The Man of Lawlessness

Date: March 16, 2025

Title: The Man of Lawlessness

Passage: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Get to have some fun today!

Man of Lawlessness!

Controversial passage.

Don’t have everything figured out!

Various approaches to this chapter…

Not going to explain why I disagree…

Nor show you how this text relates to others…

As much as possible, I’ll simply try presenting a positive case as to what I think is going on here.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 ESV

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

INTRODUCTION

One of the things that has the potential to trouble the church, and indeed has troubled the church throughout the ages are oftentimes issues that relate to the timing of Christ’s return. There’s something about the second coming of Christ and all the events associated with His coming that can produce a great deal of anxst in the people of God, and that is especially true when we have a misunderstanding about His coming!

And as we can see frokm our passage, so it was for the Thessalonian church in the first century. There was something about what the Thessalonians were being told, and what they, themselves, believed, that was having negative effects upon their lives. As V. 2 tells us, they were becoming quickly shaken in mind and alarmed.

And given that they were, Paul saw a great need to clear up some of their misconceptions regarding the return of Christ. Hence, the reason for the writing of this section of scripture.

Now, it should be noted that even though the purpose of this passage was originally designed to clear up misconceptions… as I already indicated earlier there actually is quite a bit of disagreement over many of the issues Paul raises in this section.

In fact, almost everything in this passage is disputed: (a) the coming of the Lord Jesus, (b) the Day of the Lord, (c) the rebellion, (d) the man of lawlessness, (e) the temple of God, (f) the restrainer, many of these things are issues that Christians don’t always see eye to eye on.

But be that as it may, I will say that, coming from my own perspective, while I do think there certainly are a couple of statements in this passage that are a little more difficult to interpret, at the same time, I also think that in the main the general ideas set fourth in this passage are quite clear.

Now as I walk through this with you, you’ll have to be the judge of that, but hopefully, by the Lord’s grace, I will be able to shed some light on this passage, and provide further clarity over how it should be viewed.

Now, given that there is so much material to cover in the space of one sermon, I want to approach this passage a little differently. As we work our way through it, I want to answer five important questions about it:

1 - When will Jesus return?

2 - What is the rebellion?

3 - Who is the man of lawlessness?

4 - Who is the restrainer?

5 - Why does this matter?

So… 5 W’s… When, What, Who, Who, Why… Those are the questions I will seek to answer.

1 - When will Jesus return? V. 1-3

Well, obviously we don’t know the day or hour of His return, no one knows that, but scripture does indicate that there are particular signs that’ll precede His coming.

V. 1, “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him…”

Couple of brief points here…

Coming = Same coming spoken about everywhere else.

Second coming.

Gathering = Resurrection. Being caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

1 Thess 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

That’s the gathering.

Then in V. 2, he goes onto say, “we ask you brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

So, for some reason the Thessalonians were under the impression that the Day of the Lord, which Paul associates with the coming of the Lord Jesus and the gathering of the saints, was a day that had already past.

Now, why they believed this may seem a little odd to us, but we do need to understand that false teaching of this sort was running rampant in the early church.

For example in 2 Timothy 2:16-18, Paul warns his young protege to, “avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.”

Well, that’s exactly the type of thing we see going on among the Thessalonians. False teachers were upsetting their faith, they were troubling them and confusing them by telling them that the second coming of Christ and the final resurrection had already happened; it’s just that it happened in a spiritual manner.

But Paul wasn’t having any of that… because the tuth is, if these glorious promises are merely to be fulfilled in a spiritual coming and a spiritual resurrection, then that seriously diminishes our hope!

I mean the whole idea of the restoration of the body is something you can throw out the window!

The propect of seeing Christ as He is, in all His physicality and glory, is just apostolic propoganda that doesn’t have any basis in reality.

Now thankfully, that of course isn’t the case, but Paul wants the Thessalonians to know that for themselves with 100% certainty. He wants them to be settled in their minds over the truth, which is why, in order to refortify them in the truth, he develops some additional arguments (you could say) to counteract some of the false claims and notions that were being made in his day.

And as you can see from V. 3, the idea that the Day of the Lord, which again, is the day that gives rise to the return of Christ and the gathering of the saints—the idea that that day has already come and gone couldn’t possibly be the case for two reasons: (1) the rebellion hasn’t yet come, (2) the man of lawlessness hasn’t yet been revealed.

V. 3, “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed…”

And given what Paul affirms here, it should be self-evident that the coming of Christ and the gathering of the saints are events that will only occur after the rebellion takes place and after the man of lawlessness is revealed…which, by the way, rebuts the idea of a pre-tribulational rapture.

Jesus doesn’t come back before these things, He only comes back after these things.

As Paul makes explicit, the Day of the Lord, which is linked to the second coming of Christ, both in this chapter and in 1 Thess 5—this Day will not come, unless and until, these two other things happen first.

So, when will Jesus come back, then? Answer: we still don’t know! We don’t know the day or the hour that is; all we know is that it will be after the revelation of the man of sin and the coming rebellion.

This leads us to question # 2:

2 - What is the rebellion? V. 3

In V. 3, Paul says that “that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first,” which raises the obvious question… what is the rebellion?

Well, the word Paul uses for “rebellion” is the Greek word apostasía, which is a word that’s associated with apostasy. In fact, some translations translate it that way. Depending upon which translation you’re using, it’ll either speak about this apostasía as the falling away, the apostasy, or the rebellion.

But what makes this slightly difficult to determine what Paul has in view is due to the fact that the word Paul uses here can refer to a religious or political crisis of some kind.

And so, people debate about whether Paul is referring to a massive falling away of professing believers in the days preceding the return of Christ or whether he’s referring to some kind of final large-scale revolt against God in the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

Now, personally, I’m not so sure these two ideas are mutually exclusive. I tend to agree with Grant Osborne who says that, “There is both a political and religious sense to the word, and both are indicated here.” In other words, this rebellion will involve a serious departure of professing Christians from the visible church who will then become part of the State-sponsored religion in the final days days, preceding the return of Christ.

Basically, this will be a period (if I can use this language) when all hell breaks loose upon the church. The intensity of tribulation will be so difficult to endure that many professing Christians will join the ranks of those who want nothing to do with the true Christ.

This is going to be a time of trial like we’ve never seen, and I say that because while, we of course, recognize that throughout the course of the church age, there’s always been apostasy, rebellion, sin, and hostility towards God to a certain extent, nevertheless, the fact that Paul calls this rebellion -“the rebellion” - indicates to us that this is an apocalyptic event that will climax into something very, very terrible.

A time will come when Satan will be let loose from his prison to lead his slaves into one last, final, large-scale rebellion against God and His people.

And according to this passage, the particular person Satan will use to execute His plan will be the man of lawlessness.

3 - Who is the man of lawlessness? V. 3-4, 9-10

Well, given that he is called the man of lawlessness (V. 3, 8) certainly tells us something about this man’s character: he is lawless! He is the epitome of lawlessness. He’s someone who rejects God’s law and makes up his own.

So, that’s the first thing to understand about this man. This is a man who will be known for being a wayward, anarchic, boastful, unruly person who loves to contravene the perfect standard of God’s holy law.

Secondly, he will also be the son of destruction, “who (says V. 4) opposes and exlats himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Which is to say, the man of lawlessness will be someone who has the highest, most inflated view of self that you can possibly think of. He’s the ultimate boaster. He sets himself up as the ultimate object of worship, who will proclaim himself to be God in the temple of God.

He will seek to profane, corrupt, and rule over God’s holy sanctuary.

Now, this raises a question as to what temple Paul has in view here. Some, for example, think that Paul is speaking about an archetectural temple, so that at some point in the future a new physical temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem, and that within that temple, there will be a seat upon which the man of lawlessness will make his great boasts.

Now, personally, I think this is a misinterpretation of this verse for a couple of reasons, the first of which is that when you look at the writings of Paul, the temple of God, without exception, always refers to the new covenant church.

Just to give you one example, go with me to 2 Corinthians 6:14-18:

In this section Paul is telling the Corinthians about their need to be set apart from the world, the reason being is because they, as the church, are the beginning fulfillment of the end time temple promises.

2 Corinthians 6:14–18 ESV

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, (Here’s the quotation to prove it) “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

So, here’s just one example, amoung many, where we can see how Paul viewed the church of Jesus Christ as the latter day temple of God, which was originally anticipated in the Old Testament under the shadow of the physical temple.

But remember, the former was always intended to point to the latter, which, therefore, means the church, then, is the holy place that now enshrines God’s holy presence.

And this leads me to the second reason why I don’t think the temple of God in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 can be referring to a rebuilt physical temple.

2 - The second reason for this is because it’s called the temple of God!

You know, even if there happens to be a rebuilt temple someday in the future, it still wouldn’t constitute the true temple of God because God’s presence would not be found there.

In fact, I would argue that when Jesus left the temple in Matthew 24, I think that was emblematic of the fact that God’s presence, the Shekinah glory, had left that structure once and for all.

It’s worth studying that for yourself sometime. At the end of Matthew 23, after Jesus has denounced the religious aristocracy of Israel, He then turns to them to pronounce the ultimate malediction. He says, “See, your house is left to you desolate (Matt 23:38).”

And then in the very beginning of Matthew 24 we’re told that “Jesus left the temple…” And friends, when He left the temple on that occassion, I think it was indicative of the fact that the presence of God is not to be found in an old structure, but that it’s to be found in a person! And that person is Christ. Jesus is the temple, and anyone united to that temple, becomes the temple of God.

You see, my point is that if the temple in 2 Thess 2:4 is referring to a physical temple, then I really don’t think it would be called the temple of God; it would have to be called an idol temple, or a synagogue of Satan, or even just temple, but the specific term - “temple of God” in the New Testament is—across the board—a technical term reserved for the church, because that’s where the presence of God is now located.

So, all that to say, for the man of lawlessness to take his seat in the temple of God, I think represents a future antichrist exercising his tyranical rule amoung the people of God or within the visible church.

And it is worth noting, for someone to take their seat upon something in scripture represents someone who is in charge— someone who’s exercising authority.

It’s like in Matthew 23:2, when Jesus said that, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat.” It’s not that Jesus was speaking about a literal seat there, but rather the seat was representaive of the authority of Moses that had been handed down to them as the leaders of Israel.

Well, in the same vein, for the man of lawlessness to take his seat in the temple of God means that, in this case, he will usurp an authority that doesn’t belong to him, and as a result of his wicked and deceptive activity, many will be lead astray!

As V. 9-10 tells us, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

You know, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but everything about the lawless one screams: counterfeit, counterfeit, counterfeit! I mean he will basically present himself as a reinarnate Christ. He will hold himself up as the savior of the world. He will be the chief servant of sin who masquerades himself as a servant of righteousness. He will be the ultimate deceiver whom Satan will use to instigate one last final revolt against God.

So, just to summarize… the future man of lawlessness will be (1) lawless, (2) he will seek to be the object of worship, (3) he will deceive many both within the church and outside the church, and (4) his coming will be accompanized by false signs and wonders.

Now, at this point, you might be thinking, ‘well, that’s interesting but when will this man make his appearance…? and moreover, why, after 2000 years… hasn’t this man yet appeared on the stage of history?’

Well, the reason for that is because someone is presently holding him back…

V. 6-7, “And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.”

4 - Who is the restrainer?

Well to tell you the truth, I’m not exactly sure… It sure would have been nice to have been in Thessalonica when Paul specifically told the Thessalonians who the identity of restrainer was because according to paul, they did know! Paul said, “And you know what is restraining him now…” so they definitely knew… but, I, on the other hand, cannot say with certainty that I know who the restrainer is.

And It’s not just me! Even in the fifth century, the great theologian, Augustine, made the following comment in his commentary on this verse. He said, “I frankly confess I do not know what he [Paul] means.”

Well, if Augustine couldn’t figure it out, I’m not sure I’m going to figure it out either… However, I will say that out of all the interpretations there are on the restrainer, there are two possibilities that I find to be most likely.

1 - Holy Spirit.

It is very possible that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit. It could be the case that God the Holy Spirit is presently restraining the appearance of the man of lawlessness from emerging onto the scene of history until it is God’s perfect timing for that to happen.

And then once he does make his appearance, the Holy Spirit at that point would be taken out of the way in the sense that His restraining grace would be removed, so that the final rebellion can take place.

So, that certainly is an attractive option.

2 - Angel.

Another option that I find equally compelling is that the restrainer is an angel.

Now, unfortunately, I don’t have time to develop why I think this could be the case, so take it for what it’s worth… but suffice it to say, I do think that a fairly good case could be made for the position that would argue that the restrainer is a powerful angel.

But in any case, the point is that someone is restraining this mystery of lawlessness so that the man of lawlessness will not be revealed until the proper time.

And with that, let me now bring this to a close by asking the most pertinant question of all:

5 - Why does all this matter?

Two Points of application:

1- So that we would not be deceived.

That’s one of Paul’s main emphases in this section: don’t be deceived; don’t be quickly shaken in mind; don’t be alarmed; don’t be duped by the lies of false teachers! As Paul says in V. 3, “Let no one deceive you in any way.” Let no one deceive you now… In the present moment…

Now, this is very important to understand, because it reminds us that while the ultimate form of deception will reach it’s summit in the revelation of the man of lawlessness, that does n’t mean we don’t need to worry about being deceived right now.

Remember, while the man of lawlessness will one day be revealed, in V. 7, Paul made it plain that the mystery of lawlessness is already at work right now.

So, when you think about the mystery of lawlessness and the man of lawlessness, don’t think about these realities as two completely distinct things.

They are distinct, but they’re connected in a very profound way.

And conversely, what Paul says about the man of lawlessness and the mystery of lawlessness is very similar to another idea the apostle John spoke about in his letter.

I want to draw your attention to it.

1 John 2:18, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.”

Antichrist is coming.

Many antichrists are already here.

1 John 4:2-3, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

Spirit of antichrist = Mystery of lawlessness.

Many antichrists (precursers) = Manifested by this present mystery.

Future antichrist = Man of lawlessness.

Why do I bring this up?

Want to know how you’ll be able to withstand the deception of the future antichrist? Just look at how you’re faring with all the thousands of antichrists around you in the world today…

In other words, if you’re someone who is so easily deceived by all the antichristian teaching that is being propogated by the countless numbers of antichrists in our world today, then what makes you think you’ll be able to withstand the ultimate deception of the future antichrist to come?

And this is a problem that, unfortunately, so many people fall prey to…

Sometimes it begins with good motives, but people get so easily ensnared by what I like to call - antichrist hysteria. They’re so fixated on the future antichrist to come that they don’t even realize how they’ve become so vulnerable to the lesser, more immediate antichrists that’s right in front of them!

They listen to these so-called prophetic gurus who can apparently tell them more about the antichrist than the Bible itself can.

I’ve always found that to be quite something!

But brothers and sisters, be on guard! Don’t be deceived in any way.

Walk with God.

Go to church.

Live a quiet and simple life.

Read your Bible.

Be wise.

Pray.

Stay focused on Christ.

And be alert at all times.

If you do all those things, then if you happen to be alive whenever that rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, you’ll be okay.

You’ll be ready.

You won’t be among those upon whom God sends a strong delusion to believe what is false! because if you’re trust is in the Lord and in His gospel, then you will be sustained to the very end.

2 - So that we would know that, in the end, Jesus wins.

I love the way Paul described the victory of Christ in V. 8: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.”

When Jesus comes back, He’s literally just going to breathe… and (tock)… that’ll be it… Satan’s best man will be destroyed.

It’s not even going to be a close battle!

Jesus isn’t even going to have to flex a muscle… He’s just going to (huahhhh)…. and that’s it! End of the story. Jesus wins!

By the mere appearance of His coming, the man of sin will be reduced to ashes!

And church, keep your eyes opened for it. Keep looking for the coming of your King, because one day He will come back just as He promised, and when He does, He will rule and reign in power and glory.

Prayer.