Deeper Reflection
THE VISIBLE “MAN OF LAWLESSNESS” HAS YET TO BE revealed before Christ’s Second Coming, but the invisible “secret power of lawlessness is already at work” (2 Thess 2:7-8, NIV). The expression “is already at work” means it was during Paul’s time and continues until today. This “secret of power of lawlessness” is parallel to what Jesus says about the end-times: “lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold” (Matt 24:12). It is an “ambiguous situation, in which evil is both operative and held in check [2 Thess 2:6-7]”⁶². How then are we to live in such end-times? God has given us a guiding light and compass: “the word of the Lord” (v.1). And that means the Word of God must be central in our lives.The centrality of the Word of God is a key motif in 2 Thessalonians 3 (vv.1, 4, 6, 12, 14). Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray for him, that in his ministry “the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified” (v.1, NASB). Paul had “confidence in the Lord” that the Thessalonians “are doing and will do the things that we command you” (v.4). While the Word of God was central in the church in Thessalonica, there were among them those who were “leading an undisciplined life” (vv.6, 11), living their lives “not according to the tradition” that Paul taught (v.6). And such people Paul “command[s] and exhort[s] in the Lord” to repent (v.12). And failing to obey God in Paul’s “command” will lead to serious consequences (v.14).

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⁶² John R. W. Stott, 181