When reading 2 Thessalonians 2, where the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, tells us three things must happen before Christians—legal members of Christ’s body, the worldwide church— are caught up into the clouds at Christ Jesus’ coming for His body-bride-church, and these three things that appear to be happening now, are fully explained in the first 12 verses.
First, there must be the falling away, which most believe to be the once loyal followers and loving servants of Jesus Christ, being revealed as the few that physically and spiritually remain full of His word and Spirit (Hebrews 10:19-25), as opposed to those who turn away from Christ Jesus, but only God knows who still has a close, intimate relationship with Him, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, and those Revelation 19:7 says have made themselves ready for Him.
Second, the man of sin (the lawless one), must be revealed; not as Antichrist, but as the man, who claims to have the answer to all the world problems, and it will seem he really does.
In 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3, and 2 John 1:7, we are told the “antichrist spirit” possesses all who deny God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ, came in the flesh. These are doing everything they can to either control or destroy America and the entire world.
But the third reason “the man of sin” is not yet revealed has mystified bible-readers, yet Paul reveals it in the first 6 verses of 2 Thessalonians 2, for 2:7 says, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”
Nothing is a mystery if it is explained, and the Holy Spirit explained this mystery to the Apostle Paul, who explained it to the Thessalonians and even explained it to us in the last 9 words of verse 6—“…that he may be revealed in his own time”.
God says, in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, He has a season (time) and purpose (plan) for everything, even the revealing of the man of sin, lawless one, who at the end of 3½ years becomes the Antichrist.
Now we know what is restraining, holding back, or preventing the man of sin, the lawless one, from being revealed now—“…that he may be revealed in his own time”—in God’s preset time for him to be revealed to the world, and there are some who are “positioning for world rule”, but who will he be and when is God’s time for him to be revealed? This is a God-known mystery!
But it is not a mystery that today—this present day, this very moment—according to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, is God’s acceptable (preapproved) time for us to receive salvation, and Luke 2:24-30 says Christ Jesus is God’s Salvation for us.
The mystery is solved both when the man of sin will be revealed (after the falling away, so Christ Jesus can come to midair to bring His body-bride-church up) to Him, and now is God’s pre-appointed time for people to receive Jesus Christ, our Salvation, Lord, Master, and Owner.
Read and choose to believe 1 John 5:1-5, and then thank Christ Jesus, for Salvation.
Do not argue about anything written in God’s word, just believe it, obey it, be clean, holy, and pure in Christ Jesus, and ready to meet Christ when He comes for us, be it by death or otherwise.
If we have a problem receiving Jesus Christ as our Salvation; then turn it over to Him and let Him become to us everything He is (Luke 2:27-30; Matthew 3:11-12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
Jim Nabors
