2 Thessalonians 2
CHAPTER 2
The man of sin
Now brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we urge you 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter appearing to be from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one beguile you in any way. For first of all must come the falling away and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of destruction, 4 he that opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.
5 Have you forgotten that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining him now, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so, until he is out of the way. 8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the powerful glory of his coming. 9 But the coming of the lawless one will be according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deceit of them that perish. Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved, 11 for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie; 12 that they all might be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
An appeal to stand firm
13 But, brothers, we are obligated to give thanks to God always for you, beloved of the Lord, for God chose you from the beginning to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth; 14 unto which He called you through our preaching of the gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 So then, brothers, stand fast, and hold to the teachings which you were taught, whether by word, or by our epistle. 16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Commentary
2:2 There were and are many false ideas around to the effect that Christ has already come; Preterism says He came in AD70, the Watchtower claimed He came in 1914. But the coming of Christ will be publically obvious to all because the wicked will be destroyed by it (v. 8), and we will be gathered unto Christ in that day (v. 1).
2:11 God isn’t passive toward those who don’t want to love His truth (v. 10)- He actively encourages them to believe delusions. This is one reason why we find believing such huge nonsenses- because God has in fact deluded them.
2:17 If we desire to speak and do the right things, God will confirm us in this; just as He confirms those who don’t love the truth in the way of untruth (vv. 10,11). There is both a downward and upward spiral in spiritual life; we can’t just opt out, we are on a journey either to eternal life or eternal death, and God is propelling us on the way we choose.
