2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

A word of Warning, continued

VERSE 10 “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (AV)

“In them that perish” To a certain degree, there are samples of deception even among the Lord’s consecrated, even among the brotherhood. To a somewhat greater degree—and in some cases to a very blatant degree—there are deceptions in the nominal system. In recent years at religious conferences, women have performed erotic acts on the stage with the approval of segments of the denomination. To an extreme degree in the world, moral restraints have been cast off so that anything goes, the philosophy being that “that which is pleasure is not sin.”

Truth is what we treasure, and we should ever hunger for grace and knowledge. We should not stagnate or come to the Laodicean position where we feel we are rich and have need of nothing (Rev. 3:17).

However, Verse 10 is a warning to all three classes: true Christians, professed Christians, and the world. Rom 1:18 is referring to the world: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” Notice that many in the world “hold the truth in unrighteousness.”

The Apostle Paul was speaking about the world, as Verses 19–24 reveal:

“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead [Deity]; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God [through observation of the heavens and nature], they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible [immortal] God into an image made like to corruptible [mortal] man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.”

Conscience reveals right and wrong principles, yet men chose to “hold the truth in unrighteousness”, that is truth was given them to mold their thoughts and lives, but they preferred unrighteousness, and thus held back or held down the truth, suppressing it. They acted towards the truth, in voluntarily resisting its control, and shackling its freedom to influence the right course in their lives.

There are nevertheless different ways and/ or degrees in which the truth is held in unrighteousness not only by the world and the worldly church, but likewise by the Lord’s consecrated. 

We sometimes refer to ourselves (that is we of the Bible Student movement) as the Truth movement, but actually truth is mighty, mighty deep. It is true that we are walking in the way and in the direction of truth, but we should never feel satisfied that we have obtained all truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, for there is always room for improvement.

Comment: With many brethren who know the Lord and know what is right, the problem is often that love for their families supersedes their love for God’s Word. They love mother, father, sister, brother, etc., to an inordinate degree rather than face the truth as God declares it.

Reply: Imagine how God feels looking down at this earth when we make decisions without heeding His instruction. Right and wrong are clearly set forth in the Scriptures. If we ignore principle and are influenced by the peer pressure of family, neighbors, friendships, and worldly and business associations, thus violating God’s instruction, what does He think about us? None of us can be too sure of ourselves.

Comment: Rom 1:29–32 is also pertinent: “Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

Reply: Yes, they consort with or are party to these things in both principle and practice.

Comment: (Another way in which the brethren may hold the truth in unrighteousness) Brethren have differences of opinion with regard to capital punishment, whereas the divine principle is a life for a life. Even the Ten Commandments are not understood. “Thou shalt not kill” means “Thou shalt not MURDER” and, therefore, is not justification against capital punishment.

Reply: Yes, the Adversary has his own definitions of Scripture. An individual who reads, say, six pages of the Volumes each day should also read six pages of Scripture. Both are important, but the Word of God is the bottom line. We appreciate others in proportion as their ministry has helped us to understand that Word. We acknowledge their superiority in being used of the Lord and are thankful, but the bottom line is the Word God itself.

The first chapter of Romans implies another safeguard: conscience. To a certain degree, the conscience has been damaged through heredity, but nevertheless, we all have a conscience that tells us some things are blatantly improper. However, when wrong things are practiced, the conscience becomes seared and the individual is unable to distinguish between right and wrong. Paul showed that there are three witnesses: the heavens (nature), the conscience, and the Word of God.

Thus as applied to our text:

“Whose presence (the Lord Jesus Christ) shall be according to (or accompanied by) an in-working of Satan with all manner of mighty works and signs and wonders of falsehood, and with all manner of deceit (and deception) of unrighteousness in them who are destroying themselves, because the love of the truth (all truth, but partially that pertaining to impending events) they did not welcome (they did not receive, accept, instead they held back and suppressed it, taking no heed) that they might be saved (spared from these coming deceptions).

We continue on to Verse 11 and 12 in our next post.