Love the truth
Day 642, Friday, May 15
2 Thessalonians Chapter 1 – 2:12
The second letter to the Thessalonians addresses a time of uncertainty. Paul speaks of boasting about this church, “about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”
Into this difficult time, Paul reminds them of the valuable truth that it is God’s strength, not our own, that will get us through. “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.”
In times of turmoil and uncertainty, the church often turns its thoughts to the return of Christ—the end times—and the church at Thessalonica is no exception.
It appears that the church has begun speculating about matters that I personally don’t devote a lot of energy to—what will happen will happen, and God’s grace will be sufficient to get us through it.
As we get into chapter 2, Paul introduces a shadowy figure who seems to be known to the Thessalonians—the man of lawlessness. “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”
Unsurprisingly, the “man of lawlessness” referred to here is often equated with the Antichrist mentioned in Revelation. However that may be, an undisputed conclusion we can draw from both of those figures is to treat with strong suspicion any human leader who sets themselves up as an all-powerful savior. Following them never leads us down a good path.
“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 have refused to love the truth and so be saved.”