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"The mystery of lawlessness is already at work..."

Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:7

THE WORD “MYSTERY”

This word in the Greek language is not exactly the same as the typical English word “mystery”. The apostle Paul used the word “mystery” to reveal truth. This is the meaning behind the word “mystery.”

“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.”

2 Thessalonians 2:7

1. “The mystery of lawlessness”

a) Hitherto there was little knowledge about the person called “the man of sin”.

b) This phrase “man of sin” can also be translated “man of lawlessness”.

c) The word “anomia” can be translated as: (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

i) “Sin”

ii) “Lawlessness”

d) Now this knowledge has been revealed.

i) This is the basic idea of the word “mystery” (Greek “musterion”).

ii) The essence is “revelation of something hitherto not known”).

2. “Is already at work”

a) The man of sin has not been revealed.

b) However lawlessness or sin continues to be prevalent and hard at work.

c) The apostle John calls these wicked people “antichrists” (1 John 2:18).

i) There is The Antichrist.

ii) There are many “antichrists”.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy.

3. “Only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way”

a) One day the Spirit of God will complete the work He has been sent to do.

b) One of His activities is to restrain evil.

c) When He has completed God’s will He will be taken away (just as the Lord Jesus was taken away).

i) When will that happen we do not know.

ii) That it would happen is a solemn and sobering reality.

iii) When He has been taken away there will be no more power to restrain evil.