Paul's Exhortations to the Thessalonian Church 2nd Letter Volume 14

Paul Explains the Great Apostasy Part 6

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. KJV


Now the Apostle goes on to present the end of those who want not the 'love of the truth', for as we declared in one of the recent studies/commentaries, there is but one truth as we used Mathematics as our example or word picture, therefore, when one rejects it 'the truth' there remains only one alternative 'the lie'. The Apostle Paul throughout his letters has expressed some very hard and even difficult things from the mind of God through the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit just as even the Apostle Peter confessed to in his second letter when he was encouraging the believers then and we believers today to be steadfast in our faith he said this, "So, beloved, since you are expecting these things, be eager to be found by Him [at His coming] without spot or blemish and at peace [in serene confidence, free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts]. And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord [His slowness in avenging wrongs and judging the world] is salvation (that which is conducive to the soul's safety), even as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the spiritual insight given him, Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist {and} misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures. Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless {and} wicked [persons and] fall from your own [present] firm condition [your own steadfastness of mind]. But grow in grace (undeserved favor, spiritual strength) and recognition {and} knowledge {and} understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him [be] glory (honor, majesty, and splendor) both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (so be it)!" (2 Peter 3:14-18) (Amplified Bible).

Seeing then, that the Scripture affirms the reality that there has been in the past, is now in the present, and will be in the future (as our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ tarries before His 2nd Coming) people (men and women) who misconstrue, misinterpret, and misunderstand the revealed Word of God to their own detriment, disaster, and destruction, for the Apostle Paul now writes words to these believers in Thessalonica that makes the hair on the back of your neck rise up as he says, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:" (2 Thessalonians 2:11) (KJV). What is the cause? Answer: What Paul told them and us in just the last verse and that is, 'they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved' (2 Thessalonians 2:10). You see as we have repeated over and over there is only one truth just as there is only One God and when either is resisted, refused, or rejected then there only remains a lie and remember what our Lord Jesus Christ said to the Jews (who by the way thought they worshipped the One True God, wrong!, He was standing right in front of them), but they worshipped the devil as our Lord Jesus told them with these words, "[Yes] I know that you are Abraham's offspring; yet you plan to kill Me, because My word has no entrance (makes no progress, does not find any place) in you. I tell the things which I have seen {and} learned at My Father's side, and your actions also reflect what you have heard {and} learned from your father. They retorted, Abraham is our father. Jesus said, If you were [truly] Abraham's children, then you would do the works of Abraham [follow his example, do as Abraham did]. But now [instead] you are wanting {and} seeking to kill Me, a Man Who has told you the truth which I have heard from God. This is not the way Abraham acted. You are doing the works of your [own] father. They said to Him, We are not illegitimate children {and} born out of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love Me {and} respect Me {and} welcome Me gladly, for I proceeded (came forth) from God [out of His very presence]. I did not even come on My own authority {or} of My own accord (as self-appointed); but He sent Me. Why do you misunderstand what I say? It is because you are unable to hear what I am saying. [You cannot bear to listen to My message; your ears are shut to My teaching.] You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts {and} gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies {and} of all that is false." (John 8:37-44) (Amplified Bible).

The little English phrase 'strong delusion' is translated by one Greek word plane which means objectively fraudulence; subjectively a straying from orthodoxy or piety: - deceit, to deceive, delusion, error and the powerful working of error energized by the devil himself. You think these Jews above were products of this strong delusion, for they supposed they worshipped God and had the One and Only True God standing right in front of them and they wanted to kill Him. Again the Mormons whose Church is titled 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints', yet they believe that Jesus Christ and Satan are both spiritual brothers in the sense that they both were created beings by God, that is, their Church has Jesus Christ Name in it, but they don't even believe He is God (You think maybe 'strong delusion is at work here)? The Prophet Isaiah said this, "And He said, Go and tell this people, Hear {and} hear continually, but understand not; and see {and} see continually, but do not apprehend with your mind. Make the heart of this people fat; and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn again and be healed." (Isaiah 6:9-10) (Amplified Bible). The difficult part of this verse is that Paul declares that it is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit that sends the 'strong delusion' to the sinners that do not truly respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as their only way of salvation and heaven, for Paul declared the same thing concerning this to the Roman believers when he said, "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their [own] hearts to sexual impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin], Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever! Amen (so be it). For this reason God gave them over {and} abandoned them to vile affections {and} degrading passions. For their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural {and} abnormal one, And the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze (burning out, consumed) with lust for one another--men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own bodies {and} personalities the inevitable consequences {and} penalty of their wrong-doing {and} going astray, which was [their] fitting retribution. And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God {or} approve of Him {or} consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base {and} condemned mind to do things not proper {or} decent {but} loathsome" (Romans 1:24-28) (Amplified Bible).

When Paul says here at the end of this verse, 'that they should believe a lie', he is effectively saying that they should have faith in or trust in the lie. Webster defines the noun 'lie' as something that deviates from or perverts the truth, remember we have constantly affirmed that there is only one truth, never two or three or four, etc., therefore, a number two truth is just a lie or a number three truth is likewise just a lie, or a number four truth is still a lie (get it?). In the Old Testament, there is an account documented for us by the Word of God, the Prophet Micaiah warning King Ahab of pending failure, but he did not want to hear the truth, so the Lord gave him what he wanted as recorded for us with these words, "And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? One said this way, another said that way. Then there came forth a spirit [of whom I am about to tell] and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. The Lord said to him, By what means? And he said, I will go forth and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. [The Lord] said, You shall entice him and succeed also. Go forth and do it. So the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets; and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you." (1 Kings 22:20-23) (Amplified Bible) and this same thing has the Lord Jesus Christ continued even during this dispensation of grace that humanity is under right now as the Apostle Paul declared with these words he wrote to brother Timothy, "But wicked men and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving {and} leading astray others and being deceived {and} led astray themselves." (2 Timothy 3:13) (Amplified Bible).

The only thing left for such people who are gripped in this 'strong delusion' is what Paul declares here to these Thessalonian believers and for we believers today to get the meaning of and that is as he writes, "That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:12) (KJV). This verse is the dividing line, the differentiating, and the distinguishing character and traits that determine a true believer in Jesus Christ and a false believer in Jesus Christ, although the true believer still sins as he or she remains a pilgrim and sojourner on the earth, they do not love sin, but the false believer loves his or her sin and even justifies it as being how they were born, genetics, or even it being in their DNA so they must do it. The Bible is called the 'Word of God', but also the 'Word of Truth' just as Paul declared with these words to the Ephesian Church, "In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in {and} adhered to {and} relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit." (Ephesians 1:13) (Amplified Bible). These words are so important because there are 'lying spirits' as we revealed above from the account of King Ahab. The Apostle Paul warned the Corinthian Church of this very fact when he wrote these words to them, "I WISH you would bear with me while I indulge in a little [so-called] foolishness. Do bear with me! For I am zealous for you with a godly eagerness {and} a divine jealousy, for I have betrothed you to one Husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But [now] I am fearful, lest that even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted {and} seduced from wholehearted {and} sincere {and} pure devotion to Christ. For [you seem readily to endure it] if a man comes and preaches another Jesus than the One we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the [Spirit] you [once] received or a different gospel from the one you [then] received {and} welcomed; you tolerate [all that] well enough!" (2 Corinthians 11:1-4) (Amplified Bible).

"For this very cause, that they would not receive the love of the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness, therefore God permits strong delusion to occupy their minds; so that they believe a lie rather than the truth, prefer false apostles and their erroneous doctrines to the pure truths of the Gospel, brought to them by the well-accredited messengers of God; being ever ready to receive any false Messiah, while they systematically and virulently reject the true one." Adam Clarke

"The passage teaches that such would be the result; that the connection between these delusions and the condemnation of those who were deluded, would be certain. It cannot be proved from the Scriptures that God sends on men strong delusions, in order that they may be damned. No such construction should be put on a passage of Scripture if it can be avoided, and it cannot be shown that it is necessary here. Who believed not the truth The grounds or reasons why they would be damned are now stated. One would be that they did not believe the truth - not that God sent upon them delusion in order that they might be damned. That people will be condemned for not believing the truth, and that it will be right thus to condemn them, is everywhere the doctrine of the Scriptures, and is equally the doctrine of common sense." Albert Barnes

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...

Sincerely in Christ,

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…