The Man of Lawlessness

2 Thessalonians 2

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask y’all, siblings, not to let y’all’s judgment be easily shaken or troubled by a spirit, a word, or a letter supposedly from us, claiming that the day of the Lord has already come. Let no one deceive y’all in any way. For the day will not come until the rebellion comes first, and the human of lawlessness, the son of destruction, is revealed. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes a seat in God’s temple, setting himself up as God.

Don’t y’all remember that when I was still with you*, I used to tell y’all these things? Now y’all know what is restraining him, so that he may be revealed at his proper time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who restrains him now will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and annihilate him by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the working of Satan, with all kinds of power, signs, and wonders, serving the lie, and with every kind of wicked deception among those who are perishing because they didn’t accept the love of the truth, and so be saved. For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, and so that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Hold on to Truth

But we should always give thanks to God for y’all, siblings beloved by the Lord, because God chose y’all from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. Hᴇ called y’all to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, siblings, y’all stand firm and hold the traditions that we taught y’all, whether by spoken word or written letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, encourage y’all’s hearts and strengthen y’all in every good work and word.