Know Thyself and the Devil Romans 7:18-21

Know Thyself and the Devil 

or 

Self Knowledge and the Devil 

Romans 7:18-21

Romans 7:18-21 New King James Version (NKJV)

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

In the Gospel of Thomas Jesus tells us that finding the Kingdom is done by a person who "knows himself will discover this"

Gospel of Thomas Saying (3) Jesus said, "[If] those who lead you [say to you, 'See], the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky [will precede you. If they say that] it is under the earth, then the fish of the sea [will enter it, preceding] you. And, the [kingdom of God] is inside of you, [and it is outside of you. Whoever] knows [himself] will discover this. [And when you] come to know yourselves, [you will realize that] you are [sons] of the [living] father. [But if you] will [not] know yourselves, [you dwell] in [poverty] and it is you who are that poverty."

Knowing yourself is part of self examination when We examine ourselves we come to an understanding that our natural self is unclean or full of sin it is referred to as sinful flesh our natural self is our real adversary or Satan. Satan or the Devil is our Ego or the natural propensities of the flesh, that is "that physical principle of the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. It is that in the flesh "which has the power of death;" (Hebrews 2:14) and it is called sin, because the development, or fixation, of this evil in the flesh, was the result of transgression." (Elpis Israel) 

The Devil is limitation of mind. The Devil in flesh is the rationalist or uncomprised intellectual who sees the universe as a blind mechanical force, acting in an arbitrary fashion imposing upon mankind an infinite variety of hardships and dis- eases. The Devil is that agency within us which sows seeds of fear and confusion and declares in no uncertain terms that – this is how life is! The Devil is a speaker of lies. (Man Know Thyself: Hermetic Qabalistic Keys to the Bible)

Ecclesiastes 10:2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left I have suggested on :1 and :3 that Solomon has himself in view, dissecting his own spiritual collapse as he does in the preceding verses of Ecc. 9. So I suggest this too is him stating that he was not really the true "wise man" but the fool, because wisdom had been "far from me" (Ecc. 7:23). Here he puts it another way, in saying that a truly wise man has his heart at his right hand, under his control, with his wisdom in his heart. 

Whereas Solomon sees himself as the fool whose heart was not under his control, spiritual mindedness and psychological self discipline had not been practiced by him at all. And despite realizing that, he still doesn't repent. The Old Testament frequently speaks of man as having two "sides" to his character; one that wished to serve God, and the other which was rebellious. Ecc. 10:2 shows how that the spiritual man is not only aware of this, but he consciously acts to control these two sides: "A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left". 

This kind of self-knowledge is sadly lacking in most human beings, and Solomon is admitting it had been lacking in himself. Proverbs 7,8 likewise has the picture of two women, personifying the flesh and spirit (Prov. 7:12 cp. 8:2,3). Against this Old Testament background, there developed a strong Jewish tradition that the right hand side of a man was his spiritual side, and the left hand side was the equivalent of the New Testament 'devil'. The Lord Jesus referred to this understanding when He warned: "Let not your left hand know what your right hand does" (Mt. 6:3)- implying that the good deeds of the spiritual man would be misused by the 'devil', e.g. in using them as grounds for spiritual pride.

“The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left” (Ecc. 10:2 NIV) has been understood as referring not so much to right and wrong, good and evil, as to the highest good and lesser good (cp. how the left hand can stand for simply lesser blessing rather than outright evil, e.g. Gen. 48:13-20). The fool inclines to lower commitment. The wise will always incline to the maximum, wholehearted level. And Solomon realizes that this is how he has been.  

Paul laments: "In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing...for the good that I would I do not...if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me" (Rom.7:18-21). Now he does not blame his sinning on an external being called the devil. He located his own evil nature as the real source of sin: "It is not I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law (within me), that, when I would do good, evil is present with (i.e. within) me". So he says that the opposition to being spiritual comes from something that he calls "sin dwelling in me". Every thoughtful, spiritually minded person will come to the same kind of self-knowledge. It should be noted that even a supreme Christian like Paul did not experience a change of nature after conversion, nor was he placed in a position whereby he did not and could not sin. The modern 'evangelical' movement claims that they are in such a position, and thereby place Paul well within the ranks of the 'unsaved' because of his statement here in Rom.7:15-21. These verses have proved a major difficulty for their claims. David, another undoubtedly righteous man,likewise commented upon the constant sinfulness of his very nature: "I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps.51:5).

Realizing who ‘the Devil’ really is inspires us to more concretely fight against him. 

For we are our own worst enemy our own devil and an enemy against God. If  we follow the thinking of the flesh, (). So to “know yourself” is to know that it is our own evil heart that is the devil. ()

Our ego catapults self-interest to the forefront of our attention. Daily readings, Bible study and prayer suppress the power of the ego. Over a period of time the reflective mind, remembering the pain of past ego-driven mistakes, will grow in wisdom. But ego never disappears. It can only be suppressed and its power limited by the constant reintroduction of spiritual thinking.

The doctrine of the fallen angel devil tells us that we are not truly to blame. The evil in the world comes from outside us and in reality it is God who is to blame, since He can’t control His own angels. We are told God either doesn’t have the power or the will to stop this fallen angel, and therefore we suffer. This doctrine elevates the flesh and degrades the spirit.

If we wish to partake of God’s nature, we have to recognize the uncleanness of our own nature and reject it.

We must come to know our true self. Our true self is not the person of this world, but the one who was born of God. We are spiritually maturing and growing in knowledge of who we are. We may not be clearly seeing our true self (who is Christ) right now, but we will once we come to fully know and be our True self. We are God’s image that must become perfect like our heavenly Father this is our purpose to reflect the identity, character and glory and become the image of Christ, who is the true image of God. We can only do this in Christ where our true self (life) will be kept hidden in Christ Col 3:3, 4.

So in this light real poverty is when we do not know our true self in Christ. The use of the term 'poverty' is meant for life outside of true knowledge This is spiritual poverty where our minds are lost in deception and our hearts feel homeless because we have not returned to our Father’s house 1Cor 3:16 6:19 Eph 2:20-22 1Pet 2:5. Finally, Jesus says, “you are that poverty” Paul says that nothing good could come from him Rom 7:18 He said that “Paul” had died and Christ now lived in and through him Gal 2:20. Paul knew that his true life was found when he had the spirit of Christ, which is the mind of Christ and not the natural or worldly Paul.

Paul rebuked Corinth for their inability to know whether they had the christ-consciousness developed within them: "Know ye not...that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1Cor. 3:16). We must reckon ourselves dead to sin (Rom. 6:11). The Greek for "reckon" is that translated "impute" or "count", and which often appears in the surrounding chapters in Romans, speaking of how God "counts" us to be perfect. We must reckon ourselves as God reckons us.

the christ-consciousness is first born at baptism, but it is quite possible for it to lie dormant or even die unless it is nurtured. Almost all of us have discovered the presence of our real spiritual man some time after baptism. The spiritual self is begotten by the word, leading to the birth at baptism (2Cor 5:17; James 1:18; 1Pet. 1:23); yet it is the word which makes the " man of God" perfect or mature (2Tim. 3:16,17). Note that the " man of God" here probably refers to our inner spiritual self, rather than just being an description for the believer. In this case, 1Tim. 6:11 records Paul speaking to Timothy's spiritual man: " Thou, O man of God, flee these things". "Man of God" was a term used to describe the Old Testament prophets; it is as if Paul is addressing himself to the word-developed man within Timothy. We must likewise relate to the spiritual man within our brethren.

Moreover, this is how we become “sons of the living Father” (compare Thomas 49-50), which is to become like Jesus himself our example. We must have the same faith as Jesus as well as the same self-control just as Jesus needed it to be saved, so do we Heb 5:7, 8 also in the gospel of John it is Jesus who empowered true believers, so #Ec 5:19, 6:2. He gave them the privilege, the liberty, the dignity, which refers to the legitimate entitlement to the position of being called and becoming the sons of God. Israel was once the son and the first-born, #Ex 4:22: but now the adoption of sons to God was open and free to all nations whatever. By believing, undeserving sinners can become full members of God's family.

The Second Emanation: The Creation of the Physical Universe

The doctrine of emanation

The Second Emanation: The Creation of the Physical Universe

“All the emanations from the Father, therefore, are Pleromas, and all His emanations have their roots in the One who caused them all to grow from Himself” (The Gospel of Truth). From this statement we understand that the source of all reality is the Father, and that what proceeds from Him is not severed or diminished in its going forth, but remains rooted in Him as branches are in the vine. In the great order of divine manifestation there are two chief emanations:

The First Emanation — the self-revelation of the Uncreated, Eternal Spirit to Himself, the fullness of divine self-awareness within the incorruptible substance of the Father.

The Second Emanation — the outward manifestation of creation, both the spiritual and physical realms, flowing forth from that same incorruptible source.

This present study will concern itself with the second emanation, in particular the manifestation of the physical universe.

This study considers the second emanation, the forming of the physical universe and the role of the Deity’s Spirit in that process.

### Spirit as Radiant Power

The term *spirit* is rooted in the Latin *spiritus*, from *spiro*, “to breathe,” denoting something exhaled or radiated. Its Greek equivalent, *pneuma*, and its Hebrew counterpart, *ruach*, carry the same primary sense of motion outward from a source. While the etymology tells us *how* it acts—flowing, radiating—it does not tell us the *substance* of spirit. That is learned from its effects.

The first biblical occurrence is in Genesis 1:2, where *ruach Elohim* is said to be “brooding” over the face of the waters. This brooding principle penetrated every atom of the primeval earth, ready to obey the word of command. All things were shaped by this Spirit as the executive agent of divine Wisdom: “By His Spirit He garnished the heavens” (Job 26:13), and “He sendeth forth His Spirit; they are created” (Psalm 104:30).

Thus, the Spirit is formative power—a radiant emanation from the incorruptible substance of the Deity. The Hebrew *El* means “power” or “might.” The *Spirit of El* is therefore the radiant, creative force flowing from the Father, who is the fountain of omnipotence (1 Corinthians 8:6).

### The Corporeal Nature of Spirit

Jesus declared, “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), not to describe an immaterial abstraction, but to reveal His essential substance: incorruptible, tangible, and self-existent. Spirit is to the Father what radiant heat is to white-hot iron—the outflow of the same substance. The Deity’s nature can be likened to corporeal electricity: a concentrated, self-sustaining energy that both exists in substance and radiates in power.

Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1) portrays this with imagery of fire, brightness, and lightning—a vivid representation of spirit as radiant, corporeal energy. In biblical symbolism, electricity is a figure for spirit because it is emitted from a central source, just as divine power radiates from the Father.

This spirit exists in two conditions:

1. **Free, radiant, uncombined**—as the active force pervading all things.

2. **In substance, bodily existence**—the original condition of spirit in the person of the Father.

The Deity has always existed as substance; there was never an incorporeal predecessor to His power. Spirit radiates from Him, but is never separate from Him, and never acts independently of His will (John 5:19).

### Matter and Spirit as One Essence

The philosophical distinction between “matter” and “spirit” is foreign to Scripture. The Father is matter in the truest sense, but that matter is spirit-substance—incorruptible, intelligent, and eternal. Matter, in this definition, is not inherently evil nor incapable of thought. Electricity, though invisible and intangible to the hand, is still matter—just as much as a stone is. To call something “immortal” because it is “immaterial” is to affirm that nothingness is immortal, which is absurd.

Since the Deity’s spirit pervades the atoms of all bodies, it fills the whole creation. The psalmist testifies that there is no place to flee from His spirit (Psalm 139:7–12). Paul affirmed to the philosophers of Athens that God “is not far from every one of us” (Acts 17:27–28), for in Him all live, move, and have their being.

### Spirit as the Sustainer of Life

Every living creature is dependent upon the spirit and breath of the Deity (Job 34:14–15). Withdraw that breath, and the organism collapses into corruption and dust. Spirit is the *vis medicatrix naturae*, the vital principle that sustains life. All living beings are “spirit-forms” in the sense that their existence depends upon spirit-matter infused into their structure. However, being spirit-formed does not automatically confer immortality—flesh-and-blood spirit-forms are mortal by constitution.

When the free spirit of the Deity is withdrawn, the cohesion of matter dissolves; the form returns to dust, and its elements recombine into other arrangements. This is why the Deity is called “Yahweh, Elohim of the spirits of all flesh” (Numbers 27:16). The power of the lion is from Yahweh; the flight of the sparrow is from Yahweh. All are connected to Him by a direct line of sustaining energy.

### Instantaneous Communication of Will

Because the free spirit radiates throughout creation, all things are in direct communication with the will of the Deity. His commands require no time to traverse space; His will at His throne is instantly effective anywhere in the universe. Time is irrelevant to Him; space is filled with His power.

### Spirit in Physical and Moral Operations

Spirit operates in two broad ways:

* **Physically**, as the power that animates, organizes, and sustains all creation.

* **Morally**, as the truth—God’s thoughts breathed forth in words—operating on the hearts of those brought into harmony with His character.

The Lord said, “My words are spirit” (John 6:63), and John wrote, “The Spirit is the truth” (1 John 5:6). Physical acts such as raising the dead or healing the sick require material spirit-power; moral transformation requires the spirit in the form of truth.

### 

Dark Matter, Thick Darkness, and the Abode of God

Scripture repeatedly describes the dwelling of the Deity as “thick darkness” (Exodus 20:21; Deuteronomy 4:11; 1 Kings 8:12; Psalms 18:11; 97:2). This is not darkness as absence of light, but an impenetrable radiance that to mortal perception appears as obscurity. It may well be that what physicists call “dark matter” or “dark energy” is related to this reality — the invisible, pervasive substance of the divine realm, the very abode of the Deity and His spiritual sons. From this hidden dimension, the Spirit extends into all realms, ordering both the spiritual and the physical universes.

The Second Emanation

The creation of the physical universe, then, is the second great emanation from the Father. The first emanation is the fullness of divine life and self-knowledge within the Pleroma; the second is the outward projection of that life into ordered creation. This emanation is the Spirit of God going forth from His substance, shaping the Aeons, establishing the heavens, and forming the material cosmos. It is the radiance of the incorruptible hypostasis — the underlying reality — made manifest in the visible world.

Thus the visible universe is not alien to the divine but rooted in it. Its atoms, forces, and structures are the outflow of divine power, sustained moment by moment by the Spirit that pervades all things. The second emanation is therefore not the production of something from nothing, but the shaping of what is seen from the unseen substance of the Deity, “so that what is seen has come to be out of things which are not visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

In this way, creation is a continuous testimony to the Father, the Source from whom, through whom, and for whom are all things. The physical universe is not a realm separate from God but an emanation from His very being, sustained by His Spirit, and destined to be filled with His glory.

The second holy spirit is a group of angels

The second holy spirit is a group of angels called the church or the Jerusalem above

The holy spirit is described by John as the helper:

26 But the helper, the holy spirit, which the Father will send in my name, that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things I told you (John 14).
But Adam's wife was described in the same way:

18 And Jehovah God went on to say: It is not good for the man to continue by himself. I am going to make a helper for him, as a complement of him (Genesis 2).

*Now we know that Yahweh is the husband to Israel and the lamb is the husband of the 144’000 Isa 54:5 Jer 31:32 Rev 19:8,9

So the holy spirit is a compound wife 'corporation', or 'incorporated' means a lot of people regarded as one body.  that is a group Collective

In fact God's wife is likewise 144,000 sanctified angels who as a group make up the holy spirit, the house of God, his church.

Angels are spirits 

4 Making his angels [his messengers] spirits, his ministers a devouring fire (Psalm 104).

13 But with reference to which one of the angels has he ever said: Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth on behalf of those who are going to inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1).

31 And he proceeded to fill him with the spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in every sort of craftsmanship (Exodus 35).

Since the holy spirit imparts wisdom it must be an intelligent being or beings. Likewise we can deduce that the holy spirit is a living intelligent thing because it can plead for us:

26 In like manner the spirit also joins in with help for our weakness; for the [problem of] what we should pray for as we need to we do not know, but the spirit itself pleads/intercedes for us with groanings unuttered (Romans 8).

The holy spirit does God's ministering and contains ministers, who are holy (sanctified) spirits plural. So the holy spirit is a group of angels.

Hence Paul said:

26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother (Galatians 4).

The Jerusalem above is God's heavenly administration which is made up of all the archangels, which is all of the holy spirits. Paul explicitly states that these angels are our Mother, for they give birth to all the new angels. Now mother's plead with father's not to be too hard on errant sons. And that is precisely the meaning of Romans 8:26, the holy spirit interceding with God for the sanctified ones, is the mother interceding with the father for her sons

Heb 1: 14  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Mt 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Lk 7:35 All the same, wisdom is proved righteous by all its children.”

Thus we can speak of the true believers who is conceived by the spirit-word and by the holy spirit, so as to give birth to the will of the Father, is the Mother of Jesus. And Isaiah tells us 62:5: “so shall thy sons marry thee.
The Jerusalem above is the Mother of us all (saints) including the King the Lord Jesus Christ in a spiritual sense for the Jerusalem above is made up of all true believers.

the brethren are the bride of Christ and the Mother is the Sarah Covenant styled “the Jerusalem above the Mother of us all” (Gal 4:26).

the newly born had been begotten by the spirit word (1Pet 1:23). after the birth (jn 3:3,5), it was the duty of the mother (Ecclesia) to nourish the new-born babe with the milk of the word (1Pet 2:2), supplementing it with stronger food as it developed

The Jerusalem above the Mother of us all including the King the Lord Jesus Christ is made up of  all the true believers. And she is the worthy woman of Proverbs 31, of whom it is said: “Many daughters have done righteously, but you out shined them all.“

22  but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels,
23  to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24  and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.

God does refer to a whole nation of people as one person...

22 And you must say to Pharaoh: This is what Jehovah has said: Israel is my son, my firstborn (Exodus 4).

He also refers to the entire church as Jesus' wife, one person in the singular...

22 Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord,
23 because a husband is head of his wife as the Christ also is head of the congregation, he being a savior of [that] body.
24 In fact, as the congregation is in subjection to the Christ, so let wives also be to their husbands in everything (Ephesians 5).

So the whole congregation is regarded as being one body, one wife.

The old testament often refers to God as Jehovah of armies or Jehovah of hosts. Well he had an army on earth in the form of the men of Israel. And he had an army in heaven in the form of his holy spirit. For an army is a large collective that acts as an individual.

Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother as I do cannot become a disciple to Me. And whoever does [not] love his father and his mother as I do cannot become a [disciple] to Me. For My mother [gave me falsehood], but [My] true [Mother] gave me life."

The Saviour himself said: Just now my mother, the Holy Spirit, took me by one of my hairs [an angel who ministered to Jesus  after his sacrifice Jesus would have the promised headship of the holy spirit ] and carried me up to the great mountain, Tabor (Gospel of the Hebrews).


So the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ mum.

The Deep/Depth or Bythos Romans 11:33

A Study of Bythos

**Bythos**

> *“He transcends all wisdom, and is above all intellect, and is above all glory, and is above all beauty, and all sweetness, and all greatness, and any depth and any height.”*

> — *The Tripartite Tractate*

The term **Bythos** (Greek: Βυθός) signifies “the Deep” or “Depth.” In Gnostic theology, Bythos refers to the primal Source—the hidden, unfathomable origin of all existence. He is not simply a being among beings but the silent root of all that is, from whom the Aeons proceed and in whom they are contained. The name itself echoes the profound mystery that surrounds Him, pointing to the infinite depths of knowledge, wisdom, and love which mortals may glimpse but never fully comprehend.

The **Tripartite Tractate**, one of the central texts in the Valentinian corpus, speaks to the unknowable nature of this depth:

> *“While they (the members of the church) were in the Father's thought, that is, in the hidden depth, the depth knew them, but they were unable to know the depth in which they were; nor was it possible for them to know themselves, nor for them to know anything else.”*

> — *The Tripartite Tractate*

Bythos is not simply unknown; He is **unknowable** by natural means. Yet, this unknowability is not hostility. It is mystery. It is the sheer vastness of what the Deity is. The early followers of Christ, as described in this text, were within the Father’s thought—within the Depth itself—before they even had knowledge of themselves. Their existence was known to Him before they could speak or think or act. Such is the immensity and intimacy of Bythos.

### Bythos in Scripture

The Greek word **βυθός (bythos)**, translated as “depth,” shares linguistic roots with **βάθος (bathos)**—a word frequently used in the New Testament to refer to the inscrutable nature of the Deity's wisdom and purpose.

In **Romans 11:33**, Paul exclaims:

> *“O the depth (βάθος) of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”*

Here, the depth is not the abyss of despair but the bottomless richness of divine wisdom and knowledge. It is Bythos who holds these unfathomable riches. His judgments are “past finding out,” not because they are irrational, but because they operate on a scale and from a perspective far beyond human limitation.

The same word appears again in **Romans 8:39**:

> *“Nor height, nor depth (βάθος), nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”*

Here, "depth" contrasts with "height"—the full spectrum of possible extremes. The implication is that no matter how far one descends—into suffering, loss, confusion, or failure—there is nothing that can separate the faithful from the love of the Deity in Christ. Bythos is not only the hidden source, but also the loving sustainer of all those who are in Him.

The **Hebrew** equivalent of Bythos is **Tehom (תְּהוֹם)**—used in Genesis 1:2 to describe the primordial deep over which the Spirit of the Deity moved:

> *“And darkness was upon the face of the deep (Tehom). And the Spirit of Elohim moved upon the face of the waters.”*

Thus, even in the beginning, the concept of the Deep, or Bythos, was present. He is not a later invention, but the enduring mystery that has accompanied revelation from the first page of Scripture.

### The Deep Things of God

In **1 Corinthians 2:10**, Paul again invokes this idea:

> *“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things (βάθος) of God.”*

The “deep things” of the Deity are not arcane doctrines or secrets reserved for a few; rather, they are realities that cannot be accessed except by the Spirit. This depth is not intellectual complexity alone—it is existential depth, reality at its most foundational level.

Likewise, **Ephesians 3:18-19** offers a profound prayer:

> *“May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”*

Here, the depth (βάθος) is part of the full measure of divine love—a love that surpasses knowledge, yet may be *known* experientially. This paradox is central to Bythos: He is unknowable, yet makes Himself known; He is invisible, yet fills all things; He is immeasurable, yet brings fullness.

### Bythos and the Natural World

The Scriptures affirm that the natural world reflects Bythos. As **Psalm 92:5** declares:

> *“O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.”*

Similarly, **Psalm 36:6** says:

> *“Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep.”*

This echoes the observation from **Job 38**, where the Deity confronts Job with questions about creation to remind him that divine wisdom is beyond human comprehension. And yet, that wisdom is not distant; it is active, shaping the world, redeeming it, guiding it.

The depth of Bythos is also moral and relational. The Deity calls for His children to mirror that depth—not in complexity for its own sake, but in heartfelt wisdom, compassion, and integrity:

> *“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked... Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”*

> — *Deuteronomy 10:16,19*

This depth is not philosophical aloofness. It is profound compassion and unfathomable grace. The deep love of Christ, as mentioned in Ephesians, is a reflection of the nature of Bythos.

---

**Conclusion**

Bythos is the unknowable Depth—the origin and destiny of all. He transcends all measure, and yet He reveals Himself in Christ, in wisdom, in love, in the Spirit, and in the beauty of creation. As Paul writes, His ways are past finding out, yet He is not far from every one of us. As the Tripartite Tractate affirms, we were in His thought before we even knew ourselves. And though He is beyond all height and depth, His love reaches us wherever we are.

> *“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”*

> — *Romans 11:33*

**Bythos: The Deep Beyond the Pleroma**

*(Part II)*

The word *depth* in the Scriptures functions as a symbol for that which lies beyond comprehension—something that cannot be grasped by intellect, expressed by words, or traced to its origin. Just as the abyss of the sea has no visible foundation, so too the deep (*bathos*, *bythos*) represents something that exceeds the capacity of mortal knowledge. As it is written, “Thy judgments are a great deep” (Psalm 36:6), and again, “The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). These verses anchor the mystery of the Divine in the metaphor of unfathomable waters—of vastness, obscurity, and limitless substance.

This symbol of the *deep* recurs in the Genesis creation account:

> “And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament” (Genesis 1:7).

> “Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens” (Psalm 148:4).

Here, the waters above the heavens are not mere clouds or atmospheric vapors, but a symbolic representation of the invisible origin—the primal *deep* that precedes all formation. The physical universe is shaped by division and boundaries, but the deep remains undivided, untouched, and eternal.

In the Psalms, this primordial element is directly associated with the Deity:

> “O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep” (Psalm 92:5).

> “These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep” (Psalm 107:24).

Bythos, the depth, thus becomes not only the place of mystery but the very nature of the Divine. It is not a place but a condition—a reality beyond all visible boundaries. The Deity’s thoughts, judgments, and works issue from this abyssal source. It is no wonder, then, that when speaking of the Spirit, the New Testament adopts water imagery.

In John 7:37–39, Jesus declares:

> “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit.”

And again in Isaiah 44:3:

> “For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring.”

The Spirit is likened to water—not merely to express its nourishing or cleansing power, but to convey its origin from the deep. Just as rivers arise from hidden springs, so too the Spirit flows from Bythos. This is affirmed in 1 Corinthians 12:13:

> “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

This imagery finds parallel in the writings of the prophets:

> “They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

> “All that forsake thee shall be ashamed… because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters” (Jeremiah 17:13).

The Deity is not merely the Creator, but the *Fountain*—the wellspring of Being itself. This fountain, this *Bythos*, is beyond the Pleroma. For the word *Pleroma* (Greek: πλήρωμα) means *fullness*—the realm of Aeons, the heaven of heavens. The Pleroma is the structured, emanated realm of divine powers. It is full, but not infinite. It is complete, but not ultimate. That which emanates the Pleroma is *Bythos*—the unformed, unbegotten source.

> “He transcends all wisdom, and is above all intellect, and is above all glory, and is above all beauty, and all sweetness, and all greatness, and any depth and any height” (The Tripartite Tractate).

In this way, the Gnostic writings reaffirm what the Prophets and Apostles also perceived: that there is a hidden depth beyond even the highest heavens. This depth is not nothingness, but fullness before fullness—a reality so vast that even the Pleroma proceeds from it. It is not an absence, but an overflowing source.

Paul hints at this in Ephesians 3:18–19:

> “…that you may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge…”

The love of the Christ flows from this abyss—from the fountain of living waters. It is as if the Deity, in His unknowable essence, is a sea of infinite depth. And from this sea, the Aeons were drawn forth. The Pleroma is the structured form of this love, but its origin is Bythos.

The Psalmist declares:

> “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God” (Psalm 46:4).

> This river flows from the throne in Revelation 22:1 and is echoed again in verse 17:

> “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

This river is the Spirit. The Spirit is the water. The water is from Bythos.

Thus, Bythos is not to be thought of as a place, but as the abyssal identity of the Deity—*the One who is, who was, and who is to come*—the source of Spirit, of Pleroma, of all that is formed, known, and living.

In conclusion, the ancient Scriptures, the prophets, the Psalms, the apostles, and the Gnostic texts all speak in harmony of this unfathomable reality. The *deep things of God* are not locked away, but revealed to those who, by faith, receive the Spirit:

> “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10).

**Bythos: The Undivided Fountain of Power**

*(Part III)*

The emanations of the divine begin not in time but in principle, not from chaos but from Bythos—the Undivided, Eternal Source. The *Tripartite Tractate* speaks of the Aeons as "roots and springs and fathers," proceeding from Him who is called the *Father*, who is the hidden Deep. This Father, or Bythos, is not diminished by what flows from Him. Just as a spring remains full though it pours forth rivers, so the Deity remains whole, though from Him emerge innumerable Spirit-forms.

> “They were forever in thought, for the Father was like a thought and a place for them…”

> —*Tripartite Tractate*

Here, the Father is the Thought—the underlying rationality—and also the *Place*, that is, the context, condition, and environment of all Aeonic existence. This language is not metaphorical; it reflects an understanding that all being is contained *in* the Deity, who is both Fountain and Field, Springhead and Container. Those who dwell in His thought—who are “within” Him—are unable to know Him as He knows them. For while the Aeons are real and tangible, they are dependent; and the Deep is their foundation.

This relationship is described further:

> “He brought forth everything, like a little child, like a drop from a spring… in need of gaining nourishment and growth and faultlessness.”

The Aeons, therefore, though divine, are not unoriginated. They are begotten. They are not themselves fountains, but streams. They partake of divine nature because they emerge from it. They are not equal to the source, but owe their growth, maturation, and perfection to it. This origin does not degrade their status, but affirms their reality—they are not illusions or metaphors, but substantial beings.

Scripture echoes this understanding:

> “Out of Him are all things.”

> —1 Corinthians 8:6

This verse does not mean "from nothing," but *ex autou*—out of Him. The Deity did not make the cosmos from non-being; He poured it forth as water from a fountain. This is affirmed in Psalm 36:9:

> “For with Thee is the fountain of life.”

The Deity is not an impersonal force, but a fountain of Light, Life, and Power. As 1 John 1:5 states:

> “God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”

This Light is not metaphorical but essential—tangible, real, substantial. And this Light is Spirit. As Jesus says:

> “God is Spirit” (John 4:24).

> And Paul affirms:

> “Spirit is the Theos” (pneuma ho Theos esti).

So Spirit is not one part of the Deity—it is the Deity. Yet this Spirit is not abstract. It is the *Father-Spirit*—the Yahweh-Spirit Power who spoke to Moses, the One self-existent and supreme. This is what Moses and the prophets declared: not a trinity of persons, nor an abstraction of essence, but a singular Yahweh, the One who *will be* (ehyeh asher ehyeh), who alone is the Springhead of all that exists.

This Bythos—the Springhead—remains a unit, *undivided and indivisible*. He is not split into fractions or distinct persons. Rather, from this one Deity, many streams emerge, called *Elohim*—powers or mighty ones—who are described in the Scriptures and in the teachings of the apostles. These Elohim are Spirit-beings, because they are "born of Spirit" (John 3:6). They are “sons of the Deity,” not by adoption only, but by substance, having been formed from the very substance of Spirit, as spirit-forms modeled after His own hypostasis.

This aligns with Hebrews 1:3, where the Son is said to be:

> “The Character of His Hypostasis” —

> that is, the exact representation of His underlying substance.

Though these Elohim are created, the Spirit from which they are formed is uncreated. They are divine not in being unoriginated, but in partaking of the divine nature. They do not possess inherent immortality, but receive immortality as something put on (cf. 1 Cor. 15:53). They are forms with a beginning, but their substance is eternal. Their glory is real, but derivative.

Thus, the Aeons—“the Aeons of the Aeons”—are emanations, not equals. They were *in* the Father’s thought before they were manifested. The Deep knew them before they knew themselves. Their existence affirms both their distinction and their dependence.

This deep structure is mirrored in the New Testament teaching of the Spirit as the life-giver:

> “It is the Spirit that quickeneth” (John 6:63).

> And yet again:

> “The Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them” (John 5:21).

The Spirit and the Father are not two; they are one. The Father *is* the Spirit, when Spirit is understood in the highest sense—as Bythos, the original, unbegotten, unmeasured Fountain. This explains why Jesus could say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). For the Son veiled the substance of the Father in flesh, just as the Tabernacle veiled the Shekinah.

Even veiled, the Father-Spirit remains substantial. He is not abstract thought, but corporeal reality—Spirit that is tangible, radiant, and living. He is not merely force, but form; not merely being, but cause and pattern.

This understanding preserves the unity of the Deity, affirms the real generation of the Aeons, and establishes the foundation for divine relationality: the Aeons are children of the Father not by figure of speech, but by spiritual generation. They are rooted in the Deep, springing up like rivers from the eternal Fountain.

Therefore, when we speak of Bythos, we speak not of void, nor of absence, nor of an unknowable abstraction. We speak of the One who is, and was, and is to come—the Deity who is Spirit, who is Light, who is Power—the One from whom all things flow, and to whom all things return.

First a reading from some Gnostic text

He transcends all wisdom, and is above all intellect, and is above all glory, and is above all beauty, and all sweetness, and all greatness, and any depth and any height. (The Tripartite Tractate)

“While they (the members of the church) were in the Father's thought, that is, in the hidden depth, the depth knew them, but they were unable to know the depth in which they were; nor was it possible for them to know themselves, nor for them to know anything else.” (Tripartate Tractate)


The Greek word Bythos and bathos is used in the bible to describe the unfathomable ways, and nature of the Deity

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

1037. βυθός 

The Deep or Depth Bythos

1037. βυθός buthos boo-thos’; a variation of 899; depth, i.e. (by implication) the sea: —  deep. 

1037. βυθός from 899 βάθος bathos bath’-os 

899 βάθος from the same as 901; n n; TDNT-1:517,89;  {See TDNT 118 } 

AV-depth 5, deep 1, deep + 2596 1, deepness 1, deep thing 1; 9 

1) depth, height 
1a) of "the deep" sea 
1b) metaph. 
1b1) deep, extreme, poverty 
1b2) of the deep things of God 


899. βάθος bathos bath’-os; from the same as 901; profundity, i.e. (by implication) extent; (figuratively) mystery: —  deep(-ness, things), depth. 

[in LXX: Exodus 15:5, Nehemiah 9:11 (H4688), Psalms 68:22; Psalms 69:2; Psalms 107:24 (H4688)*;]

1. the bottom.

2. the depth of the sea, the deep sea: 2 Corinthians 11:25.†

Strong #: 4688 ‑ מְצוּלָה ((1,2) mets‑o‑law', (3,4) mets‑oo‑law');  4688 ‑ מְצוּלָה ((1,2) mets‑o‑law', (3,4) mets‑oo‑law'); 


The True Hebrew word corresponding to Bythos is Tehom (Hebrew: תְּהוֹם‬)

Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth <899>, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"Nor depth" — Whilst pride may lift us up, destroying our humility before God and dependence upon Him, so a feeling of humiliating depression, which may result from failure or defeat, can have a similarly destructive effect, if permitted to influence us. We may feel that God has failed us, that He does not care for us. We may question the goodness οϊ God, or experience degrading ridicule or rejection by our fellows. Faith and hope provide the antidote to either "height" or "depth". Even the dreadful affliction which befell the faithful Job was not able to "separate him from the love of God" (cp. Job 19:25)

Rom 11:33  O the depth <899> of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

God's judgments are a "great deep" (Psa 36:6). His "riches" refer to His abounding grace (Rom 9:23; 10:12). Cp also Eph 3:18,19: "...How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Yahweh's children must manifest the same characteristic, revealing a depth of wisdom of such matters lodged in the heart (Deut. 10:16-19; Joel 2:12-13), not judging the issues of life through the "face" of the flesh

These are seen by a very careful examination of the divine excellence. The word "depth" (Gr. bathos signifies that which is profound; mysterious) indicates that which is vast and incomprehensible (see Psa. 36:6; ICor. 2:20). Mortal man cannot exhaust the greatness of the Almighty, as Job was reminded: ch. 38. The physical evidence of this majesty is seen as much in the vast expanse of the universe, as in the exquisite beauty of the tiniest flower petal.

1Cor 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things <899> of God.

Psa 92:5  O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

Eph 3:18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth <899>, and height;

Eph 3:18 in order that YOU may be thoroughly able to grasp mentally with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge, that YOU may be filled with all the fullness that God gives.

The word depth is applied in the Scriptures to anything vast and incomprehensible. As the abyss or the ocean is unfathomable, so the word comes to denote that which words cannot express, or that which we cannot comprehend. #Ps 36:6, “Thy judgments are a great deep.” #1Co 2:10, “The Spirit searcheth — the deep things of God.”

The deep or depth is the waters above the Heavens 

Ge 1:7  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Psa 148:4  Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

Ps 104:3  Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

The deep or depth is also used to describe the deity

Psa 92:5  O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

The Holy Spirit Described As Water

John 7:37-39

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Isaiah 44:3

'For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;

John 4:14

but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

1 Corinthians 12:13

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

The word Pleroma means "fullness". It refers to all existence beyond visible universe. The Parent, the the Mother-Father, the Uncreated Eternal Spirit existed prior to the creation or emanation of the Pleroma. Therefore Bythos or the Uncreated Eternal Spirit is beyond the Pleroma. In other words the Pleroma is the world of the Aeons, the heaven of heavens or spiritual universe. Bythos is the spiritual source of everything that emanates the pleroma.

The Pleroma is both the abode of God and the essential nature of the True Ultimate God.

Jer 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jer 17:13  O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

The river in Psalm 46:4 signifies the flowing of the One true Deity cp. Psa. 36:8-9 John 4:14 John 7:38-39 Rev. 22:17

All those who came forth from him <who> are the aeons of the aeons, being emanations and offspring of <his> procreative nature, they too, in their procreative nature, have <given> glory to the Father, as he was the cause of their establishment. This is what we said previously, namely that he creates the aeons as roots and springs and fathers, and that he is the one to whom they give glory. (The Tripartite Tractate)

They were forever in thought, for the Father was like a thought and a place for them. When their generations had been established, the one who is completely in control wished to lay hold of and to bring forth that which was deficient in the [...] and he brought forth those [...] him. But since he is as he is, he is a spring, which is not diminished by the water which abundantly flows from it. While they were in the Father's thought, that is, in the hidden depth, the depth knew them, but they were unable to know the depth in which they were; nor was it possible for them to know themselves, nor for them to know anything else. (The Tripartite Tractate)

The Father brought forth everything, like a little child, like a drop from a spring, like a blossom from a vine, like a flower, like a <planting> [...], in need of gaining nourishment and growth and faultlessness. (The Tripartite Tractate)

The Deity who is Light, and with whom is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5), and who is the great Fountain of life (Psa. 39:9), out of whom are all things (1 Cor. 8:6). "From everlasting to everlasting Thou art EL" (Psa. 90:2). El, as it is most frequently transliterated, is the Hebrew word that stands for God in this place. It denotes Power. Power, light, and life, inherent and underived, are the attributes of the Father who is Spirit (John 4:24); 

The source or fountain of power in the universe is one. It is a unit. Therefore, everything which exists is ex autou out of (emanation) Him. Hence the Creator did not "make all things out of nothing." 

The Supreme Power, or EL, is "Bythos the Springhead or source, fountain, or sole spring of Power. Moses and the prophets do not teach that "there are three persons, three essences, three somethings, or three anythings, in the One Deity; and that these three distinct units, or unities, constitute only one unit or one Unity -- and that that Tri-Unity is the God of Israel." They do not teach this.


By Bythos is meant the Springhead the source, or fountain of Deity -- the Divine Nature in its original pre-existence before every created thing. He teaches that this Springhead was a Unit --a Undivided Unit, undivided into thirds, or fractions.


Moses and the prophets teach "One" self-existent, supreme fountain of Power, EL who is Spirit, and self-named I SHALL BE, or Yahweh: that is ONE YAHWEH-SPIRIT POWER is "God" in the highest sense, and constitutes the "Bythos," or FATHER IN HEAVEN; and He is the Springhead of many streams, or rivers of spirit, which assume "organic forms," according to the will of the Yahweh-Spirit Power, and that when formed after the model, archetype, or the pattern, presented in HIS OWN HYPOSTASIS, or Substance, they become SPIRIT-ELOHIM, or sons of God; and are Spirit, because "born of the Spirit" -- Emanations of the formative Spirit being out of him. The Spirit-Elohim was also "God"; nevertheless they are created. They are formed and made out of and by that which is uncreated. They are Spirit-Forms, the substance of which (spirit) is eternal; while the forms are from a beginning. Each one is a God in the sense of partaking of THE DIVINE NATURE, and being therefore a Son of God.

the Scripture declares that pneuma ho Theos esti literally, Spirit is the Theos. I say simply theos, because we shall yet have to ascertain the New Testament sense of Theos. "Spirit," then, is the Theos commonly called God. But more than this, this Spirit is the Father; that is, the One ex autou, out of (emanation) whom are all things. This appears from what is affirmed of "Spirit" and of "Father." Jesus says in John 5:21: "The Father raises up the dead and quickeneth," or makes the grave-emergent dead incorruptibly living: and in chapt. 6:63, he says: "It is the Spirit that quickeneth," or makes alive. The Father and the Spirit are, therefore, the same; nevertheless, the word "spirit" is often used in other senses. It is the "Father-Spirit" that Paul refers to in 1 Tim. 6:16, whom no man hath seen in His unveiled splendour. Veiled in flesh, "the Vail o[ the Covering" (Exodus 35:12): he that discerneth him who spoke to Philip, "saw the Father" (John 14:9; 12:45). But, veiled or unveiled, the Father-Spirit is substantial. Speaking of the Unveiled Father-Spirit, Paul says in Heb. 1:2, 3, that the Son is the Character of his Hypostasis, rendered, in the common version, "express image of his person."

Proverbs 8:22 ¶ Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
24 When there were no depths Bythos, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains (Pleroma) abounding with water (Aeons). (As the ‘immeasurable deep’: “After these things there is another place which is broad, having hidden within it a great wealth which supplies the All. This is the immeasurable deep.)” 
25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
27 When he prepared the heavens (Pleroma), I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth (Bythos):
28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:


29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

The Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex

This is the ennead which came from the Father of those without beginning, who alone is Father and Mother unto himself, whose pleroma surrounds the twelve deeps -

1. The first deep is the all-wise from which all sources have come.

2. The second deep is the all-wise from which all the wise have come.

3. The third deep is the all-mystery from which, or out of which, all mysteries have come.

4. The fourth deep moreover is the all-gnosis out of which all gnoses have come.

5. The fifth deep is the all-chaste from which everything chaste has come.

6. The sixth deep is silence. In this is every silence.

7. The seventh deep is the insubstantial door from which all substances has come forth.

8. The eight deep is the forefather from whom, or out of whom, have come into existence all forefathers.

9. The ninth deep moreover is an all-father and a self-farther, that is, every fatherhood is in him and he alone is father to them.

10. The tenth deep is the all-powerful from which has come every power.

11. The eleventh deep moreover is that in which is the first invisible one, from which all invisible ones have come.

12. The Twelfth deep moreover is the truth from which has come all truth.

http://www.gnosis.org/library/untitl.htm

From the Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex we can see that the deep has a number of different levels or it is structured as a hierarchy