2 Thessalonians 2:6-17
And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love 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 all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. Stand Firm. But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Having been a believer for so long, it's hard to think like an unbeliever. What makes them tick? Why would they reject the Gospel or Good News of salvation, not condemnation, of grace not wrath, of truth not lies, of God not Satan?
The problem is not intellectual but spiritual. Satan has deceived them and they think that wickedness is more fun than Godliness. They think that lawlessness is freedom and obedience to teachings means rules or bondage. We see it playing out every 4 years where the left emphasizes rights to do whatever they want with their bodies even to the point of castration or the killing of a life inside them in the name of freedom. Lest the right go blame free, they see America first! Stop worrying about other country's affairs and stop accepting their refugees, especially if they don't contribute anything to us. Both sides are guilty of self seeking, self service, selfishness because Satan has convinced mankind, because he is a liar, that this is freedom. This is fun. This leads to self fulfillment. The antichrist will appeal to this and people will swallow it hook line and sinker.
Paul teaches that people can break out of the matrix by swallowing a different colored pill. The pill that says freedom is found in submitting your life to Jesus Christ. Self dies and is replaced by the Spirit of God inside you who glorifies Himself through you by sanctifying you to start looking like Jesus. Freedom and fun and fulfillment comes in obedience to the Word of God.
What are the results of submission to Jesus Christ? First of all, eternal glory. We get eternal life in Heaven. We have hope in this life and don't have to fear death but can embrace it. Second, isn't it nice to know you aren't being duped or brainwashed anymore? Do you really like being gaslit or living with the Stokholm Syndrome. No! You want to believe the truth not a lie. Three - we become loved by God. Satan doesn't love us. He's totally using us to get back at God and discards us when he is done.
Lastly, we have encouragement. I got to thinking about this whole topic because an unbeliever I know asked me to pray that they would get the job that they had applied for and I would know the results next week by whether they would be in for work or not. If they got turned down, they were going to take a day off because they would be too discouraged to work. I told them I would pray that they would get the job but now I'm thinking the best prayer is that they would know the Truth and if getting accepted leads to that- great. If getting rejected leads to that - great. Satan's ways in the end lead to discouragement but knowing Christ and having the Spirit inside us is a well spring of encouragement flowing up from inside of us.
Truth or Lie? Which do you choose? Ask your heart because your brain is being deceived.
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