2 Thessalonians 2

The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders. He will deceive many people (Mark 13:22). But he will deceive only those who are perishing—that is, those who refuse to accept and love the truth (Christ’s Gospel). All those who follow the lawless one will be destroyed with him.

11 God will send a powerful delusion on all those who follow the lawless one. God will blind their understanding, so that they will believe the lie—that is, the lie that the “lawless one” is God.

From all of this, we can understand that God is more powerful than all the forces of evil. Furthermore, God takes the evil of evildoers and uses it to punish them. Thus evildoers, by their own evil, bring punishment upon themselves. God has all power. God, in the end, makes even Satan fulfill His purposes.

12 One of God’s purposes is that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth. The truth is not only Christ’s Gospel, it is also Christ Himself (John 14:6). All who do not believe in Him will be condemned (see John 3:18-19,36).

There are basically only two kinds of people in the world: those who believe the truth, and those who delight in wickedness. If a man begins by rejecting the truth (Christ), he will end by delighting in wickedness. This is a spiritual principle. If we begin walking on the wrong road, we shall get farther and farther from God. If we reject the light, we will pass deeper and deeper into darkness. God will “give us over” to wickedness (see Romans 1:21,2426,28 and comment).

13 Paul calls the Thessalonians brothers loved by the Lord. We, too, are “brothers (and sisters) loved by the Lord.” Therefore, before we criticize or accuse a brother, let us remember that he is loved by the Lord!

From the beginning God chose us to be saved. Our SALVATION arises from God’s grace. We didn’t first choose Him; He first chose us (Ephesians 1:4). God chose us not because we were holy; He chose us in order to make us holy.

Here Paul writes two things about our salvation. First, we are saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit. The HOLY SPIRIT is continually making us more and more holy and blameless. The Holy Spirit is preparing us to meet Christ. We are not yet perfect. But when we receive our full salvation at Christ’s second coming, then at that time the Spirit will have made us perfect (see Philippians 1:6 and comment; General Article: Way of Salvation).

The second thing Paul says about our salvation is that we are saved through belief in the truth. To believe is man’s responsibility. We must believe in the truth—that is, in Christ. The work of saving man is from beginning to end God’s work. But if God’s work of salvation is to be completed, we must believe in His Son Jesus (see General Article: Salvation—God’s Choice or Man’s Choice?).

14 He (God) called you to this; that is, He called you to be saved. God’s purpose for us is that we might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the final stage of our salvation (see Romans 8:17,30; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; 1 Peter 5:10 and comments).

15 Because of this great hope of salvation and glory, let the Thessalonians stand firm, says Paul. In the New Testament, we are urged again and again to stand firm (Matthew 10:22; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 6:10,13; Philippians 4:1).

In order to stand firm, we must hold to the teachings of the Bible. Paul tells the Thessalonians to hold to the teachings we passed on to you. In Paul’s time the New Testament had not yet been fully written; therefore, the Thessalonians needed to hold to the words Paul spoke (see 1 Corinthians 11:2).

16-17 In order to stand firm, we need the grace, strength, and encouragement of God and Christ. Let us continually pray for one another the prayer written here in these verses (see 2 Corinthians 1:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Peter 5:10).