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he great apostasy may already be fully underway, yet,
the "coming of the lawless one," however, is still future.
His rise to prominence and power will be accompanied by incredible miracles…. with
all unrighteous deception. Paul warns in II Thessalonians
2:9-12, that the spiritually weak will be greatly deceived. And for this
reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the
lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but have
pleasure in unrighteousness; yet the one who knows and loves the truth can see
through it and avoid being deceived. Paul then mentions what is currently
keeping the evil in check: "And
now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper
time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who
now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And
then the lawless one will be revealed"
(verses 6–8).
Those who perish do so because they do not
receive—in the sense of "welcome"—the love of the truth. Understand
this: God will give what is desired_ preferred carnal delusion to spiritual
reality. Example. The unrighteous in Romans 1 desire a worldview without
a Creator so they can be sexually liberated. God gives them over to it
and lets them reap the awful consequences. The Israelites in the time of Amos
did not value God's truth, so He removed it, letting them experience how
miserably they fare without it. If they were anything like modern Israelites,
they thought of themselves as enlightened and progressive even as their
blindness became more complete.
Satan will pull out all the stops to deceive as many
as possible, especially the called sons of God. The "lawless
one" will be so slick that "all who dwell on the earth will
worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8).
Nevertheless, Paul writes, if we hold fast to "the pattern of sound
words" that we learned, if we guard the truth, we will not be
deceived.
Therefore,
brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by
word or our epistle. (II Thessalonians 2:15) The key to resisting
deception is being convicted of the truth! The truth is what was first revealed
to the apostles. As Jude puts it, "Contend earnestly for the faith
which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).
Conclusion
Paul does not specifically identify what or who the
restraining force is, since the Thessalonians already knew. Many scholars have
speculated as to the identity of the restrainer, naming the restraining
force as 1) the Roman government; 2) gospel preaching; 3) the binding of
Satan; 4) the providence of God; 5) the Jewish state; 6) the church; 7) the
Holy Spirit; and 8) Michael the archangel. I, personally believe, the
restrainer is the Holy Spirit, or we could say the Holy Spirit working
through the New Testament church.
Sustaining the idea that the Holy Spirit within the
church is the restrainer is the fact that the restrainer is referenced both as
a thing (neuter gender, verse 6) and as a person (masculine gender, verse 7).
Also, the power delaying Satan’s masterplan to unveil his false messiah
must be of God. I believe that it makes much more sense to say that the Holy
Spirit is curbing the devil than a political entity or even an angel. The Holy
Spirit of God is the only Person with abundant (supernatural) power to do this
restraining.
·
Of course, the
Spirit works through believers to accomplish this. The church, indwelt
by the Spirit of God, has always been part of what holds society back from the
swelling tide of lawless living. At some point, Paul says, the Spirit will "step
aside" from His restraining work, allowing sin to have dominion over
mankind. II Thessalonians 2:7 can be accurately delivered, “The secret of
lawlessness is already working, only it cannot be revealed until he who now
withholds disappears from the midst.” I believe this "disappearing
from the midst" will happen at the time the church leaves the earth at
the rapture. The Holy Spirit will still be present in the earth, of course, but
He will be taken out of the way in the sense that His unique sin-restraining
ministry—through God’s people—will be removed (Genesis 6:3).
·
II Thessalonians 2
is clear that the removal of the restrainer’s influence precedes the
revealing of the Antichrist. The rebellion will seem to be winning;
however, the ultimate doom of evil is sure.
Janet
Irene Thomas
Playwright/Screen
Writer/Director
Published
Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer
FOUNDER/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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