“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way“
For
Verse 7 explains verse 6.
the mystery of lawlessness
The word “mystery” does not mean something spooky or an enigma in its New Testament usage. It is a truth not revealed by God up to this point. We cannot know a “mystery” by natural means; we can only know it by divine revelation. In the New Testament, the word “mystery” always refers to some relationship to the church. God never revealed the mystery of the church in the Old Testament (Ephesians 3:1f). We need God’s Word to know the content of the “mystery.” The unleashing of the man of lawlessness is not known yet.
The definite article “the” points to a special “mystery of lawlessness.” It is not just any lawless outbreak in society. The Tribulation will be a time of tyranny where principles of marriage, government, and civility will collapse.
is already at work;
Lawlessness was at work in the first century, but it was under control to some extent. The persecution that the Thessalonians faced was not the Tribulation. They suffered persecution because of lawlessness but not the kind of lawlessness in the Tribulation, which will be pervasive.
The New Testament always uses the word “work” for supernatural work. Here it is satanic supernatural work. Present day lawlessness is satanic, and it is supernatural. We may be tempted to think that lawlessness is merely a social problem. It is far more than that. It is a satanic problem.
Principle:
A pervasive breakdown in law will occur in the Tribulation.
Application:
We can get foretastes of the breakdown of law in our society. The lawlessness of our time is the seed for the destruction that will come in the Tribulation.
When God takes the church indwelt by the Holy Spirit in the Rapture, all restraint against law will break down. Children will hate parents, and parents hate children. Order and trust in business will break down. Great numbers of people will revolt against the government. Anarchy will be the norm. Above all, revolt against Jesus Christ will be the most important value in society. Jesus is the target of Satan. He has been Satan’s target since the fall of man (Genesis 3:15). Satan will attack the Word of God and all that it represents.
who is the one who restrains?
Matthew, Note my commentary on verse 6.
The restrainer is the holy Spirit who indwells true believers in the Lord Jesus. When he is taken up, He will take up the true born again Christians to meet Christ in the air
Edward, and when the Holy Spirit is removed, God removes the restraint of sin in the world during the Tribulation.
There is no mention of the Holy Spirit or any one else RESTRAINING anything. Ver.3 tells us that two things MUST take place before Jesus’ return. FIRST the apostasy of the Church, secondly, the revealing of the anti-Christ. Ver.6 says and NOW YOU KNOW (the APOSTACY) is what comes first before the revealing of the LAWLESS ONE. Ver.7 tells us that the mystery of sin is already at work in Pauls’ time, and continues to this present day. If we backslide back into the world and remain there, we have removed OURSELVES out of THE WAY. Ver.8 is the second part of ver.3. K.J.V. Modern versions give rise to speculations and error.
Katexon, Greek definition is, possession, occupation ; NOT restraint ! Oidate ; swelling ; not ye know ! Deceiving translations !20,000+ translation errors in the English translation !
2thess.2:6,7, when you see the occupation + possession ) swelling completely ( Artois ) or artigenes, now then out of the midst comes the lawless one.
It’s NOT ore rapture lies.
Richard, I am on a speaking tour in Indonesia so I do not have time to respond to you until I get back in the US. Did you continue to 2:7b? Also, I make a distinction between the Rapture in chapter 4 and the Second Coming in chapter five.
Richard, Your Greek is not very good. You do not even identify the right Greek word. κατέχωa: to prevent someone from doing something by restraining or hindering—‘to prevent, to hinder, to restrain, to keep from.’ ἀνθρώπων τῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐν ἀδικίᾳ κατεχόντων ‘the people whose evil ways keep the truth from being known’ Ro 1:18.
Did you proceed to the next study of 2:7b?
No you’re a deceiver ! Katexon ; ketew ; Greek definition is, occupation, possession.
Revelation 18:23 ; pan ethnos euplannos FARMAKIA ! All nations were deluded by pharmaceuticals ! Not sorcery specifically psychotropic drugs ! Satanist pharmaceuticals euthanizing the minds of children and adults ! maji is sorcery in the Greek & goies is sorcery, wizard. 20,000+ translation errors in the Greek to English translation of the N.T. OK Grant explain how I’m not correct ?
Richard, the Greek word for “restrains” is κατεχω. κατ is from κατα=down and εχω means to hold. Thus, the means is to hold down or restrain. You are not even typing the Greek word transliteration right. It is monstrous how you are handling Greek. You obviously have not had Greek and know nothing about it.
κατέχωa: to prevent someone from doing something by restraining or hindering—‘to prevent, to hinder, to restrain, to keep from.’ ἀνθρώπων τῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐν ἀδικίᾳ κατεχόντων ‘the people whose evil ways keep the truth from being known’ Ro 1:18.
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 164). New York: United Bible Societies.
κατεχω can mean to hold something as in Mt 14:17; 25:29; Lu 15:18; Ac 7:5 and 2 Co 6:10. All of these meanings have nothing to do with your interpretation.
I agree that there will be a time when the world will be deceived by drugs as I spelled out in https://versebyversecommentary.com/revelation/revelation-1820-24/