Rejection Leads to Withdrawal
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. 2 Thessalonians 2:11
Terrible were the trials that were to beset the true church. Even at the time when the apostle was writing, the "mystery of iniquity" had already begun to work. The development that were to take place in the future were to be "after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish."
Especially solemn is the apostle's statement regarding those who should refuse to receive "the love of the truth." "For this cause," he declared of all who should deliberately reject the messages of truth, "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." Men cannot with impunity reject the warnings that God in mercy sends them. From those who persist in turning from these warnings, God withdraws His Spirit, leaving them to the deceptions that they love.
Thus Paul outlined the baleful work of that power of evil which was to continue through long centuries of darkness and persecution before the second coming of Christ. (The Acts of the Apostles, 266)
Reflection: As the Bible says, we should study to show ourselves approved to our Lord and we will not need to be ashamed when we rightly divide the Word of truth. So often we want to believe something because that is what we have been told since we can remember. We want to defend what the Bible does not defend. God wants us to study for ourselves and not allow teachers, preachers, friends or family to study for us. Let's not defend tradition, but defend the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. 2 Thessalonians 2:11
Terrible were the trials that were to beset the true church. Even at the time when the apostle was writing, the "mystery of iniquity" had already begun to work. The development that were to take place in the future were to be "after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish."
Especially solemn is the apostle's statement regarding those who should refuse to receive "the love of the truth." "For this cause," he declared of all who should deliberately reject the messages of truth, "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." Men cannot with impunity reject the warnings that God in mercy sends them. From those who persist in turning from these warnings, God withdraws His Spirit, leaving them to the deceptions that they love.
Thus Paul outlined the baleful work of that power of evil which was to continue through long centuries of darkness and persecution before the second coming of Christ. (The Acts of the Apostles, 266)
Reflection: As the Bible says, we should study to show ourselves approved to our Lord and we will not need to be ashamed when we rightly divide the Word of truth. So often we want to believe something because that is what we have been told since we can remember. We want to defend what the Bible does not defend. God wants us to study for ourselves and not allow teachers, preachers, friends or family to study for us. Let's not defend tradition, but defend the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
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