Sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth

2 Thessalonians 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding 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 No one is to deceive you in any way! 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 he will be revealed in his time. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. ⁸ Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate 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 false signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept 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, brothers and sisters 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 obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on 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.

In today’s text it says: Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 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. No one is to deceive you in any way! 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.  Apostasy is defined as: An abandonment of what one has professed; a total desertion of, or departure from, one's faith, principles, or party - a total abandonment of the Christian faith.  Surely, at least as it concerns our nation, which was founded on Christian and Biblical values and faith, you could say that the apostacy has come. Biblical values which were once revered in every part and aspect of our culture and society, from government to education and entertainment, are now rejected and despised. While the “man of lawlessness” may not have been revealed yet, surely the lawlessness of man is increasingly revealed throughout our nation. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.  Surely lawlessness is seated in many of God’s temples. Other things have become gods to many.

When asked about the time of His return, in Matthew 24:4-14 Jesus said: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”  Again, we see that in our culture and society lawlessness is abounding. Surely you would have to admit that many are offended. In fact, being offended is the main thing that many people do. They hold being offended as if it is a right granted to them. We are in a time though, where through the efforts of believers, evangelists and missionaries, and the availability of technology, the gospel of the kingdom is reaching all the world, so the stage is set for the end to come.

The text says: You know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.  There is an almost incomprehensible deluding influence in our society and culture today. Not only has God been rejected rather than revered, but what is good is viewed as evil and what’s evil is considered good. Truth is no longer based on facts but rather on feelings. According to many, each person has their own truth. It is a delusion to believe that a person can change what they are simply by their own belief. Because a person believes that 2+2=5 does not change the truth. In John 17:17 Jesus prayed to the Father saying: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”  In John 16:13 Jesus says: “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” The Holy Spirit is the one who restrains the deception and delusion of lawlessness.  Truth is not relative, fluid or changing. God’s word is truth and it does not change. A catch phrase in our society today is “follow the science.” Yet the science changes what it says constantly. The thing is it is not the truth that has changed. It is only people’s understanding or opinions that change. In the same way, God’s truth has not changed. Only people’s opinions have changed. In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

The text says: God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. 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.