2 Thess 2
Verse 1 ¶ Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
Paul has found that a falsehood has been introduced into the church at Thessalonica. It concerns the concept of the Day of Christ being at hand. However the Apostle Paul does not begin his response by addressing the error itself, which concerns the “Day” being at hand. Sometimes in order to address a topic groundwork must first be laid. Paul is laying the groundwork by explaining that the “Day” is a part of the “Coming or Gathering”. Paul begins His response by explaining to the Thessalonians that the Coming of the Lord involves their being gathered to Jesus.
The grace of God teaches a person to abstain from sin, Titus 2:11-12. Within the concept of “being taught to abstain from sin” lies the fact that Christians need to learn not to sin. Learning not to sin involves both reward (being gathered to Christ as is seen from the phrase “enter the joy of the Lord” (Matt 25:21 and 23). Learning to abstain from ungodliness also includes the discipline (God’s judgment upon a Christian’s willful sinful behavior after they come to a knowledge of Christ, Hebrews 10:26).
To the Thessalonian Christians their being “gathered to Christ” would of course be eagerly anticipated. However the “Day of Christ” is not eagerly anticipated but rather it’s expectation causes them to be shaken in mind. For one thing, this shows that the term the “Day of Christ or the day of the Lord” (although a part of the coming or gathering) is not the reward component but is the term or concept that represents the discipline component of salvation.
This Coming or gathering involves blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. This is similar to the information found in Deuteronomy 28, regarding the blessings and curses for conforming to or not conforming to the Law of Moses. The Coming of the Lord involves discipline for disobedience, or sinful behavior. This discipline is Gods evaluation or judgment of our behavior, and it is a necessary part of teaching a Christian to refrain from sinning. This discipline is referred to as the Day of Christ or Day of the Lord. This can be seen as the Lord bringing an end to our sinful behavior through the Spirit of His mouth or word, 2 Thess 2:12 (ASV) and Hebrews 10:27.
Judgment is not pleasant but in the end it brings forth the fruit of righteousness, Heb 12:11. By the tone of 2 Thess 2:2 it is apparent that arrival of the “Day of Christ” is something that the Thessalonian believers did not eagerly anticipate. In Hebrews 12:10 it can be seen that God scourgeth every person He accepts as a son. This scourging then would be what the Christians dreaded as they anticipated the approach of the Day of Christ. The judgment of the “Day” or scourging is a necessary part of our gathering to Christ as can be seen in Heb 12:11-14. These verses suggest that discipline will yield the fruit of righteousness, which is a necessary thing to have if a person is to see the Lord. When an obedient Christian is judged and prevails (Rm 3:4 and Phil 2:16), they progress in their relationship with Jesus and are gathered to Him, Matt 25:21 and 23.
Paul’s answer to this falsehood being introduced is to begin His doctrinal refutation by explaining the topic of The Lord’s Coming, which He defines as the Christians being gathered to Jesus in verse 1. The Thessalonians had dreaded the judgment of the Day of Christ and some people were telling them that this day had come. Paul does not disagree with this but explains that a falling away (from the faith) precedes the judgment of the Day of Christ. By using the words falling away Paul shows that the person is a Christian. If this were not the case they would have nothing to fall away from.
Verse 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Verse 3 ¶ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
At the falling, a Man of sin is revealed. The falling away results in a man of sin. The condition before the falling then would be one of a sin free state. It is here important to remember that a sin free state is not sinlessness. In other words the sin free state accommodates the idea that a person could have been in a sinful condition previously but was forgiven. This gives rise to the idea of a sin free state as opposed to a perpetual condition of sinlessness or Christlikeness.
It can also be seen that this is willful sin that the “man of sin” is involved with. The reason this can be said is because a simple slip into sin or momentary falling into sin would be recognized as such by the Christian who sinned. The Christian would then confess the sin and be forgiven, Heb 10:27 and 1 Jn 1:9. Willful sin however would not be recognized or confessed as sinfulness, and consequently it would require the Lord’s judgment to alert the believer that sin was present in their lives, Heb 10:26 and 1 Cor 11:32.
This is where the giving over to delusion comes into play. God loves people, especially people who submit to the Lordship of His Son. He wants to save them from sin by giving them the power to become the Sons of God John 1:12. God gives His grace to those who humble themselves before Him and His grace teaches them not to sin. In order to remove sin from an evil person through judgment they must be judged and taught not to do the activity. If the person recognized the activity as sin they would confess it and be forgiven. In such a case the person would continue the process of sinning and confessing the same sin over and over. Giving a person over to the delusion that the willful sin is not really a sin would mean that the person does not recognize the activity as sin and therefore does not feel the need to confess the activity as sin. This would of course bring about judgment according to Heb 10:26. The judgment would be designed by the Father to focus the believers attention on the fact that the activity they willfully engaged in was indeed a sin and needed to be confessed and forgiven. This is what Job learned.
Before the man of sin or sinful man is revealed the person was in a sin free state. Indicating that this is happening to a Christian person. Then the person became a backslider and began to practice sin or lawlessness, 1 Jn 3:4. They are then given over to a delusion so that they believe a lie so that they can be judged, 1 Peter 4:6.
Verse 4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
This person who calls Himself God elevates Himself in His own mind. He sets Himself up in the temple of God (the body of the believer) and calls Himself God. He exhalts Himself over and opposes every other form of authority. In other words He establishes His own standard of righteousness and does not seek the righteousness that is from God, Romans 10:3 and Phil 3:9. He feels that He makes the rules and does not have to follow Jesus commandment to Love God and neighbor.
In four verses Paul has illustrated that – 1.The Coming of the Lord consists of the Christians being gathered to Christ. 2. Judgment upon sin is a part of being gathered to Christ. 3.The Day of the Lord or the Day of Christ is a part of the Coming of the Lord and our being gathered to Jesus. 4. The Man of Sin is a Christian who falls into sin.
Verse 5. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? Verse 6. And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Now Paul tells the students that they know what restrains the Man of sin. By implication the thing restraining the man of sin has already been identified to the Thessalonians. It was revealed to them either – Within the instruction that Paul gave them during some previous time together (in which case the information would not be available to the reader of this letter). Or that the restraining factor was available and apparent in the first 4 verses of this Chapter.
It seems that the information is therefore available in the first four verses of the chapter. If this were not the case it would give rise to conjecture and guessing on the part of the reader of this letter as to what holds back the man of sin. Since Paul was a person ordained by God to proclaim the Gospel it can be understood that He would not introduce confusion into the minds of His students by referencing information that was not available to all the readers of this letter.
2 Thess 2:4 then is the spiritual description of the mental state of the man of sin. He is opposes God and exhalts Himself. Since this is the condition of the man of sin, this also defines the condition of the person previously as someone who was submitted to God’s authority and humble before Him. These then are the personal Characteristics that restrain the man of sin. Not until these positive Christian characteristics are abandoned and the individual sins can they be called a man or person of sin.
Verse 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
With the preceding explanation understood, the thing restraining or that holds back the man of sin must clearly be the determination of the individual to restrain from the attitudes mentioned in verse 4. The conclusion then is that when a person fails to restrain the sins mentioned in verse 4, the man of sin is unveiled or revealed. In other words, when a Christian refrains from sin the man of sin is restrained. The man of sin is the individual Christian who falls back or backslides into sin.
Verse 8. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Paul describes the man of sin to the Thessalonian church in verse 4 after illustrating what restrains Him in verse 3. Then Paul shows the reader why He chose to address this heresy regarding the Day of Christ by beginning with a reference to the Second Coming (or presence as the word can be translated). The gathering of Christians to Christ is the Second Coming as verse 1 shows. The appearance of the Man of sin brings the judgment of the Day of Christ. In verse eight Paul shows that the Coming or gathering to Christ overpowers the Man of Sin. This Coming of the Lord or gathering to Christ was what Paul began to address in verse 1. This gathering to Christ is what destroys the sin that the Christian practiced. The second Coming is for salvation, Heb 9:28.
Verse 9. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, Verse 10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
In verse 10 Paul tells us why the Christian was given over to the delusion. That re
ason is because the individual did not “love the truth”. Verse 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
As a result of not loving the truth the Backslidden Christian is given over to delusion so that believe a lie. They become the man of sin as they reject the truth. Here we can see that God allows the Christian who has fallen into sin to believe a lie. They are given over to this deception so that they can be judged for not loving the truth. All of this judgment is of course for the purpose of cleansing the Christian of the sin so that they will love the truth in the future, 1 Cor 11:32.
The “lie” that the person is given over to is that of self-exhalation as is seen in 2 Thess 2:4. They have been given over to the delusional idea that they are right in their sin (whatever that particular sin might be). They are exhalted in their own minds. They set themselves up in the temple of God (their bodies) and think of themselves as the one who decides what is right and what is wrong. In other words they are allowed to think that they are righteous or are doing the right thing. They call evil good. They are righteous in their own delusional eyes.
Verse 12. That they all might be damned (or judged) who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The word damned is more precisely translated judged. The Greek word actually means to separate or distinguish. This is very similar to 1 Peter 4:6. When the concept of a dead person is understood to refer to a person who is dead in sins and transgressions 2 Thess 2:12 and 1 Pet 4:6 become almost identical. When translated this way 2 Thess 2:12 resembles the judgment of Heb 10:26-27. It should be remembered that in 1 Cor 11:32 are told that the judgment is meant to prevent the Christian from being condemned. It is simply discipline from the Lord. It is the destruction of the sinful tendency that is destroyed (or more precisely brought to nothing) and not the destruction of the Christian who fell into sin and thus became the man of sin.
This conclusion can be drawn through the following progression of ideas. The Christian had fallen into sin, 2 Thess 2:3. The delusion was given to Him that the sinful activity was not sin, 2 Thess 2:4 and 11. This brought about God’s judgment upon of the willful sin, 2 Thess 2:12 and Heb 10:26-27. The judgement as far as Christians are concerned is not to condemn but to prevent condemnation, 2 Thess 2:8 and 1 Cor 11:32.
Thus the Second Coming is said to be “for salvation” in Heb 9:28 because the Day of Christ or judgment advances the salvation of the Christian from the wrath of God. In other words the Christian is saved from God’s wrath against sin because they are taught not to sin, and in this manner they avoid the wrath.
Verse 13 ¶ But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Verse 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Verse 16 ¶ Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Verse 17. Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
