The mystery of lawlessness is already at work

2 Thessalonians 2 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Man of Lawlessness

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, ² that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. ³ Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. ⁸ Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

¹³ But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, ¹⁷ comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

I always like to be clear in acknowledging that I am not a Biblical scholar and while I do try to accurately understand and interpret scripture, “nuggets” is much more of a reflection on God’s word, which I hope also has application for the daily lives of it’s readers. Today is definitely a time when I don’t intend to look so much at what Paul is describing about the actual end time rise of the anti-Christ and the return of Christ, as much as something I believe we can apply to our lives today and each day as we do look forward to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul says:  Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,  who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.   Consider what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17:    Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.       We are the temple of God. As believers, those who are in Christ we have the promise of God, the Holy Spirit of God living in us. We face a constant struggle as to who is on the throne in our lives, in our temple. Apostasy is an abandonment or renunciation, a falling away from a belief.   Paul says: And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. It is the Holy Spirit within each of us that restrains lawlessness. Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit: when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.(John 16:13-15) The Holy Spirit is our guide, our teacher. It is the Holy Spirit who restrains lawlessness in our lives.

If we allow anything or anyone else to unseat the Holy Spirit, to unseat God from the throne of the temple in our lives, we begin opening ourselves to apostasy, to falling away from truth. Whether it is turning toward new age, humanistic philosophies, seeking and serving self or choosing darkness over light, when we put anything or anyone on the throne rather than God the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord or the Holy Spirit we open ourselves to apostasy. The deception of sin, lawlessness, apostasy is that it generally begins subtly. Typically even when the outside world has not noticed a darkening in some one, there has been a process of moving from light to darkness in a person before they enter into complete lawlessness and sin. A person who steals normally doesn’t begin with armed robbery or embezzlement of millions of dollars. Typically they start small and progress until lawlessness is revealed in their lives. The same holds true for those who fall to addiction, perversion or any other form of sin and lawlessness.   

Paul says: Then that lawless one will be revealed … the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. When we give in to darkness, lawlessness, sin there is a delusion that comes over us. We no longer see truth, but rather begin to believe and walk in lies. That’s the way of temptation and sin, progressively calling and leading those who are deceived into deeper darkness. We are not without help or hope though. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says:

 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.  

The Holy Spirit provides that way out.  Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:7-8) The best time to resist temptation, to resist the devil is at the beginning, at the first indication from the Holy Spirit that what is before us is darkness. If we resist and draw near to God the devil will flee. He has to, darkness cannot exist in the light.

Take courage today, even if you have fallen into deep darkness, if you have given in to temptation and allowed lawlessness onto the throne of your temple, God still loves you and He hasn’t gone anywhere even if you can’t see Him through the darkness, He is still near, watching, waiting and listening.   I want to share one of the most powerful prayers of deliverance found in scripture with you. When Peter walked out of the boat toward Jesus, on the water in Matthew 14, he offered this prayer:  But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him…   Three words, Lord save me, Jesus response to Peter was immediate. In the same way if you are beginning to sink or even if you have sunk to the depths of darkness, cry out to Jesus, Lord save me. When Jesus is put back on the throne of the temple of your life there will be light where there was darkness.

This is the message I share with you today:    This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; ⁷ but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:5-9)

This is my prayer for you:  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,  comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.  Amen.