2 Thessalonians 2:9

“even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders”

“Even he”: The man of lawlessness. “According to the working of Satan”: “Will all Satan's influence to aid him” (Knox). “Through the cunning of Satan that this man of sin will come” (Nor). Satan is behind this apostasy and the papacy that it produces, compare with 1 Timothy 4:1 “doctrines of demons”. Satan realized that he could not destroy the church by persecution. So he tried the next best thing, that is, to corrupt it with false doctrines, create. counterfeit, that will give people the impression that they are saved and serving God, when they are actually serving evil. “With all power and signs and lying wonders”: “Deceptive miracles” (TCNT). “Pretended signs' (Knox). “Counterfeit signs” (Knox). “Signs and wonders of. lie. Of. lie characterizes the three words, power, signs, wonders. All bear the stamp of fraud” (Vincent p. 66). “This last word is literally ‘of falsehood',. genitive of origin, which may indicate the source, the nature, or the intention” (Marshall p. 202). “With all”: “There will be no lack of” (Knox).

The phrase “lying wonders” can be taken in two ways: The miracles are real, but they are used to deceive. The signs and wonders are fakes. It is this writers opinion that the signs and wonders are fakes, and here is what leads me to this conclusion: In the New Testament, the apostles ran into "wonder workers", but clearly such people had no miraculous power, even though they were serving Satan's agenda (Acts 8:9; Acts 13:8). True miracles confirm the truth, not error (John 3:2; Acts 2:22; John 5:36; Hebrews 2:3). It is my contention that John 3:2; Acts 2:22 and John 5:36 would not be true or accurate statements if the devil can equally perform the miraculous. If the servants of Satan can actually perform miracles, then miracles would not necessarily prove that God was with one.

“Think of all the religions that try to prove they are of God by the miracles they claim to do--Roman Catholic, Christian Science, Pentecostal, etc. It is interesting to note how the Roman church is almost built on claims of miracles. Every time. dead man is proclaimed. ‘saint', there must be evidence brought forth that he or she did at least two miracles. The shrines of Romanism attract thousands of pilgrims, many of whom go away and say they are healed. We read about Catholics who have spontaneously bleeding wounds (stigmata) in the places where Christ was wounded on the cross. We are told that the bread and wine miraculously change into the very flesh and blood of Christ during the mass” (Fields p. 206).