evil entered in not because of God's actions but of 958s

who's actions, human kinds actions in the transgression of the law. Let's go to Genesis 1, 31. 966s

Genesis 1, 31. God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good and there was 977s

evening and there was morning the sixth day. If evil existed from all eternity then God must have 1001s

made it and God is not the author of evil and so the Manichaean argument falls apart. The only way 1008s

you can maintain the Manichaean argument is if you deny the authority of Scripture and you say 1016s

that we must understand as the supreme authority the revelation given to many. 1023s

The only way you can arrive at it is you can't make a scriptural case for what Manichaean was 1033s

advocating for. There's the danger of heresy when there's another source of revelation and 1039s

authority that is apart from the word of God. If you have another source of authority outside of 1047s

the word of God everything collapses like a house of cards. I've said it before, 1059s

permit me to say it again. The Missouri Senate, Lutheran Church and the Southern Baptist 1065s

have been in dialogue for decades. I don't think the differences there are going to be resolved 1072s

this side of heaven between those two camps of Christianity. I don't think they're going to resolve 1080s

their differences on the sacraments. However they have a basis to talk with each other and what is 1086s

the basis to talk with each other. They both understand the word is the inherent and fallible word of God. 1093s

That's the basis of which to talk. They're not appealing to any other authority outside of 1100s

the authority of Scripture and an argument on the interpretation of Scripture. That's fruitful 1107s

discussion. That's fruitful discussion because you're moving into the authority of the word. 1114s

Here with Manny you've got a revelation outside of the word now that trumps the word of God. 1120s

That's a whole different animal. God is holy. There's no shade of unholiness of evil within it. 1128s

Okay, let's go back to Genesis 3. Now Genesis 3 verses 1 to 5. 1140s

Now the serpent, the devil, was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. 1151s

He said to the woman, did God say you shall not eat from any tree in the garden? 1157s

The woman said to the serpent, we may eat at the fruit of the tree of the garden, 1163s

but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, 1167s

nor shall you touch it or you shall die. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not die for God 1171s

knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and 1177s

evil. So there's the attempt here from Satan to cast out on the word of God and then there's just 1182s

a flat out lie of Satan. It's the same playbook that Satan continues to use, continues to use it 1187s

today. Same play. It's the same play. Try and cast out on the word of God or just flat out, 1193s

just flat out lie. So what do Adam and Eve do? They take the advice of Satan, they sink their teeth 1202s

into the forbidden fruit and sin evil enters into the world. So the Satan have a role in 1211s

destroying creation. Absolutely. He does. Destroying it in the sense of 1220s

opening a door whereby our first parents could fall into sin. Absolutely. But who is ultimately 1227s

held responsible for sin in the world? You see, we cannot say, like Flip Wilson said, we can't say 1234s

in the end devil made me do it. Devil made me do it. I'm okay. Here's a little variance on that. 1243s

You can hear it this way. That's just the way I am. Just the way. We've seen that by those that 1254s

have advocated in the church for the descending of homosexuality of saying, well, that's just the way 1268s

they are. You know how to refute that argument, right? You know how to refute the argument. You 1275s

just say you can't appeal to your sinfulness to justify your sinfulness. That's what you're doing. 1283s

Let me put it another way. If I, after church today, if I go over to Tom Thumb and I robbed Tom 1289s

Thumb and officer Gidney here, who probably is going to be his shift later, says, you know, pastor, what 1297s

are you doing here? And I turn to officer Gidney and I say, Clay, okay, if I call you Clay. Clay. 1304s

I robbed Tom Thumb because of two. I'm a robber. Okay. Now, now that's absurd, right? 1315s

absurd. Clay would justify it. So handcuff me. I would go and I would go through the court 1326s

process and can you imagine making the argument for the judge? Judge, I robbed it because it's who I am. 1332s

I'm just a robber. I've always robbed. I used to steal from my brother. I used to steal. I go on 1339s

and so I, you know, of course, you know, this is all for application, right? Okay. All right. But, but, 1345s

you know, you know, you're not going to justify your sinfulness. And so when they would say, well, homosexuality 1355s

must be fine because the person is simply born that way. The whole argument of whether a person is 1361s

born with homosexual tendencies or not is irrelevant to the subject. It is absolutely irrelevant to the 1368s

subject. Let's say for the fact, say, or for the sake of discussion, that indeed it could be proven 1375s

100% that homosexual behavior is absolutely genetic. Would that change anything in God's word? 1383s

Would we then say, oh, I guess God slipped up then on this, that as long as you are then born 1391s

that way, therefore, then it must be okay. No. We reflect our sinfulness and that sinfulness 1399s

manifests itself in a host of ways. There can be a proclivity to anger. There can be a proclivity to, 1410s

you can fill in the blank in terms of sin that one can say, it's just kind of how I am, right? And 1418s

how we all are reflects what? Reflects that we are fallen in. So we can't appeal to our sinfulness 1424s

to justify our sinfulness. We can't say the devil made me do it or, well, it's just how I am. 1434s

It's not my fault for how I am. And so it's okay for me then to be me. Well, no, it's not. 1446s

Because you and me, that's the problem, right? That's the problem. We're the problem. Our sinfulness 1457s

is the problem. And so to appeal to our sinfulness to justify our sinfulness, it's a variation 1466s

of the mannequin argument. Who is responsible ultimately for our sinfulness? We are. We are. 1474s

We can't say, you know, let me tell you about my parents. Adam and Eve, what a pair they were. 1485s

Here they are. They're placed in the garden. Everything is perfect for them. They can 1496s

eat every tree of the garden, including the tree of life. There's one little tree that they can eat. 1503s

And what does that pair do? They eat from a forbidden tree. You see what I've had to deal with? 1511s

Oh, my life. I have had to deal with my parents, Adam and Eve. It doesn't fly, right? Because we are 1521s

responsible for our own sinfulness. Let's go to Romans chapter 5, verse 12. 1537s

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and then Romans. Romans chapter 5, verse 12. 1545s

So, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin. 1569s

So death spread to all because all have sinned. All have sinned. We own our own sinfulness. 1577s

Evil is not eternal. We own our own sinfulness. You see, if evil existed from eternity, 1590s

then you're simply a helpless victim. You can't be ultimately held responsible. But not only have 1601s

we been born with the inherited disease of sin, but we actively add to our guilt by sinning from 1608s

the moment of our births. Romans 12, again. Therefore, Romans 5, verse 12, I'm sorry. Romans 5, 12. 1616s

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, death came through sin. So death spread 1629s

to all because all of sin. Sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned 1633s

where there is no law. Yet death exercised a minion from Adam to Moses. You see, that is God's way 1639s

of saying that the condemnation is just punishment for sinfulness, which is death. It reigns not only 1648s

on our first parents. It reigns on all of us, all of us. Let's go to James chapter 1. 1655s

James chapter 1, turn toward revelation. You're going to cross over the tea books. You get to 1664s

Hebrews. James is right after Hebrews. James chapter 1, verse 13. 1672s

And notice how, in countless ways, we keep repeating the Garden of Eden. We just keep repeating. 1688s

Over and over. James chapter 1, no one when tempted should say I'm being tempted by God. For God cannot 1696s

be tempted by evil and He Himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one's own desire, 1703s

being lured and enticed by it. Then when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that 1711s

sin when it's fully grown gives birth to death, do not be deceived. My beloved. So in a manner very 1719s

much similar to what happened there in the Garden of Eden, we keep repeating that constantly. 1728s

So when we hear today someone say the devil may be doing it, or that person over there was 1738s

really the one responsible for my own sinfulness. Or when we hear, when we hear, you know, it's just 1750s

kind of how I am. The roots of all that goes back to manny, goes back to the third century. 1760s

It goes back to that heresy that the early church was dealing with, and the church in every 1773s

generation continues to deal with it today. Because it's incredibly appealing to our sinfulness, 1781s

to blame our sinfulness on something or someone else. What was that John? Absolutely. There you go. 1794s

There you go. The first man of the key in, right? Adam, yeah, it was that woman you gave me. As Adam 1809s

says that about, about Eve. The devil made me do it, and hope we're responsible. 1817s

But thanks be to God for his grace. For we indeed are a people that can confess our sin and believe 1824s

in a forgiveness that is ours through the cross of Jesus Christ. Indeed, Jesus has borne all of our 1831s

sinfulness, all of it, and paid the debt. What a beautiful thing it is to acknowledge our sinfulness, 1840s

to acknowledge we are a broken people that we deal with our sinfulness each and every day that we 1850s

are sinners and to hear the word of absolution, the word of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. 1858s

All of our sin, including our sin of when we want to blame our sin on something or someone else, 1869s

has been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. 1877s