Deception in the Last Days (2Thess 2:1-12, 2Tim 3:1-8)
Posted: Fri 18 May 18 2012 10:31 pm
One of the most interesting writings of Paul can be found in 2Thessalonians 2 where he tells us a few things about the events that will precede the last day, namely:-
1. there will be a great apostasy (meaning Christians falling away from the faith)
2. the man of sin will be revealed
3. lawlessness will increase
4. there will be an increase in signs and wonders, that will not be from God
5. people will no longer be interested in truth
6. many will be deceived (they will be taught and believe the wrong things)
Without going into the debate over the timing of the rapture, the passage itself presents to us a warning against circumstances that must arise towards the end of days. The sharpest point here concerns how many will become misled or deceived by false teachings and teachers. These people will become unmoored from biblical truth and wander off into teachings and fables that exalt man instead of God. Not only that, the false teachings will be accompanied by counterfeit signs and wonders, which will be sufficient to deceive many.
The reason why God allows them to fall into delusion, according to Paul, is because they did not love the truth. If we look around the Christian world today, there is no shortage of popular movements that have departed from biblical foundations. More and more we find teachers who base their doctrines primarily on personal experience, on their own reasoning of what God ought to be like. The distressing thing about Paul's prediction is that people, Christians, are going to fall for it in droves. "Why?" we might ask. I think the most direct answer has to be "poor discipleship." Pastors and leaders of churches have failed to ground their flock in biblical truth, and allowed the tide of falsehood to sweep the church into error and deception.
Mind you, the deception will come dressed in the garb of truth! It will have a certain humanistic appeal to it, and it will be backed up with signs and wonders. So, what are the marks of deception?
1. It will be anti-nomian or anti-law. This often reveals itself when the teachers attempt to drive a wedge between the NT and the OT, and between law and grace. The false teachers will propose a God who is all kindness without law, a religion that has no real fear of God. (Matt 24:12, 2Thess 2:7-9)
2. It will be need centred instead of God centred. Paul says that the man of sin exalts himself over God. We see this in the need-centred gospel that is being pushed under the banner of "God's love." The focus on God meeting our needs in health and wealth is a thin veneer for the false religion that it really is. (2Tim 3:2-4)
3. It will be anti-intellectual. People will be asked not to discern and not to think about the teaching that they're receiving. You will hear these teachers speak against "over-dependence on scripture" and things in the similar vein. In fact, thinking about the faith will be labelled as "unbelief" or "Pharisaism", completely contrary to the biblical admonition to test teachings and to be grounded in the word. (2Tim 4:3-4)
4. It will be based not on scripture but on experiences. Feelings will take centre stage for this false religion - what is true is ultimately what feels true, and not so much what the bible teaches. Along with this will be a church that has lost her ability to discern between what is taught by God, and what isn't. This allows the false teachers to twist the words of scripture to say what it doesn't mean. (Jude 1:18-19)
5. It will appeal to signs and wonders and put on a great show. Many will be drawn to the demonstrations, and still miss the truth of God. (2Thess 2:9, 2Tim 3:5, Rev 19:20)
6. It will claim to be the "real" gospel truth, while in fact being the polar opposite. (2Pet 2:1-3) Alternatively it will turn "truth" into a matter of personal and subjective interpretation, often under the guise of being led by the "spirit".
7. It will have many teachers and proponents who will support one another, creating a false consensus and adding to the deception. Many will think, "They can't all be wrong, can they?" (2Tim 3:13)
8. It will come clothed with scripture. The difference is that the interpretation will come with huge doses of subjectivity, and often have little to do with what the text of scripture actually says. In this way, many ignorant ones will be led to think that they are actually being "biblical". You can expect scripture to be severely abused.
The implication here is that the church would have become gullible, easily led into all kinds of strange teachings that are not biblical (2Tim 3:6). They will be easily impressed by the clever and convincing words, and signs, that they see, and yet not return to the bible to examine the accuracy of what they hear. The enemy will have a field day with them, utilizing carefully selected bible verses and twisting the meaning. For a variety of reason, the deceived will refuse to acknowledge their condition, and instead cling on to the falsehood and continue to their destruction (2Thess 2:11, 2Tim 3:7).
What can we do to avoid falling into this trap? We can start by going back to the bible and doing the hard work of studying it carefully. Test every doctrine, including some of those that you may already hold. Stop following fads and personalities, even popular Christian ones (especially.) Don't chase the "anoiting", chase after truth. The strategy of the enemy is to tear down our defenses and strip us of our foundations, and then inject falsehood to confuse and divide the church. We are in dire need for a modern day Elijah to stand up and to challenge the prophets of Baal in their high places.
1. there will be a great apostasy (meaning Christians falling away from the faith)
2. the man of sin will be revealed
3. lawlessness will increase
4. there will be an increase in signs and wonders, that will not be from God
5. people will no longer be interested in truth
6. many will be deceived (they will be taught and believe the wrong things)
Without going into the debate over the timing of the rapture, the passage itself presents to us a warning against circumstances that must arise towards the end of days. The sharpest point here concerns how many will become misled or deceived by false teachings and teachers. These people will become unmoored from biblical truth and wander off into teachings and fables that exalt man instead of God. Not only that, the false teachings will be accompanied by counterfeit signs and wonders, which will be sufficient to deceive many.
The reason why God allows them to fall into delusion, according to Paul, is because they did not love the truth. If we look around the Christian world today, there is no shortage of popular movements that have departed from biblical foundations. More and more we find teachers who base their doctrines primarily on personal experience, on their own reasoning of what God ought to be like. The distressing thing about Paul's prediction is that people, Christians, are going to fall for it in droves. "Why?" we might ask. I think the most direct answer has to be "poor discipleship." Pastors and leaders of churches have failed to ground their flock in biblical truth, and allowed the tide of falsehood to sweep the church into error and deception.
Mind you, the deception will come dressed in the garb of truth! It will have a certain humanistic appeal to it, and it will be backed up with signs and wonders. So, what are the marks of deception?
1. It will be anti-nomian or anti-law. This often reveals itself when the teachers attempt to drive a wedge between the NT and the OT, and between law and grace. The false teachers will propose a God who is all kindness without law, a religion that has no real fear of God. (Matt 24:12, 2Thess 2:7-9)
2. It will be need centred instead of God centred. Paul says that the man of sin exalts himself over God. We see this in the need-centred gospel that is being pushed under the banner of "God's love." The focus on God meeting our needs in health and wealth is a thin veneer for the false religion that it really is. (2Tim 3:2-4)
3. It will be anti-intellectual. People will be asked not to discern and not to think about the teaching that they're receiving. You will hear these teachers speak against "over-dependence on scripture" and things in the similar vein. In fact, thinking about the faith will be labelled as "unbelief" or "Pharisaism", completely contrary to the biblical admonition to test teachings and to be grounded in the word. (2Tim 4:3-4)
4. It will be based not on scripture but on experiences. Feelings will take centre stage for this false religion - what is true is ultimately what feels true, and not so much what the bible teaches. Along with this will be a church that has lost her ability to discern between what is taught by God, and what isn't. This allows the false teachers to twist the words of scripture to say what it doesn't mean. (Jude 1:18-19)
5. It will appeal to signs and wonders and put on a great show. Many will be drawn to the demonstrations, and still miss the truth of God. (2Thess 2:9, 2Tim 3:5, Rev 19:20)
6. It will claim to be the "real" gospel truth, while in fact being the polar opposite. (2Pet 2:1-3) Alternatively it will turn "truth" into a matter of personal and subjective interpretation, often under the guise of being led by the "spirit".
7. It will have many teachers and proponents who will support one another, creating a false consensus and adding to the deception. Many will think, "They can't all be wrong, can they?" (2Tim 3:13)
8. It will come clothed with scripture. The difference is that the interpretation will come with huge doses of subjectivity, and often have little to do with what the text of scripture actually says. In this way, many ignorant ones will be led to think that they are actually being "biblical". You can expect scripture to be severely abused.
The implication here is that the church would have become gullible, easily led into all kinds of strange teachings that are not biblical (2Tim 3:6). They will be easily impressed by the clever and convincing words, and signs, that they see, and yet not return to the bible to examine the accuracy of what they hear. The enemy will have a field day with them, utilizing carefully selected bible verses and twisting the meaning. For a variety of reason, the deceived will refuse to acknowledge their condition, and instead cling on to the falsehood and continue to their destruction (2Thess 2:11, 2Tim 3:7).
What can we do to avoid falling into this trap? We can start by going back to the bible and doing the hard work of studying it carefully. Test every doctrine, including some of those that you may already hold. Stop following fads and personalities, even popular Christian ones (especially.) Don't chase the "anoiting", chase after truth. The strategy of the enemy is to tear down our defenses and strip us of our foundations, and then inject falsehood to confuse and divide the church. We are in dire need for a modern day Elijah to stand up and to challenge the prophets of Baal in their high places.