Heresies 7

Overview

Docetism: The Heresy That Denies Christ's Suffering

Docetism is the ancient error that claims Christ only appeared to be human and did not truly suffer on the cross. It surfaced in several forms: Cerinthus (c. AD 100) taught that the Christ descended on Jesus at His baptism but departed before the crucifixion; Saturninus (second century) said Jesus was bodiless, a mere apparition; and Apollinarius (fourth century) denied that Jesus had a true human soul. At the root of each version is the assumption that God cannot suffer, and therefore Jesus could not have genuinely shared our flesh, pain, or death. The Church's reply has always been pointed: what Christ has not assumed, He has not redeemed. If Jesus did not take a real body, our bodies are not redeemed. If He did not take a human soul, our souls are not redeemed. If He did not truly die, there is no salvation.

The Docetists were right about one thing: God does not change. Scripture clearly affirms this in Malachi 3:6, James 1:17, and Psalm 102:26-27. God's changelessness is a gift, for it means we can trust His promises. But the Docetists wrongly concluded that because suffering produces change, God must therefore be incapable of suffering. The mystery of the incarnation answers this objection. In John 1:1, 14, the eternal Word becomes flesh without ceasing to be God. Galatians 4:4-5 and Hebrews 2:14 declare that the Son was born of a woman and shared in our flesh and blood. The two natures of Christ—truly God and truly man—are joined in one person, communicating to one another while retaining their distinct properties. Think of an iron rod placed in fire: the iron remains iron, but it now glows with the heat of the fire. So we can rightly confess that God suffered for us on the cross, even while affirming that the divine nature in itself is unchanging. And as Hebrews 4:15 reminds us, our High Priest has been tested in every respect as we are, yet without sin.

The bodily reality of Jesus is decisive. When Thomas was invited to touch the nail marks and place his hand in Jesus' side John 20:24-29, there was something solid to touch. A phantom Christ offers no salvation; only a true Savior, true God and true man, can redeem true sinners. The Athanasian Creed and Luther alike defended this confession because heresy attacks the heart of truth and, if left unchecked, eats away at the church's foundation. Heresies tend to cluster around two doctrines: the Trinity and the two natures of Christ. Where these are guarded, the gospel stands.

Pastorally, traces of Docetism still appear when believers say things like, "God doesn't understand what I'm going through," or "Jesus can't really relate to my suffering." This thinking quietly assumes a God too distant to enter our pain. But the cross says otherwise. Jesus knows abandonment—"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"—because He bore the sin of the world. He knows physical agony, because crucifixion is among the most horrific deaths imaginable. When you walk with someone who suffers, resist the urge to say "I know exactly how you feel" or to redirect the conversation to your own story. Listen first. Then point them, gently, to the Christ who truly understands, who promises to be with us always, and who never wastes suffering but uses it to draw us closer to Himself.

Transcript

Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for the beauty of this day. We thank you for your promises 0s

that continually surround us and for the privilege of joy and joy of being your people. 7s

Commissioned to go and proclaim Christ crucified and risen. We pray, O Lord, 15s

that in our proclamation you will give us clarity. That indeed as we go forth you will give us 21s

boldness and then indeed you will use the proclamation to your glory and to your praise. 29s

Let's we ask our study this morning. May you be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen. 37s

Well, we continue on studying Heresies of Old and Responses for today. We took a look at the 44s

Yudikeans last week which are the opposite of the historians. Remember there were two different 53s

types of Heresies. The historians were really like taking the two natures of Christ and putting 60s

them together on a board that were glued together and there was no kind of interplay there for those 67s

two boards. Last week the Yudikens, we studied them and the image for them is you put the two 74s

natures of Christ into a blender and mix it all up and you get a third nature. Well today we want 83s

to study about some folks called the Dositists, the Dositists. You remember last week with regard to 91s

the Yudikens that if you mix up the two natures of Christ, if you form a third nature then it's 101s

then you come up with a superhuman savior to where the response will be well. It's easier for 112s

Jesus to avoid temptation because after all it's God in the flesh. But we see that Jesus did not 119s

fight temptation with His divinity. He used the tools that are readily available for us in the word 128s

of God to fight that temptation. Well today I want to talk with you about the Dositists. 135s

Or we understand Dositism. And at the heart of the Dositistic understanding is that Christ did not 146s

really suffer torment on the on the cross. And the Dositists will say that God is incapable of 158s

suffering. Now there are a couple of adherents that historically are immediately 169s

brought forward. One was a fellow by the name of Serenthus. And Serenthus was about AD 100. 178s

And Serenthus said that Christ descended upon Jesus in the form of the dove at the baptism but 190s

left Him prior to the cross. Because the issue is, remember that in Dositism you can't have a 197s

suffering God. That Jesus Christ did not suffer. Then in the second century you had 205s

Saternis. Saternis. And Saternis maintained that Jesus was unborn. He was body, body 217s

list that he was only an apparition. So in other words he looked like he was human. But he really 230s

was. He was just kind of an apparition on that. Then you had in the fourth century, 237s

the Appalainerius, and the Appalainerius maintained that Jesus Christ did not have a human soul. 247s

So at the heart of all of this is God can't suffer that Jesus Christ looks like he's truly human. 261s

But he's really not. He's really not. That he looked human, acted human, but he really wasn't on 271s

that. And the heart of it is the belief that God cannot suffer. Well if Christ escaped suffering 280s

and death, that means then that there is no salvation. If Jesus Christ did not truly die for our sin, 289s

true God, and true man on the cross, then there is indeed no salvation. Dostatism was opposed by 298s

this slogan. What Christ has not assumed, he has not redeemed. So when Dostatism was kind of 309s

showing itself in different forms, the slogan against it was what Christ has not assumed, he has 319s

not redeemed. So if Jesus Christ didn't redeem your body, then your body is not redeemed. 326s

If Jesus Christ didn't have a human soul, then he didn't redeem your spirit. So when you have 337s

a heresy, a heresy attacks at the heart of truth. And that's where you see the church throughout 349s

the centuries when heresy arises. The church has to respond to that because if the church doesn't 356s

respond to heresy, that heresy takes root, and then it eats away at the very foundations of truth, 366s

and then you've got a whole crumbling of truthfulness. In the Athanasian creed, which is the creed 374s

we never use because it's so long, it's as long as a sermon. In the Athanasian creed, it says 383s

this, he, Jesus Christ, is God. Begotten from the substance of the Father before all ages. 390s

And he is man, born from the substance of his mother in this age. Perfect God and perfect man 399s

composed of a rational soul and human flesh. You hear what they're going after in that creed? 409s

They're going after the heresy that attacks the two natures of Christ. Remember most of the 419s

heresies, most of the heresies center on the two natures of Christ or the Holy Trinity. 424s

That's where you've just got the constellation of your heresies. Luther said this, 431s

in one person, Jesus Christ is both true God together with the Father and true man, born of the 439s

Virgin. This is the doctrine which the devil has always seized on, which is still assailed and will 448s

suffer from manifold heresies until the day of judgment. For some have made the blasphemous 456s

statement that Christ was only a make-believe or a phantom and not a true man. He's going after 463s

the same thing, right? He recognizes the heresy and you have to eradicate heresy. You don't 473s

negotiate with heresy. You eradicate heresy because if you don't eradicate heresy, the church 481s

can get eaten up. Well, let's examine this. So remember, Dostatism was Jesus. He looked like a human 489s

being but he really wasn't. And the reason why he couldn't be a human being is because God cannot 498s

suffer. That's the heart of Dostatism. Well, let's take a look at this. The first point 504s

we want to make is God does not change. God does not change. Let's start in the book of Malachi, 513s

please, in the Old Testament. Very last book of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 3, 521s

verse 6, Malachi 3, verse 6. I want to take you through here eventually winding up what are the 532s

implications if you adhere to Dostatism and where you can hear phrases of that from some people 544s

today. So Malachi chapter 3, verse 6, for either Lord do not change. Therefore you or children of 554s

Jacob have not perished. Either Lord do not change. Let's go to James, the first chapter. James 566s

in the New Testament, a good way to find James is go to the book of Revelation, then turn backwards 577s

you'll cross over the Johns and the and the and the Peters, then nestled right after Hebrews is 585s

the book of James. James chapter 1 verse 17, James 117, 594s

every generous act of giving with every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of 607s

with whom there is no variation or shadow do to change with whom there's no variation or shadow 616s

do to change or or lastly another another portion of scripture, the book of Psalms Psalm 102, 629s

good way to find the book of Psalms is just go put up to the middle and you're going to land on one 636s

Psalm 102, verse 26, Psalm 102, verse 26 and 27, 642s

they will perish but you endure. They will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing 665s

and they pass away but you are the same and your years have no end. So the first point then is God 675s

does not change. Who wants a God who changes? Anyone ever want a God who changes? Because then if 686s

God changes then one never knows God's disposition toward us. One never knows whether God then would 698s

mean it when God says I forgive you through the cross of my my son. If God changes at a whim that 705s

is a terrible expression of God. God's changelessness then is a gift to us so that we can rely, 716s

we can trust on his promises. Okay, let's go to John chapter 1 Matthew, Mark, Luke and then John. John 727s

and let's let's play it off of verse 1 of John 1. In the beginning was the word, notice it's 759s

capitalized it refers to Jesus and the word was with God and the word was God now jumping down into 766s

verse 14 and the word became flesh and lived among us and we have seen his glory the glorious of 773s

Father's only son full of grace and truth. God the son did not change when he became human. 781s

He took on flesh. The image is like putting on clothing and so you've got the eternal son, 793s

the divinity of the eternal son and now at the incarnation he takes on flesh. So God the 804s

son doesn't change because he takes on flesh. He is in the very form and nature of humans indeed 811s

and yet importantly what's the distinction. Let's go to Hebrews the fourth chapter again. 822s

Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15. 828s

Hebrews 4 verse 15. 842s

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but we have one 849s

who in every respect has been tested as we are, here's a distinction, yet without sin. 858s

So the scripture reference then and the scriptural proclamation is that indeed God does not change. 867s

God can't change. God is changed less. The dacetus maintained that if you suffer it presupposes 874s

change. That if you suffer it presupposes change. So they would say that if God cannot change he 886s

therefore cannot suffer since the end product of suffering gives rise to an altered version of the 895s

original. As we go through suffering, suffering changes us. Doesn't it changes us? In fact a tool that 903s

God uses to mature us and to make us more and more like Christ is suffering. He uses that because in 914s

suffering we learn greater dependency upon him. We learn that we are not the masters of our own life. 923s

We are dependent on him for every breath. We learn of his graciousness in a new way and his 931s

strengthening of us in a new way. We are changed in suffering. So the dacetists said that since the 939s

end product of suffering is an altered version of the original therefore God could not have suffered. 950s

Therefore they said Jesus, he looked like a man but he wasn't. He wasn't. Well, 961s

scripture indeed describes Jesus as God who suffers. How then can the unchangeable God experience 973s

suffering? God doesn't change and indeed God in Jesus Christ has experienced suffering and how can 983s

the unchanging God remain unchanged and yet experience suffering? That's at the heart of the issue 994s

with dacetists. Let's go to the relations for place. Galatians 4. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 1003s

4 verses 4 to 5. We come right back to the understanding of the two natures of Christ, 1024s

truly divine, truly human. But when the fullness of time had come, in other words Jesus came at the 1038s

exact perfect time, but when the fullness of time had come God sent his son, born of a woman, 1044s

born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive 1052s

adoption as children. So God the Son miraculously joined Himself to the humanity. 1058s

Mary gave to Him when He was conceived. So God the Son did not change. God the Son miraculously 1070s

took on the human nature. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 2, Hebrews chapter 2, 1081s

verse 14. 1093s

Since therefore the children share flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared the same things. 1104s

Himself likewise shared the same things. So Jesus's divinity draws so close to the humanity. 1115s

That remember there is a sharing. There is a communication. Remember we're right back into whether 1126s

it's boards or mlender or whether it is absolute sharing of the two natures, but yet still 1131s

maintaining their individual characteristics. Let me give you let me give you an image for it. 1138s

An image is an iron put in fire. The iron heats up. The fire joins to the iron. You still have iron, 1146s

right? But now you have a red hot piece of iron and that iron and the heat have so joined together 1160s

that they share with each other. They communicate with each other. That's the image with regard to 1171s

the two natures of Christ. So the iron doesn't change, but the attributes of the fire gets shared 1180s

with the iron. So that's why we can say, my God died on the cross. That's why we can say, 1191s

Jesus's human body and blood are miraculously present in the holy communion. 1200s

So Jesus, the divinity does not change. The divinity takes on humanity and because there is the 1207s

sharing there, you can say that God is changeless but yet God suffers. See it's all in that sharing 1217s

of the two natures. You lose that and that's where you start to get into 1229s

heresy, which is precisely what the Athanasian Creed is getting at. The whole understanding of 1236s

eternity, the whole understanding, one God, three persons, one substance, whole understanding of 1243s

the two natures of Christ because heresy lurks around the two natures of Christ and the divinity 1249s

of Christ. It lurks around it unless it's articulated and understood correctly. So the dacetists then, 1262s

they don't have an understanding of the sharing of the two natures of Christ. So they then say, well, 1272s

God can't suffer. Therefore Jesus just looked like a human. Well, we see from the scriptural 1279s

witness that that falls apart. He had a true body. Let's go to John, the 20th chapter, please. 1286s

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then John. John chapter 20 verse 24. 1293s

The Thomas, who is called the twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 1318s

So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord, but he said to them, unless I see the 1324s

mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and put my hand in his 1331s

side, I will not believe. A week later, his disciples were again in the house and Thomas was with 1336s

them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. 1343s

Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it 1348s

in my side. Do not, do not doubt but believe. Thomas answered him, my Lord and my God. Jesus 1353s

said to him, have you believed? Because you have seen me, blessed are those who have not seen and 1362s

yet have come to believe. If Jesus were a phantom, then Thomas would have nothing to touch. 1368s

He'd have nothing to touch. So where do we hear this play out in phrases? 1375s

If God could not be with Jesus in his suffering, then he can't be with you in your suffering. 1388s

And so when you hear someone give the phrase, Jesus isn't with me as I walk through this 1398s

hard time. He doesn't understand my suffering. He didn't get it. I suffer. Jesus is God in the flesh, 1405s

but he's God and I start leaning back towards you to give meism. Where indeed there isn't any 1416s

kind of understanding there of me as I walk through these times of temptation or suffering. 1422s

It's a similar vein with dositism, though it's a different heresy, that indeed God doesn't 1428s

understand us when we suffer because God himself could not suffer. Usually people do not go to the 1435s

second statement because God himself cannot suffer. But you will hear sometimes people say, 1446s

God is so other, He is so beyond me and God certainly wouldn't understand the suffering 1453s

that I'm going through. We'll just think it through here a little bit. 1459s

If God created us, wouldn't God indeed know all about us? He fashioned us, He created us. 1463s

If indeed God is omniscient, would not then God know all. But God has experienced the suffering 1472s

in Jesus. So it's not just a head kind of knowledge of God in His omniscience. No, He has 1480s

experienced the suffering in His Son. And so He knows exactly what we feel. 1489s

It is a very dangerous statement. In fact, I recommend that you never use it with anyone 1498s

when you are ministering to someone who is hurting to say, I know exactly how you feel. 1505s

Because none of us can ever say that. We can say, I've gone through perhaps something similar. 1513s

And so I've got an idea. But to say I know exactly what you feel is a very dangerous statement 1521s

to make. Also, as we're ministering to people, you've got to make sure you don't turn it back 1531s

onto yourself. To where all of a sudden the person is seeing something of the suffering that 1536s

they're going through and you say, oh my goodness, well, let me tell you about what happened to me. 1541s

See, what just happened then in that interchange? You're now ministering by telling them what happened. 1547s

And sometimes as people tell things of what happened to them in the suffering, 1555s

it's not comforting, is it? To where they say, oh, I had that surgery. You're in for something. 1562s

Where they're trying to identify with the person, but they're not, you see, 1570s

responding to what the person is saying. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's not about 1575s

the suffering that you go through or that I go through. It's about the person who's talking 1583s

and let them talk because then you can come in with the word of the God who sustains us. 1589s

At most say, I've got an inkling of perhaps what you might be going through, but never totally 1596s

identify with somebody in the suffering because we all suffer in different ways and there's never 1605s

100% there just isn't. And so as we minister to people then and you hear them sharing where you 1610s

want to get to is you want to get to the God who sustains and understands us in our suffering and 1622s

did not spare his own son from suffering. And so when Jesus says, low I am with you always to the end 1628s

of the age. He is with us all the time and he understands all about us because 1636s

Jesus Christ Himself suffered. True God and true man, not a phantom. So he knows what pain is. 1646s

In fact, the pain that he experienced on the cross is almost horrific way to die. Crucifixion. 1660s

It's absolutely horrific. It's almost horrific way to die. He experienced that level of pain. 1669s

And so does does God get us? He does. Not only because of his omniscience, not only because he created 1678s

us, but also because he experienced the suffering on the cross itself. So when someone says, 1686s

they're going through that going through the hard time. They're going through a time of of 1698s

suffering. Be quiet and just listen and God will lead you to the time to talk and it might not be 1704s

that conversation. Because remember the best thing that Job's counselors did was not open their mouth. 1714s

It was the best thing they did. Once they started opening their mouth, they got themselves in a whole 1722s

bunch of trouble on that. But just to listen, to walk with people, comfort comes from the Lord who 1726s

has us, calls us his own, has experienced the suffering and never wastes suffering. Never wastes suffering. 1735s

God always uses it to our ultimate good and to his glory. And so freedom comes when amidst the 1745s

times of suffering, we can say, I don't understand this, but God, I know that you know me, you created 1754s

me, you experienced pain, you experienced suffering, you experienced abandonment on the cross. 1760s

Remember when Jesus turns and says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? What is occurring there? 1767s

But God, the Father, is turning His back on His Son because the sin of the world has been 1774s

heaped upon Him. What an ugly sight the Lord Jesus Christ is because He bears the sin of the world 1780s

upon Him and the Father turns His back on Him. Jesus understands suffering and being forsaken. 1791s

And as we walk along with people, we can point them to the one who truly understands what it is. 1802s

They're going through where we're not the focus in ministry. We just walk alongside of them 1810s

and point them to Jesus Christ. We point them away from themselves, away from us to Jesus Christ. 1818s

Does Jesus understand us when we suffer? You bet he does. Does he get us? You bet he does. 1828s

The Dositist, there's no word there from the Dositist that can be given, right? 1838s

And trails from Dositism comes out in the phrase of the one who says, he's not with me, he doesn't understand me. 1846s

Hear that as one who doesn't understand that two natures of Christ, what Christ is done and what Christ has experienced. 1858s