Frequently Asked Questions About Christianity, Answered Honestly!

Who is The Man of Sin

by Tony Warren

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; -2nd Thessalonians 2:3"

Who is the man of sin? This is a question that generates a lot of strong opinions, but very little sound exegesis or emphasis on the actual text or context. In fact, the passage itself clearly identifies the protagonist as the man who is "of sin." There we have our answer, because this immediately makes it clear that God is referring to the sinful or lawless man who usurps God's authority. It is the man who has the spirit of antichrist, denying Christ as the supreme ruler of God's house. There is absolutely no practical or Biblical evidence that the apostle is prophesying about the institution of the papacy in the Roman Catholic Church, Caligula's sins, Nero Caesar's persecution of Christians, Hitler's belief that through him the assembly could become the established church, Satan incarnate, or any of the other fanciful reiterations that permeate church lore. Faithful Christians should ask themselves this question in order to faithfully understand the pertinent passages. "Are not interpretations under the divine auspices of God's word (Genesis 40:8; Genesis 41:15-16), and if they are then the answer that will bring knowledge and peace of mind to the faithful student of God's word will be found within God's word. The answers will not be found outside of it through our own conjecture, suppositions, or theories. What is the form of the sinful man of God's house, his stated behavior, his office, and his characteristics? By considering these things in the light of Scripture we will be better equipped to identify who this lawless man that dares to sit and rule in God's house as if he were God. Through the study of God's word, we understand that the man of sin has always been lawless in the assembly and this has been recorded down throughout history. The man of sin in God's assembly sought his own and asked for a false god in the wilderness to lead them (Exodus 32:1). The lawless man in God's house over two thousand years ago told Pilate to crucify Christ (John 19:6). They are those lawless leaders of a misguided and misgoverned people of God. They cause iniquity to increase in God's congregation by forsaking God's laws, thinking to govern by and for himself. That is effectively positioning himself as a sovereign ruler, negating righteous laws as if "he" himself reigned as God. From Biblical history we know that the man of sin is nothing new, as he has rebelled against the government of God throughout time, and always with the same mindset and spirit of the antichrist within him. We were once the man of sin, slavish children of the antichrist unto lawlessness. But now we are the man of God, children of obedience set free of God. It is a contrast between the man of lawlessness and the man of obedience (Ephesians 2:2). Likewise, the false ruler in God's house is the man of sin.

Jeremiah 5:30-31

"A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?"

The ruler in God's congregation bearing rule by his own means is the man opposing and raising himself up above God's rule, effectively placing himself in the position of God (2nd Thessalonians 2:4). In a phrase, the man of sin! This usurping of God's rule in God's house is not something unheard of (1st John 4:2-3), but it will become worse when Satan is loosed and the iniquity that the Spirit of God has been restraining is taken out of the midst. In no way is the man of sin sitting in the Lord's Holy Temple a novel occurrence (Matthew 21:12-13), but he will always ultimately be cast out.

There has been such a deep-rooted misunderstanding of 2nd Thessalonians chapter two and the man of sin today, and I believe that this is partly due to rampant hypothesizing and a lack of sound emphasis concerning the fact that Satan is a spirit being, and as such works within the world "through man" or mankind. The man of sin means the man who is a product of sin or the man who is ruled by sin. It is the man who has not been set free from his bondage to sin. He is the adversary of God's word and His laws and as such is a child of disobedience.

2nd Peter 2:18-19

"For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage."

The man who is still in bondage to sin is by definition, the man of sin. It is comparable to saying the man who sins, or the sinful man. It's similar but in contrast to when God speaks of the man of righteousness or the righteous man. He is speaking of the man with the spirit of God working in Him (Proverbs 10:11; Romans 4:6; Ephesians 4:24) keeping him from sin. Or as He speaks of Moses as "The Man of God," He's not saying Moses is the only man of God, just that He is the man "that is of God."

Deuteronomy 33:1

"And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death."

The phrase "the man of God" in Deuteronomy is descriptive "of the man," just as the phrase "the man of sin" is in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 is descriptive "of the man" of the man. Sadly the understanding in the church of the man of sin is ruled by hypothesis and conjecture rather than a sound exegetical examination of the phrase. We can't look at this as referring to a unique man of sin any more than we can look at the text of Moses as the singular or unique man of God. Lot was the man of God, Abraham was the man of God, Jacob was the man of God, etc., etc. This is referring to the type of man they were, not that they were singularly the man of God. Even as when God speaks of the man of sin or the sinful man, He is speaking of the man with the spirit of Satan working in him (Luke 24:7; Ephesians 2:2) unto lawlessness. The spirit that is of this world (1st Corinthinas 2:12) works lawlessness or sin, because it is the spirit of the pseudo or antichrsit (1st John 4:3). The question, "Who is the Man of Lawlessness (sin)" is answered as simply as reading the clear and descriptive text--the man that sins.

2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4

"Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,
that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

Who is the man of sin that God says will be revealed in the later times. Well, it is the wicked or lawless man whose iniquity will be revealed when Satan is loosed from His prison as a judgment on the unfaithful church of the nations. When Satan is loosed, the man of sin in the church will rise up to act lawlessly in agreement or in accordance with that spirit, Satan (verse 9) to cause the external church to be moved out of its place, falling into ruin and desolation. It's the same scenario that God paints a portrait of in Revelation chapter 11 of the Two witnesses having finished their testimony and being killed in the assembly. A battle between the man of righteousness and the man of sin that will ultimately lead to the fall of that great city of Babylon. Because when the sinful man sits in the Holy Temple of God, it's time for the faithful to flee from out of the midst of her so that they are not partaking in her sins against God. As it is written:

2nd Corinthians 6:16-17

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"

The abomination in the Lord's house is an unclean or unholy thing that can only lead to desolation. The lawful man must come out from among these unclean messengers when they see such abominations stand within the Holy Place. The contrast to the man of lawlessness (sinful man) is the man of lawfulness (righteous man). In 2nd Thessalonians, God is simply describing the man as being "of sin." Nothing more earth-shattering than that, unless we choose to read something extraneous into the passage. He also calls the man "the child of the perdition," the son of destruction or ruin. The Greek word translated Perdition is apoleia [apoleia], meaning destruction or ruin. So, just as the man Judas was described as one of the twelve who was not a child of God and not destined for life, he was actually the child of the devil, destined for destruction. i.e., the man of sin, the son of perdition. Was Judas Satan incarnate? Of course not, he was a token representing the lost souls with the spirit of antichrist who dwell within the assembly of God. The part of the assembly who were never born of the Spirit and were always ruled over by sin. So just as this man Judas was always a thief within the assembly of God (John 17:12) and the son of perdition, so the man of sin represents the man who robs God as a traitor within His assembly. Judas was not the singular son of perdition anymore than the man of sin is. Just as there is not one singular antichrist in the world (1st John 2:18), rather the spirit of Antichrist indwells many men unto disobedience. There is not one specific singular antichrist as is popularly taught, but his (Satan's) spirit that indwells many.

1st John 2:18-19

"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

The people who were antichrists, and who went out of the church, because they were never really of the church, were the men of sin. These are the many lawless apostates that the apostle Paul is speaking about. They were not truly born of the Spirit of Christ, remained lawless, and so of course they fell away or apostatized. The truly Spirit-filled sons of God could never fall (2nd Peter 1:10) because they have been gifted the seal (Ephesians 4:30) and assurance of salvation. On the other hand, the man of sin, the son of perdition, is still of his father the Devil could and did fall away. For he is predisposed to be sinful or lawless so he desires to do his own will rather than the will of God. That places him in the position of being his own god (ruler), doing what is his own will, and defining his own purpose. In other words, in his lawlessness, he usurps God's authoritative word and sits in judgment according to his own means and words. The man of sin in God's assembly has from the beginning been lawless and rebelled against God's commands.

Ezekiel 22:28

"And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken."

People who speak in the name of the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken by them, are usurping His throne and sitting there as if they were God speaking lies. These are children of the Devil preaching falsehoods, and refusing to receive the truth while they masquerade as children of God. As even the context of 2nd Thessalonians chapter two demonstrates that the man of sin...

2nd Thessalonians 2:4

"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

The man exalting himself above all that is called God by sitting to rule in the Holy Temple "as if" he were God, is the man of sin. He is the anti or substitute christ who dares to speak for our Lord. His abject iniquity in doing so is a mystery (secret) to most of the unfaithful church that he sits in rule (Hebrews 13:7) over. None but Jehovah God could have inspired written beforehand the determination of the "mystery of iniquity," the clandestine wickedness that was already at work at that time Paul was writing, but was being restrained. This iniquity was kept a secret from those in the church that are deceived by the false prophet. These faithless are under strong delusion where they actually believe the man of sin's lies in place of the truth. This is the man of sin who comes into the church to attack it through the work of Satan (2nd Thessalonians 2:9-10), lying and deceiving those who are destined to perish through their love of disobedience. They think that they are being lawful specifically because their iniquity is a great mystery that is unrevealed to them by the Spirit of God. Even when their whole congregation apostates and becomes an abomination that will lead to its desolation, it remains a mystery to them that it has become spiritually like Babylon. This Babylon remains a mystery to all except God's people who are called out of her (Revelation 18:4) because her spiritual nature is a mystery that they cannot fathom.

It is akin to as it was a mystery to the people of Christ'a congregation who were blinded over two thousand years ago (Mark 4:11; John 12:38-40), so it will be when the great apostasy or falling away from the faith comes that is spoken about in 2nd Thessalonians chapter two.

1st Timothy 4:1

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"

This departing from the faith of the latter times is the revelation of the mystery of apostasy in the church, but only to the Lord's servants. There will be an increase of iniquity (Matthew 24:11-13) because the Lord's assembly will no longer obey the truth because their love for God has grown cold. We should have Godly discernment that God's word declares that the mystery of iniquity was already at work in the church at the time the apostle Paul was addressing the Thessalonians, but it was being restrained so that it could only be revealed when the Spirit of God that restrains it would be taken out of the midst (2nd Thessalonians 2:7). "THAT" is when the lawless man, the sinful man, would be revealed in the church in order that those there who refused to receive the truth of God's law might be damned (2nd Thessalonians 2:11-12). They desired to hear man's lies over God's truth, and for their sins "God allowed them to be deceived by man." The fall under the spiritual sword of the lawless man who dares to rule the church by his own means, authority, and words, rather than by the authority of the Sword of the Spirit, the word of God.

Jeremiah 5:31

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?"

The unfaithful people are not running from these lies, they love hearing that they can sin because grace abounds, that God winks at sin, that divorce and remarriage is permitted, etc., etc. This is an example of those of God's house ruling it by their own words, teaching things that are false instead of what God actually says. It is the age-old problem that God's congregation has always fallen away to be ruled by the man of sin. Christ didn't end the appearance of man of sin in His congregation with His defeat of Satan on the cross, but his deceptive iniquity was restrained (2nd Thessalonians 2:7) in the church during the millennial reign in order that His New Testament church could be built before Satan was allowed to be loosed as judgment. And make no mistake, it was God who bound him so that the church could be built, and it will be God who looses him after the testimony of the two witnesses is complete.

Revelation 7:2

"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."

No Judgment will come before the spiritual children of Israel are all saved. As the binding of Satan had the purpose of the sealing (securing or saving) of God's servants from the nations in the New Testament dispensation, so the loosing of Satan after that task is completed and the testimony of the church finished, has the purpose of the judgment that "must begin" at the unfaithful church.

Many Theologians have privately interpreted "the man of sin" to be Satan incarnate or a singular individual, while curiously in similar contexts not interpreting "the man of Israel, the man of God, the man of the earth, etc.," to be a singular person (2nd Timothy 3:17), so we know that they do understand the concept of "the man of" referring to any man of sin, God, Israel, etc., and not one singular or particular man. Yet many professing Christians cling to a personal opinion or have assumed that the man of sin refers to everyone from The Pope, Hitler, and Stalin, to a newborn Devil incarnate. But as the saying goes concerning opinions, "everybody has one." And it is human nature that our own opinions are worth more than the other guy's. But while these assumptions may make for entertaining movie fodder, and for intriguing stories around the campfire, as far as Biblical Theology, it's worth exactly nothing. There is a better way to determine who this passage is referring to, and that is admitting that the answer is not in us, and allowing the scriptures themselves to tell us (Genesis 40:8; Genesis 41:16) the truth of the matter. The word of God tells us "clearly" that the man of lawlessness is anthropos hamartia or anthropos hamartia, which literally means the lawless man or the man of lawlessness or sin. Basically, it is the man who refuses to be subject to the laws of God. When Satan is loosed by God from the bottomless pit, he will come revealing himself in the church through his spirit in sinful man. Specifically, through false prophets, false Christs, and false teachers who will dare to speak lies in the name of Christ.

1st Timothy 4:1

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"

These are sinful men in the church led by the spirit of antichrist speaking lies. Many times God has warned us of the lawless man and how the church should be aware of him. It seems clear to me that all these verses are not referring to one particular man, but to the man of lawlessness who is led by the spirit of antichrist to forsake the Lord's word and rule by his own mouth in the house of God. Namely, the situation that we have today in the church where ministers and pastors rule by their own means, usurping the laws of God and instituting laws of men in the Holy Temple. This is the prophecy of the time preceding the second advent of the Lord when man refuses to be subject to the authority of God's Laws and will instead exalt "himself" to rule in God's Holy Temple. A time when iniquity will abound or increase because God removes His hand of restraint of sin ushering in the return of the Lord. Matthew 24 speaks of this time as one of "Great tribulation" for believers. Because believers are those who will "Keep" the laws of God faithfully, and so will be persecuted by the lawless man who rules in God's house. There is iniquity already in the church but restrained until God's spirit be removed from it. Then iniquity shall increase and false prophets rise up. As it is written:

Matthew 24:12

"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."

This is the time when the transgressors in God's house commit such lawless abominations that it will ultimately leave it in devastating ruin. Many within it will be deceived by the false prophet there that is ruled by the spirit of Satan. Ultimately God's people will see the abomination stand in this Holy Place and will be called out to flee to the Spiritual mountains(Psalms 87:1-2; Isaiah 65:9). Because the sinful man will dare to sit and rule in place of God. The iniquity that was once restrained shall increase and abound in the assembly. The word abound is plethos [plethos], from a root Greek word meaning, "come to the full." This is when the love of God has grown cold where man no longer fears or reveres God. In fact, right here in 2nd Thessalonians 2:6-8 Scripture tells us that this iniquity was being restrained or held down (when the text was written) until a time when He who restrains it is taken out of the midst. In other words, iniquity (Lawlessness, Sin, Wickedness, Transgression) was being held down here by the only one who could (the Spirit of God). But the prophecy was that at some time in the future, He that restrains it would be taken out of the midst. In other words, this clandestine iniquity in the church would be unrestrained in such a way that the lawless man would be revealed. Seeing this abomination, God's people will flee to the mountains. Even as many will be deceived by iniquity that they don't recognize as lawlessness, and be damned. The reason God gives is because they refused to receive the love of truth. They simply don't want to be ruled by the word of God because they don't like having their sin restrained. They want to hear smooth words of law nullification, not what they perceive as grievous statutes and ordinances. They want an easy Christianity, a gospel without sacrifice, tribulations, or persecution. Because with the man of sin, there is nothing new under the sun:

Isaiah 30:9-13

That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant."

Again, this is the man of sin, the rebellious man, the lawless man ruling in God's house. These are lying children who refuse to hear the law of the LORD, and it is not something that is new. The people of the congregation love to have the man of sin rule over them, and therefore they are judged and deceived by His rebellious words. This is the man declaring falsely that God says that we can divorce, that God permits women to teach and have authority over men in the church, and that God declares that Homosexuality is not an abomination but simply a lifestyle choice. The man of sin saying God declares abortion is not really murder, etc., etc. This is the man of sin who is ruling as if he were God in the Holy Temple. The Holy Temple represents the church. We know that after the cross, the Holy Temple of God was no longer a physical building in Jerusalem, it was a spiritual building "representing" the church. In the New Testament dispensation, the Holy Temple can only be one of three things.

#1.The Lord Jesus Christ
#2.The faithful body of believers
#3.The assembly or external church that is "representing" them.

Those are the only three things possible after the cross that can be prophesied as the Holy Temple of God. You cannot have a building that is a "shadow" of the true that has been fulfilled or completed in Christ, returning again as the shadow, the physical Old Testament Holy Temple. Therefore, after the cross, the Temple building in Jerusalem no longer qualified to be prophesied as the future Holy Temple of God. It was a shadow that previously represented that which is now fulfilled.

So since abomination cannot stand in Christ, nor can it stand in the faithful body of a believer where Christ dwells, it can only stand in the external assembly or church, the representative of both. This Holy Temple is built not only with Gold, Silver, and Precious Gem Stones, but also with wood, hay and stubble. i.e., all those who are in the representative church, are not truly saved.

1st Corinthians 3:10

"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is."

Jesus is the Cornerstone of this Spiritual Holy Temple and we are built upon Him as part of that Temple. But as the external body or assembled group of professing Christians, we are collectively "representatives" of this Holy Temple. As representatives, all within the assembly are not truly born of the Spirit from above. These are spoken of as building blocks of the Temple that are as wood, hay, and stubble illustrating that they are not valuable or precious materials, they are worthless building materials. The elect are spoken of as precious stones of the Temple made of gold, silver, and precious gems. Near the time of the second advent, the abomination in abject lawlessness will stand in this representative Holy Temple as the churches depart from the faith and fall away into apostasy. This is the whole point of the rise of the man of sin in the Temple

2nd Thessalonians 2:3

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"

This speaks of the general apostasy or defection of the visible church from the faith once delivered unto the saints. A great decline, deterioration, and decay of faithfulness to the law of God, the man of sin being revealed to be ruling in place of God. This is prophesied as something that would certainly come to pass before Christ's coming to judgment on the world. It is a coming time when iniquity will increase or abound (come to completeness or be full), coinciding with the spirit Satan being loosed (Revelation 20:7-8). The man of sin, being deceived by the spirit of the antichrist coming with all power, signs, and Lying wonders, will think to change times and laws and rule as if he were God in the Temple. Even as Judas was one of the twelve and yet betrayed our Lord, so many false prophets and false teachers among the assembly will deceive many that they betray Christ in the church. Man sets himself up to sell his birthright for a few pieces of silver in the church, privately interpreting laws to replace God's actual words. This is what God calls an abomination that will leave the church desolate. The iniquity they practice is a mystery or secret in that they are "blinded" to the truth of their desperately wicked nature in justifying their lawlessness. Lawless but professing Christians always justify their sinful behavior because they are still in the flesh and so lust after/desire that their own will be done. And that blinds them to the reality of their lawless behavior. 2nd Thessalonians declares that this mystery is nothing new because it was around at the time the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians (2nd Thessalonians 2:7), and it is declared to come in the future, this time unrestrained. Just as the apostasy had come upon the people of the Old Testament congregation where their spiritual blindness and iniquity were hidden from them. They didn't think they were doing anything sinful, because they deceived themselves with vain justifications.

John 12:39-40

"Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them."

i.e., their iniquity was a mystery or secret to them, as they were not justified but judged of God because of their rebellious sin. They followed their own personal traditions (Matthew 15:2-3), placing their teachings over and above the commandments of God. The man of sin ruled there in place of God, and therefore, though they were "representative" of congregation of the kingdom of God, the kingdom was taken from them and their house left desolate or barren (Matthew 21:42-43). This is specifically because they rejected the Christ they claimed to desire, as ruler and living Word of God as reigning over them. They were unaware of their wickedness in doing so because their iniquity was a mystery or secret to them. They refused to believe the truth and the kingdom representation was taken from them. They were judged because of it just as 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 declares of those in the New Testament congregation. For they are no better than these Jewish Leaders, Priests, Scribes, and Pharisees in not understanding that they stand by grace alone. Grace is not a license to sin or to rule in the church any way we want. Their iniquity was hidden by spiritual blindness wherein they thought they were God's people when they were usurping His power and authority. Even as many in the congregation of God today believe they are God's chosen people by mere words of confession. But God is no respecter of persons. Not in the Old Testament dispensation, and not in the New Testament. National Israel didn't fall as representative of God's congregation because they were more sinful than any other, and the New Testament dispensation representative today doesn't stand because they are any better than Israel was. The unfaithful church can and will fall if they fall into the same mindset of allowing the man of sin to rule by their own laws instead of God's laws. As it is written:

Romans 11:14-21

"If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee."

God has warned us before to make our calling and election sure, because if we do so we can never fall (2nd Peter 1:10; Revelation 2:5). If not, and if we don't repent, our congregation will end up the same as the Old Testament congregation of Israel dis. As saith the preacher, there is nothing new under the sun. That which has been shall be again. Because the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Just as we can read that the Anti-Christ was already in the world at the time of Paul (1st John 2:18-19), but would also come to full in the future. Those antichrists who were in the congregation were men. Men who were led of the spirit of Satan. Paul says that they were out from them (departed from the faith) because they were never really of them. They weren't the man of God, they were the man of sin. It all refers to the spirit of Satan who indwells "man" and deceives him to break God's laws. Satan had a chain placed on him that he was bound in the bottomless pit until after the Millennial reign of Christ. It is not until he is loosed that he attacks the church and causes iniquity to increase. It is then that man falls away from the faith and forsakes the laws of God. I believe that this refers to the Great Tribulation period that was not allowed to come to pass where it prospers and iniquity increases because God was patiently building His church at this time of restraint.

2nd Peter 3:8-10

"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

Some count His delay in returning as slackness, but it was and is God's patience making sure that every soul that He has predestinated to be sealed and secured a child of God, will be sealed (Ephesians 4:30) and secured. And at the appointed time of redempton near the return of the lord (2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4), then this Apostasy must take place. As it is written, Judgment must begin at the House of God (Jeremiah 25:29-30; 1st Peter 4:17). The point is, if God does not spare His own House that is called by His name, should the non-believers and heathen nations imagine that there is no judgment appointed for them?

Christ Restrained this judgment by the Cross when He bound Satan. Verse seven refers to this declaring that the iniquity would continue to be restrained until He that restrains sin would be taken out of the way. When a church (The Holy Temple of God) falls away from the faith, it has no Spirit of God in the midst of it anymore.

Matthew 18:20

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

When the two witnesses of the church are killed (Revelation 11:7-8), then Christ is no longer in the midst of the church, and the judgment of it comes. Then the Spirit is no more in the midst of a church restraining iniquity, so iniquity abounds or increases and Apostasy sets in so that the sinful man begins to rule in place of God. He rules by following his own laws instead of God's. This is what 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 speaks about in declaring the man of sin takes God's place in the Holy Temple. The man of sin has not had a part in the first resurrection with Christ and has not been risen unto righteousness to be obedient to God's laws. He is a contrast to this man of righteousness or the righteous man. He is the old man with the nature to sin, rather than the new man who has been regenerated and made an untainted creation in righteousness and thus is no longer a man of sin nor subject to its wages.

Romans 6:5-7

"For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin."

The old man or anthropos in the body of sin hamartia is the unbeliever, juss as the man anthropos of sin hamartia or lawlessness in the church is the unbeliever in the Temple of God. He is in contrast to the righteous dikaios or lawful man anthropos . Neither points to one man, but to man who is either of the spirit of antichrist or the Spirit of Christ. This is why the whole context of 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 is of a falling away, an apostasy,. a departing from the faith of those who are of the church. And that this apostasy will be revealed to us after He who restrains iniquity (the Spirit of Christ) is taken out of the way/path (midst/middle) of the church. It is only then that this takeover of the Holy Temple of God can be revealed as the spirit of Satan is loosed following the millennium. And the Spirit of God will reveal the man of sin to His servants , even as He always has (Amos 3:7), while the deceived will not receive the love of truth, believe the lies, and sit in this spiritual darkness.

John 16:13

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."

So, who is the man of sin? Simply put, he is the man who sins. He's not a particular individual, he's not a Supernatural demon-spawn, and he is not the Devil incarnate. He is the man who is of sin, just as others are the man who is of God. It is akin to me saying that the man of righteousness is the lawful man who reigns and rules in God's Holy Temple. The man of sin is not a reference to one single man, this idea is simply an assumption and supposition based not on the construction of the text (e.g. as scripture speaks of the man of grey hairs, the man of God, the man of war, the man of wisdom). It's a descriptive phrase declaring the sinful man will come, not a declaration that one man or antichrist will come.

2nd Timothy 3:17

"That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Conclusion
The end of the matter is that the man of sin declaration is the prophecy of a time coming when man will rise up desiring his own rule, and having pleasure in unrighteousness, and will no longer abide in the love of truth. The spirit of Satan will be loosed by God and the iniquity that was being restrained for the building of God's church will finally be allowed loose. It will bring about an apostasy in the assemblies so that the lawless man will be revealed. The faithful witnesses of God will see this abomination in the church, understand that they can not be in communion or agreement with it, and come out so that they are not a fellow participant of this abomination (Revelation 18:4) before God. Because the unfaithful church has spiritually become as Sodom and Egypt, a personification of the fallen city of Babylon.

In 2nd Timothy where the Man of God is not a message declaring that one man of God will be thoroughly fitted unto good works, rather it is descriptive of the man "of God" collectively being thoroughly prepared. The man of God is one who is completely prepared to be faithful and follows the laws of God. Likewise, the man of lawlessness is just the opposite. He is a betrayer of Christ, just as the spirit of Satan entered Judas and he was deceived to betray Christ and serve himself. Any false teacher that seeks to establish themselves or their words as the authority "over" the doctrines of God, in abandoning His Word for their own private interpretations, is "the man of sin." This is "the lawless man." And when he is revealed to God's servants, they will see and know this falling away (apostasy) and realize that they cannot be a part of it.

The best Biblical evidence through sound exegesis is that the man of sin is the lawless man ruling in God's house. There are so many churches today being ruled by the man of sin instead of the man of God. We see the clear development of the same spirit of disobedience within the professing church. These are those who are moved by the spirit of Devils to make up their own rules and laws in order for man to to govern himself. They have forsaken their God and will not humbly receive, nor be obedient to God's laws. This is the sign (2nd Thessalonians 2:9) that Satan has been loosed and the coming of the lord is not far off. ...even so, Come Lord Jesus!

Peace,

Copyright 1998 Tony Warren
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Created 8/10/98 / Last Modified 2/20/24
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