The Mystery of Lawlessness

Scripture: Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For that Day will not come unless a falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself as God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? Now you know what restrains him that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already working. Only He who is now restraining him will do so until He is taken out of the way. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-7

Observation: Paul talks about the man of lawlessness, commonly (though not biblically) called the antichrist. He discusses two elements of this future time of deception. First, there will be a "falling away", and second the deceiver will set himself up in a place of authority as if he were God. Both of these seem pretty clear - there will be a time when people start to withdraw from faith, and in that time a person will establish themselves as a leader of that departure.

However, Paul uses a specific word for all of this: lawlessness. He further calls this lawlessness a mystery, and states is it already beginning even in the first century church. This means the departure away from faith is the move to lawlessness, and its roots were already arising in the church. So what is "lawlessness" in the context of these future times?

My best guess is based on other letters of Paul, where he addresses a topic that is actually not discussed with the Thessalonians because he praises their faith. That topic is repentance - specifically, the misunderstanding of forgiveness by some believers who use forgiveness as a license to continue to sin without repentance. This has been an issue for the church ... forever. It was even at the heart of the reformation, with the issue of indulgences. However, Paul calls lawlessness a "mystery", which begs the further question of why this principle of lawlessness is so difficult to understand, and if it is much deeper than this.

Application: I shutter at the idea of this mystery, as I fear the true mystery may have something to do with specific behavior. For example, if the true nature of "lawlessness" were embodied in a specific sin, and the way some parts of the church have progressed from denouncing that sin, to ignoring that sin, to passively or even actively embracing that sin as acceptable behavior in modern culture ... and in parallel with that, culture has in fact shifted to the point that any position in opposition to the sin is then considered morally wrong.

It is clear we are to love people, but reject sin. We cannot reject sin without repentance of sin. I need to take this more serious in my personal life. I need to fully reject thoughts and behavior - not just avoid them, or think poorly of them, while dismissing any backsliding as forgiven acts. Swearing, lustful thoughts, anger, judgment ... I need to be serious about turning away from these and fully rejecting them from my life. Only then can I properly be prepared to engage in discussions about lawlessness.

Prayer: Dear Lord, please do forgive me of my sins, and even more please help me to repent. Show me the changes I must make in my life - my thoughts and my daily behaviors - to fully turn from all forms and sin and rightly walk with you daily. Amen.