"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NKJV
What do you believe?
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that He came to earth, born of a virgin, was crucified as payment for my sin, and then rose from the dead to ascend to heaven. I believe He has forgiven me of my sin because I have repented, and asked for His forgiveness. I believe He now sits at the right hand of God awaiting permission from the Father to call His bride, the Church made up of all who choose to believe, home to be with Him for eternity in an event we know as the rapture. The most important question is, however, what do you believe?
My personal conviction is that when we make the choice to believe, with God’s help believers are then able to better discern what is true or false. Unfortunately, if you have followed the rhetoric by those of a liberal bent being directed towards Christians lately, you may have noticed that some of the terms they use come directly from the Bible. The problem for them, however, is the fact that they fail to notice those terms are not used in the Word in reference to believers, but rather are reserved to describe nonbelievers. You see, rather than Christians being “delusional” because of their beliefs, it is the unbelievers who reject the truth as revealed by God who are described in this passage from Paul as being ‘deluded”.
In this chapter, Paul is addressing the believers at Thessalonica concerning their fear that the tribulation might have already begun. Here Paul reassures them by explaining just what needs to occur before that time begins. As he describes the coming of the antichrist, he makes it very clear that his acceptance will be abetted by the fact that those who remain after the rapture of the Church are here “because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved”. The truth, according to one commentary I read, is that these people will be deceived by the antichrist because they want to believe his lies.
What we see right now, all around us are the lines being drawn between those who choose to believe the truth as God has revealed it and those who choose to reject it. The Greek word for “delusion” is translated as a “mental straying, error, wrong opinion relative to morals or religion”. If one chooses to believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, then there should never be any question as to what to believe because the Word makes it abundantly clear what God thinks, especially as it pertains to morals and religion, and He has also made it very clear as to what will occur and what to watch for as this world approaches it's final destiny. The only question before us is do we choose to accept and believe what God has to say, or reject and disobey?
In the first chapter in the book of Romans, Paul explains in more detail what delusional people are like. We are basically told that it is when a person chooses to reject the truth of God; God will then “give them up” to their choice to be “deluded”. The Greek phrase used here means simply to allow or permit them to believe as they wish. As one commentator put it, “people can eventually come to the place where it is impossible to believe”. Neither you nor I know where this line may be drawn, but God does. It is at this point that God will then “give them up” and allow them to believe the lies they have chosen to follow. Paul describes them this way;
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;" Romans 1:18-28 NKJV
The “debased” mind in verse twenty eight is also translated “reprobate” in the King James Version, and in the Greek it literally means “unapproved, i.e. rejected; by implication, worthless (literally or morally):—castaway, rejected, reprobate” according to Strong’s Definitions (1890). If you are like me and look around at what we are seeing today from society as a whole, and witnessing the scorn and persecution of not only believers but anyone who disagrees with what the media is presenting as truth beginning to make the weekly news, does it not feel as if the stage is set for the ‘delusion” to take place? Already we can see the divide between those who question what they are being told, and those who choose to believe whatever "facts" the media puts forward. Considering the extent to which many have not only rejected, but are beginning to attack those who choose to believe the truth, is it hard to understand why they will be so easily deluded by the appearance of the antichrist at the end of this age?
When discussing the passage from Thessalonians, Ray Stedman put it this way
“However, the deception can only take root in those who do not receive the love of the truth. These people are ready for the deception of the antichrist, because they want a lie, and God will send them a strong delusion.”
This delusion will be in the person of the man of sin who deceives the whole world with his “power, signs, and lying wonders”. People will flock to him and believe because they have already rejected the truth of God and want to believe the lies the antichrist has for them. I, and many others, believe we can see this already in the willingness of so many to accept what is being presented on a daily basis in the media without question or critical examination.
Paul makes it very clear that these people have no excuse. It is not that they don’t know of God, but rather that they have seen and chosen to reject. In all honesty, tell me who you believe is truly delusional; those who have chosen to believe the “love of the truth” or those “who exchanged the truth of God for the lie”? This world may well be full of delusional people, but according to God, it’s not His believers. True believers understand fully what is happening right now in this world, and exactly where and when it is all going to end. So again, the question for all of us comes down to this; what do you believe?
I want to share with you some words written by Jack Kelley of “gracethrufaith.com” who I have referenced often and who I greatly respect for his knowledge of the scriptures.
Believe in Your Heart
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
This verse is the bottom line where salvation is concerned. In case you’ve never noticed, it’s always a matter of the heart with the Lord, and in this passage it’s clear that the central issue of salvation is a heart-felt belief in the Resurrection. Why is that? Because believing in the resurrection is how we’re justified. The Greek word for justified comes from a root meaning “to regard as innocent, faultless, guiltless.” So, if we confess (agree) that Jesus is our Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead He’ll regard us as innocent of all charges and qualify us for eternal life.
How Can This Be?
First, it helps to remember that Jesus didn’t die so that bad people could become good. He died so that dead people could live. When the Prodigal Son returned home, his joyful father didn’t exclaim, “My son was bad and is good again” but, “My son was dead and is alive again!” (Luke 15:32).
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).
The wages of sin is death, so prior to becoming believers we were all dead in our sins. But when Jesus went to the cross He forgave all our sins, “nailing them to the cross” to signify that’s what He was dying for. The Greek word translated “all” in in Col. 2:13 literally means “each, every, any and all”. That means He agreed to accept the full punishment that was due us so that all the charges against us could be dropped and we could escape the death sentence. Simply put, He made it possible for our Father in Heaven to exclaim, “My children were dead and are alive again!”
And His act of sacrifice wasn’t only retro-active, paying back for all the sins of our pre-Christian lives, it was also pro-active, paying forward for all the sins we’ll commit during the rest of our lives too, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebr. 10:14) Put another way, He clothed Himself in our sin once so we could be clothed in His righteousness forever. (2 Cor. 5:21)
Prove it!
God’s eyes are too pure to look upon sin. (Haba 1:13) He literally can’t stand the sight of it. Discovering this fact about Him helps us understand the importance He places on believing in the resurrection. On the cross, Jesus became the physical embodiment of our sin. For the first time ever the Father had to turn away from His Son leaving Him alone and in anguish to cry, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Insulted, spat upon, beaten, whipped to within an inch of His life, and finally nailed to a cross, this was the only part of His entire ordeal that caused Him to cry out. The Earth shook, and the sun went dark as the Light of the World was extinguished (Matt 27:45-51).
Three days later Jesus rose from the dead to sit at the right hand of Majesty, and He’s sitting there today. That wouldn’t be possible if even one of our sins remained on Him. God’s eyes are too pure to look upon sin, remember? He’d have to turn away again and banish His Own Son from His Presence forever.
Since Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself, it follows that His death had to absolutely and forever pay the complete penalty for every one of them, or else He’d still be in the grave. So His resurrection is proof of ours. By believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you’re really telling God that you believe all the sins of your life were forgiven at the cross. With that alone you’ve inherited eternal life. Selah 03-27-05.
https://gracethrufaith.com/topical-studies/holidays-and-holy-days/believe-in-your-heart-2/
If you have never made the decision to accept the free gift of eternal life provided for us all by the death and resurrection of God's Son, Jesus Christ, I encourage you to do so today. Simply ask God to forgive you of your sin based on your belief that Jesus died to pay the price for your sin, and turn over control of your life to Him. You can do that right now by praying a prayer just like this one;
"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen."
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV
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