Living in Lawless Times

Scripture: 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. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His presence, even him, whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who perish, because they did not receive the love for the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: that they all might be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12

Observation: Even Peter said that Paul's letters were difficult to understand ...

Paul introduces here the concept of what has become known as the "antichrist", but is really associated with a time where people completely fall away from God and all lawful teaching to follow ways that are completely divergent. As one of the "mysteries" in Paul's letters, he calls this the mystery of lawlessness, which he appears to summarize as follows:

-- Evil people will formulate a message of completely false teaching.
-- These false teachings will carry power but will be fully opposed to God's righteousness.
-- Many will accept this teaching because they have abandoned God's love and truth.
-- God will allow this and even reinforce their decision as a means of removing any gray area with regards to salvation and thus clearly delineating them as unrighteous.

Application: It is in looking at these explanations of the New Testament where we get the idea that we live in the end times. We live in a time of massive and clear-cut delusions over issues that are in total conflict with God's righteous love. These delusions over ... marriage, sexual relationships, welfare practices, discrimination, genocide ... these things and more are effecting every area of the world. Some in some places, others in others, but they have progressed to the point of strong and clear divisions. In each case, there are groups who absolutely believe that a opinion that is adamantly opposed to God's love is clearly correct, and that opinion is now held by millions or even billions of people.

This is a mystery to me. It was declared a mystery by Paul. But Paul also tells us what to do about it: "Because God has from the beginning called you to salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth" we are to "stand firm and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter."

Prayer: Lord, may thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.