As noted in earlier articles, when the apostle Paul brought the gospel to Thessalonica, the response from the majority of the Jews was far from pleasant. While some of them believed and while some of the Greeks were willing to come to the Truth, the Jews did not look on Paul’s preaching favorably:
“But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people” (Acts 17:5).
Paul’s preaching brought about an assault on Jason’s house — the Jews stormed in, looking for Paul and Silas. Eventually, the rulers of the city put down the tumult, but all throughout the new ecclesia’s existence, the Jews (and even other Gentiles) continued to cause problems. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle alluded to these further persecutions (1Thess 2:14). Again, in the second epistle, Paul continued that same theme:
“So that we ourselves glory in you in the ecclesia of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure. Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer” (2Thess 1:4-5).
At the time that Paul penned the second epistle, he was able to write of the “persecutions and tribulations” that they were currently enduring! The troubles which they had suffered when Paul and Silas had first preached in the city had never actually stopped. Thus, the new ecclesia in Thessalonica had quite a treacherous road to the kingdom — not only did they have to watch for sin within their own minds, but they also had physical dangers around them. The prospect of leaving the faith and turning back to beliefs which were more accepted, would have been fairly tantalizing. Because of this possible temptation the apostle Paul continually focused on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, all throughout both of his epistles. It was his major theme throughout his letters to these believers — it is mentioned in every chapter in the first epistle (1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:14-17; 5:23) and in every chapter in the second (1:7-10; 2:1; 3:5). Despite all of the suffering and pain that they had to endure at the present time, the apostle reminded the Thessalonians that everything would change at the coming of the Lord. They were to set their eyes on the time that was to come, rather than thinking about the present troubles.
Yet unfortunately, it appears as though there was someone — most likely one of the Judaizers — who wanted to cause problems in the new ecclesia. He had noticed Paul’s continual emphasis upon the coming of Christ and had sought to use that emphasis to sow falsehood within the ranks of the believers. Thus begins the second chapter of the second epistle.
The man of sin
“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 as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand” (2 Thess 2:1-2).
The apostle had something extremely important to communicate to the believers — notice the phrase “now we beseech you” (cp. Phil 4:3; 1 Thess 4:1; 1 Thess 5:12). His command was for the brethren to stand strong with what they had been taught. Though someone was going around the ecclesia trying to create conflict by teaching that “the day of Christ is at hand” or that it had arrived, the believers were not to become involved. Paul urged them not to believe this new idea. Though he had constantly emphasized the coming of Christ and had used it to remind the brethren of the coming glory, that day had not yet come — and Paul could absolutely prove it.
The apostle had not had much time to preach and speak to the ecclesia in Thessalonica before he had been driven out by the Jews, but in the short time that he was there, he was able to speak to them about a blasphemous system that would stand against God. Referencing that previous teaching, the apostle reminded them that they had been taught that the Lord Jesus could not yet come until this system had been revealed:
“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 worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you I told you these things?” (2 Thess 2:3-5).
Referring back to what he had taught them before, Paul reminded the brethren that the day of Christ could not possibly have come — because the man of sin had not been revealed. No “falling away” had created an entity that stood against all that is called God or that is worshipped. No “falling away” had even come close to creating something that would sit in a temple of God and claim to be God. The believers could look around them and see that there was no Christian group that could possibly fit these characteristics. It simply wasn’t possible — because of the rule of the Romans, no Christian group could even dream of having enough power to be exalted or to oppose things that are worshiped.
So the day of Christ could not yet have come — but, Paul still gave the believers hope. Though the day had not yet come, they could easily identify what it was that was preventing the man of sin from being revealed.
“And now ye know what with holdeth that he might be revealed in his time” (2 Thess 2:6).
When the apostle wrote to them about the man of sin, the brethren knew exactly what it was that was holding back this “falling away” from being revealed — this was not something that Paul needed to tell them. For many of them, their minds likely would have flashed to the current Roman government. As long as pagan Caesars ruled over the empire, no Christian movement would be able to gain the power to become the man of sin. However, once that restraining force was removed — perhaps this falling away could take root. At least, according to the apostle, this was what would happen — when the restraining force was taken away, the man of sin would reveal itself:
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (2 Thess 2:7-8).
Behind the scenes, the man of sin was already working — but it would only be revealed when the restraining power was taken away. Eventually, at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, this blasphemous system would be destroyed. It would have an existence that would last from the time of the apostle all the way to the coming of the Lord Jesus — but it would not truly come to power and fruition until paganism was removed.
Thus, while it could clearly be seen that the Lord would not come until the man of sin had been revealed (because Christ was going to destroy it!), the brethren would also have some type of prophetic sign for which they could look. They would look for the downfall of the pagan Roman system — knowing that when they saw it fall, then the man of sin would be uncovered.
Amazingly, that’s exactly what happened. The revealing of the man of sin
In AD 324, the Roman empire was thrown into a civil war. There were two rulers of the empire — Constantine and Licinius. For a number of years, the two had worked together fairly well; however, as time passed, their religions began to clash. Constantine was a Christian. Licinius was a pagan. Together, in AD 313, they had passed the Edict of Milan —a document which granted religious toleration throughout all of the Roman domain. Nevertheless, in AD 320, Licinius began to renew his aggression towards the Christians, an act which Constantine took as a threat. The dissonance between the two men eventually culminated in the civil war of AD 324 — with Constantine and Christianity emerging as the victor.
From that time on (except during the reign of one emperor), paganism would be cast aside in the Roman empire. The restraining power would be pushed away — and just as Paul had written, the man of sin was revealed. In the place of paganism came Christianity; but it wasn’t the Christianity of the apostles. It was a Christianity which had been twisted and which had lost essential elements of the true gospel which had once been preached by the Lord Jesus. It was a Christianity which was a falling away from what was true — and in fact, that falling away developed into something that perfectly fit all of the characteristics which were listed by the apostle Paul.
In Paul’s description of the man of sin, he wrote that this iniquitous system would have all of the following characteristics:
- Christian origins (falling away) (v. 3)
- Oppositional attitude towards God (v. 4)
- Prideful and blasphemous spirit (v. 4)
- Ability to sit in a temple of God and proclaim to be God (v. 4)
- First century roots (v. 7)
- Restrained and later revealed (v. 6-8)
- Ability to perform signs and lying wonders (v. 9)
There are other characteristics, but for the purposes of this article, these are enough. Each of these attributes given by the apostle Paul fit perfectly with the system that emerged after the fall of paganism in the Roman Empire. When paganism was removed from the scene, Constantine’s Christian empire opened the door for the Papacy and Catholicism to develop. This form of Christianity — or this falling away from true Christianity — falls nicely in line with each of the seven characteristics listed above. It has Christian origins. It has opposed God in burning translations of His Word and restricting its reading for hundreds of years. It has been full of pride, claiming that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ and the full representative of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. It is headed by one man who sits in a temple and proclaims that he is God’s mouthpiece. It traces its roots back to the first century. It was restrained, and later revealed at the time of Constantine. It claims to work miracles through folly such as transubstantiation, relic veneration, and worship of the saints.
All of the characteristics fit — and thus the prophesied “man of sin” is Catholicism led by the sinful man himself, the Pope. It was this system of which Paul warned the believers — telling them that the day of Christ would not come until it had been revealed. This man of sin would continue to reign, until one day, the Lord Jesus Christ would come and put an end to its haughty arrogance and iniquity.
Conclusion
All of this was written to the brethren for the purpose of encouraging them to be steadfast. Paul wanted them to recognize and realize that the idea that the Lord Jesus Christ had already come was utterly fallacious. They had not missed the second coming. Yet there was still more in his words to the brethren. Not only did this example prove to them that the ideas they had been hearing were incorrect, but they also served to warn the believers of something sinful and subtle that was coming. A falling away was already working amongst their ranks — and this was something which the brethren needed to firmly stand against. Unlike the followers of this apostasy, the believers in Thessalonica were encouraged to love the Truth (2 Thess 2:10) and continue steadfastly in what they had been taught (2Thess 2:15). By doing this, they would continue in the salvation to which they had been called (2Thess 2:13) — and we can do the same thing. The lesson to the brethren of the first century is the same lesson to us today. All around us, the man of sin and the harlot daughters of Protestantism are fully active and waging a war on the Truth. May we stand fast in what we have been taught. May we continue to love the Truth and do all that we can to wrestle against falsehood. May we treasure the understanding that we have been given and speak that gospel message with all whom we come in contact — sharing the opportunity for salvation and life everlasting. Amen.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One