2 Thessalonians 2:11-12

Text (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)

11 And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: 12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Translation and Paraphrase

11.

And on account of this (attitude) God sends to them (through the working of Satan some) activity of error to cause them to believe the lie (that what the man of sin says is true, and many other lies also).

12.

(And thus being led to believe the lie that they actually wanted to believe, things are worked out) so that they all may be condemned, (those dissatisfied souls) who did not believe the truth, but (on the contrary) were well pleased with unrighteousness.

Notes (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)

1.

This thought may astound some people, but the Scriptures actually teach that when men refuse to accept what God plainly says, that God sends delusion to them, that they may believe a lie and be condemned.

2.

There are numerous examples of this in the Bible.

(1)

God hardened Pharaoh's heart and caused him to suffer many plagues, because Pharaoh first hardened his own heart. Exodus 3:19; Exodus 5:1-2; Exodus 7:3; Exodus 7:13.

(2)

God hardened the hearts of the wicked inhabitants of Canaan, so that they would fight Joshua and be destroyed. Joshua 11:20.

(3)

God sent a lying spirit to the prophets of Ahab, so that Ahab would go into battle and be killed. 1 Kings 22:19-23. (Of course, Ahab had long before rejected Jehovah.)

(4)

God turned the Gentiles who refused to honor Him as God, over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which were horribly evil and self-destructive. Romans 1:28.

(5)

Likewise now the lie of the man of sin comes to those who will not receive the love of the truth. Beware.

3.

These verses bring out the point that when people believe a lie, they will be damned. How then can anyone dare to say, It makes no difference what you believe as long as you are sincere?

4.

Those who reject the gospel of Christ, His miracles, and His coming, often end by adopting superstition and believing some strange and unproven system of doctrine. He who refuses to receive the truth will at last believe lies. This is an unalterable reality. Almost any minister can tell of cases in his own experience where people rejected the gospel, and then later were taken in by some cult or sect.

5.

The exceeding wickedness of sin is often not appreciated by the sincere child of God. He judges the feelings of others by his own nature which has been sanctified by the Spirit of God. But we must not permit ourselves to live in a dream world. Sin is very ugly, and very strong, and very deeply rooted. What it can do to the nature of a man is astounding.

The practice of sin even causes men to take pleasure in unrighteousness. They are proud to be wicked. Their glory is in their shame. Such people deserve to be damned.

They refuse to have God in their knowledge and try to suppress God's truth by unrighteousness. They know the judgment of God, that people who do such things are worthy of death. But they not only do those things, but take pleasure in associating with others who do them, and in encouraging others to practice them. Romans 1:18; Romans 1:28; Romans 1:32.

6.

One group of men who refused to believe the truth was the Jews. They could never refute Paul's preaching, but they refused to obey it, and even forbade Paul to preach to the Gentiles so that they might be saved. 1 Thessalonians 2:16.

Paul told Timothy that men would turn away their ears from the truth, and be turned unto fables. 2 Timothy 4:4. Such people often end up following some strange doctrine.

7.

While sinners may have pleasure in unrighteousness, love rejoices not in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. 1 Corinthians 13:6. Christians are ruled by love.

STUDY SUGGESTION

Turn ahead now to the Did You Learn? questions following the notes on this chapter [see Chapter Comments], and see if you can answer questions 1 to 45.