October 27, 2024

Passage Read: 2 Thessalonians 2-3
Meditation Verse: 2:15

Thought

Paul, in effect says that the only defense against the deluding influence coming on the world to prepare the way for the Antichrist is to hold fast to the traditions and teachings that he spoke or wrote to them. The Antichrist cannot come until the one holding him back is taken out of the way. But before that happens, God is going to send a deluding influence on all people who did not receive a love of the Truth, God's truth. The Church needs to hold fast to Scripture's teachings especially in this age when men refuse to believe it. Already unbelieving church attenders are leaving our congregations, because they never loved the truth but preferred wickedness. There are sadly still more who need to depart, and one day will be revealed as false. The worst thing the Church could do in this context is panic over lost attendance and move their teaching away from the truth in order to keep them or win them back. God's Word is designed to sift true believers from false, and we need to let it do its work.

Application

If I don't want to fall prey to the deluding influence that God will bring on those who do not love the truth, then I need to hold fast to the traditions and teachings God handed down to the church through Paul and the other apostles. It's just that simple. If I don't want to be deceived by the Antichrist, then I need to believe and obey what God recorded in the Scripture in regard to life and godliness. I do not have freedom to pick and choose what I can or should or will accept, believe and obey; all of it is true or none of it is reliable.