Can I really do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13)?
In Philippians 4:13 the apostle Paul writes, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” The “him” of this verse is the Lord Jesus, and Jesus is, of course, all-powerful (Colossians 2:10). But does this verse mean that we can do anything and everything we set our minds to?
The context of this verse focuses on the God-given power to endure any circumstance. Verse 12 notes, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Paul had faced times of abundance, yet he had also faced many trials for his faith.
In 2 Corinthians 11:24–27, Paul shares some of his sufferings up to that point in his faith: “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” Despite these and other problems, Paul believed and taught he could persevere because he could do “all things through him who gives me strength.”
Also, the focus in Philippians 4 is what the believer can do through the strength that Christ gives. This is not a promise that Christians will have superpowers or that they will be invincible or immune to life’s challenges. Instead, the promise of Philippians 4:13 is that we will have strength from the Lord to faithfully endure the difficulties that arise in life.
This passage is not about having financial abundance. Some teach a prosperity gospel that says God will bless us financially if we are faithful; in contrast, Paul taught that the believer will endure suffering but can be content in any circumstance, given Christ’s strength. Just as Christ faithfully endured on the cross, His followers can faithfully endure the problems they face. In fact, Philippians 4:11 states, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Paul focused on contentment, not earthly abundance.
Finally, Philippians 4:13 is part of a larger passage that addresses Christ’s ability to meet our needs. Christ can give contentment during times of plenty and of poverty. He can help us do all things through His strength. In Paul’s case, it was the strength to serve as a missionary despite facing intense suffering. In our lives, this same strength is available. Whether we serve in another country or help someone in our own community, Christ’s power can enable us to stand firm on His promises and endure the most difficult of life’s challenges. Paul concludes this passage with these words: “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (verses 19–20).
What does it mean that we are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16)?
In 1 Corinthians 3:16–17, the apostle Paul hit on the true nature of the church as the body of Christ when he asked, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (NKJV).
We are the temple of God means that we—Christians, believers in Jesus Christ—who are joined together in one family as “the church” are a holy dwelling place for God’s presence.
The Greek word translated as “you” in verses 16 and 17 is plural. So when Paul said, “You are the temple of God,” he was referring to the believers as a group—the local church. The temple in Jerusalem was a sacred building dedicated to the worship of God. According to Paul, the church was the equivalent of the temple. God’s presence resided in the church, and the church was to maintain holiness.
This passage is part of a more extensive teaching on maintaining unity and not letting the church become divided over loyalties to human leadership (1 Corinthians 3:1–23). The sacredness of God’s house requires extreme care from church leaders. The Corinthian leaders needed to safeguard the unity of God’s temple, and the believers needed to avoid any moral corruption that would “defile” the sacredness of “the temple of God.”
From humanity’s beginning, God has desired to live among and commune with His people. In the Garden of Eden, God walked and talked with Adam in Eve in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). When He made His covenant with Israel, the Lord promised, “I will put my dwelling place among you. . . . I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people” (Leviticus 26:11–12).
As the Israelites wandered in the desert, God wanted to inhabit a place with His people (Exodus 25:8). At that time, the people lived in portable tents, so the presence of God dwelled in the tent of the wilderness tabernacle (Exodus 27:21; 40:34–38). His presence was the guiding force that told the people when to stay put and when to pull up stakes and continue on their journey (Exodus 40:34–38). Later, after the Hebrew people entered the Promised Land and lived in fixed dwellings, God affixed His name to a place, sanctifying Solomon’s temple as the Lord’s holy dwelling place (1 Kings 8:10–11).
In the New Testament, God’s presence was manifested in a new way: in the person of Jesus Christ—the Logos, who is the living, incarnate, eternal Word of God (John 1:1–4, 14–18). The Logos took on human flesh and made His home among us. Through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, God lived among His people. His name is Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21–23).
Jesus Christ became the new earthly temple of God (John 2:21). “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body,” says Colossians 2:9 (NLT; see also Colossians 1:19). The complete image of the invisible God is revealed in Jesus our Savior (Colossians 1:15). Yet Christ is only the initial installment of God’s indwelling presence.
Today, the New Testament church—the body of believers who gather in the name of Jesus—constitutes the temple of God’s Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).
Paul also taught the Ephesians that, as members of God’s household, the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20–22).
The church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual temple made of “living stones . . . being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Not only is the church as a whole or as the local body the dwelling place of God’s presence, but individual believers are also to consider themselves the temple of God’s Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19; cf. 2 Corinthians 6:16, NLT).
What did Paul mean when he said he had kept the faith?
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). This is one of the better-known and most-quoted passages of the apostle Paul. These words written just before Paul’s death are a powerful affirmation of his unyielding love and undying faith in Jesus and the gospel message (Galatians 1:4; 2:20; Philippians 1:21).
The word translated “kept” means “to keep by guarding, to watch over.” The Greek word for “faith” is pistis, which has to do with a conviction based on hearing (cf. Romans 10:17). Paul’s trust in Jesus never wavered. His faith was as solid on the day of his death as it had been the moment he first believed on the Damascus road (Acts 9:3). He was firm in his faith in the midst of the mob’s violence (Acts 16:22; 2 Corinthians 11:25; 1 Thessalonians 2:2). He stood uncompromising before the dignitaries Felix (Acts 22:10, 22), Festus (Acts 25:9), and Agrippa (Acts 25:26). He boldly confronted Peter when that apostle showed signs of compromising the teachings of Christ (Galatians 2:11-16).
The expression “I have kept the faith” has two possible meanings. One is that Paul had faithfully declared the gospel and guarded its truth, keeping its message unadulterated. Elsewhere, Paul called this the “pattern of sound teaching” and encouraged Timothy to “keep” it as well (2 Timothy 1:13; cf. 1 Timothy 6:20).
The other possible meaning of “I have kept the faith” is that Paul had fulfilled his divine appointment in this world, viz., that he would be Jesus’ messenger to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; 22:21). When Jesus commissioned Paul, He was clear that the appointment would mean much suffering (Acts 9:16). But Paul gladly accepted the summons and never wavered in his commitment, trusting that he would soon experience “an eternal glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Keeping the faith is never easy. Without question, Satan sought to derail Paul’s work by opposing him far and wide. There were Galatian legalists, Colossian Gnostics, and Judaizers at every turn. There were forged letters (2 Thessalonians 2:2). There were slanderous attacks on his integrity, his personal appearance, and his unpolished speech (2 Corinthians 10:10; 2 Corinthians 1:6). Not to mention the physical beatings he took (2 Corinthians 11:23-27). He was truly “hard pressed on every side” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Paul’s faith was the victory: “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). What God had committed to Paul, Paul committed back to God. And through it all, Paul looked forward to the moment when he would hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21).
As believers in Christ, we, too, should “keep the faith.” What has God called you to do? Do it with all your might (Colossians 3:23). Just as Paul “longed for His appearing” and anticipated receiving the “crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:8), so should we serve the Lord and faithfully fulfill His plan for our lives.
What is the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13)?
In Colossians 1:13, the apostle Paul describes salvation as God’s work of rescuing believers “from the kingdom of darkness” and transferring them “into the Kingdom of his dear Son” (NLT). This imagery of rescue and deliverance as moving people out of darkness into light appears throughout the book of Isaiah, and Paul may have borrowed from it (see Isaiah 9:1–2; 42:6–7; 58:10; 60:1–3).
The “kingdom of darkness” in Colossians 1:13 is alternatively rendered “domain of darkness” (ESV) and “dominion of darkness” (NIV). Bible scholars interpret Paul’s meaning in a couple of ways. For some, the kingdom of darkness represents a spiritual realm, or domain, where Satan heads a hostile resistance force against the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. In this dark sphere, Satan holds the position of power, authority and rule over human hearts and other spiritual beings. Such an invisible kingdom is depicted by Paul in Ephesians 6:12: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (NLT).
Others view the kingdom of darkness more as a darkened, unregenerated condition in which Satan dominates the hearts and minds of sinful humanity. Before salvation, people’s minds are “full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him” (Ephesians 4:18, NLT; see also Romans 1:21). Unbelievers live under the rule of darkness in contrast to Christians “who live in the light” (Colossians 1:12, NLT; see also Romans 13:12–13; 1 John 2:10). Paul explained, “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!” (Ephesians 5:8, NLT).
At Paul’s conversion, Jesus said that He was sending Paul out as a servant to open people’s eyes “so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me” (Acts 26:18, NLT).
The kingdom of darkness is a realm controlled by sin and rebellion toward God (1 John 1:6; 2:11; John 3:19). But the kingdom of Christ is the new home of believers. God relocates us from our country of origin to become “citizens of heaven” (Philippians 3:20, NLT) and “members of God’s family” (Ephesians 2:19, NLT). We are rescued from the dangerous and deadly dominion of darkness and transferred into the glorious light and fellowship of God’s kingdom, where Jesus Christ rules and reigns (1 John 1:7).
The kingdom of darkness is a domain dominated by death. The author of Hebrews explains that Satan has “the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14). “But God is so rich in mercy,” writes Paul, “and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead” (Ephesians 2:4–5, NLT). God rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and the power of death through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Our Savior’s death takes away sin’s curse of death that was on us (Galatians 3:13).
Jesus is “the light of the world,” and those who follow Him “will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Christ gives His “light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:79, NLT). If we receive God’s gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, we pass “from death to life” (John 5:24; see also 1 John 3:14; Romans 6:3–4, 13; Ephesians 2:6). In His mercy, love, and grace, God the Father through Jesus, His Son, gathers us out of bondage to sin and death in the kingdom of darkness and moves us into the eternal light and freedom of Christ’s kingdom.
Alexander the coppersmith in the Bible was a man who did significant harm to Paul’s ministry (2 Timothy 4:14). The word coppersmith is translated from the Greek word chalkeus, which means “brazier” or “a worker of metals.” The NIV translates it as “metalworker”; the ESV, KJV, and NASB have it as “coppersmith.” Some scholars believe this Alexander the coppersmith to be the same Alexander mentioned in two other places in Scripture (Acts 19:33 and 1 Timothy 1:20), although we cannot be sure, since Alexander was a common name.
The first possible mention of Alexander the coppersmith occurs in the book of Acts. During his travels through Asia, Paul encountered some Greeks who were opposed to his preaching because it was damaging their business. Demetrius was a silversmith in Ephesus who made the silver shrines of Artemis, and he in turn gave business to many other workmen in the area. As the church in Ephesus grew, sales of the idolatrous shrines fell. Demetrius got the guild of tradesmen together and stirred them up: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty” (Acts 19:25–27). During the ensuing riot, Alexander was pushed forward to make a statement to the crowd. Since he was a Jew, however, the mob refused to listen to him (verse 34). It is possible that this Alexander was Alexander the coppersmith and that, being associated with the church and being a metalworker himself, he was chosen to try to make peace in Ephesus.
Another possible mention of Alexander the coppersmith is in 1 Timothy 1:20, as Paul writes to Timothy in Ephesus. Paul says that Alexander rejected his faith and conscience (verse 19) and that Alexander and another man named Hymenaeus had been “handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme” (verse 20). Alexander, who had obviously professed faith in Christ at one point, had “shipwrecked” his faith; that is, he veered off course, away from good teaching, and drifted into the dangerous rocks of false teaching. He had refused to follow the dictates of his conscience; he was walking according to the flesh and not the Spirit (see Romans 8:5–9), claiming the name of Christ while behaving like an unbeliever. As a result, Paul had pronounced an apostolic curse upon Alexander, allowing Satan to destroy or harm the man so that his soul might still be saved (see 1 Corinthians 5:5).
In Paul’s second and last letter to Timothy, we find the only direct mention of Alexander the coppersmith. Paul says, “Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to this deeds” (2 Timothy 4:14, ESV). Paul does not mention any details about the harm Alexander did, only that it was “great.” Notably, Paul did not seek personal revenge; instead, he wisely turned the matter over to the justice of God (see Proverbs 20:22; Hebrews 10:30).
Is Alexander the coppersmith, mentioned in 2 Timothy, the same Alexander whom Paul mentioned in 1 Timothy? Or is Paul’s specifying of one Alexander as “the coppersmith” meant to refer to a different person? No one can be certain. If it is the same Alexander, and if he is also linked to Acts 19, then his history would be something like this: Alexander was an influential Jewish metalworker in Ephesus. When the missionaries came to town, Alexander the coppersmith got to know them and was seemingly open to the gospel. When the unrest broke out over the Artemis sales, Alexander was chosen as a natural liaison between the silversmiths and the target of their ire. Later, Alexander showed his true colors in the church, and it became apparent that he and Hymenaeus were living for themselves, not for Christ. Paul warned Timothy, who was pastoring in Ephesus, about the situation. Later still, imprisoned in Rome, Paul rues the fact that Alexander the coppersmith had continued to damage the cause of Christ and had become a personal enemy. Possibly Alexander had used his influence and financial standing to prejudice the Roman authorities against Paul. Whatever the case, “the Lord will repay him for what he has done” (2 Timothy 4:14).
What does it mean to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5)?
In speaking of our spiritual warfare, Paul says that we take every thought captive and subject all thinking to Christ Jesus. Here are the apostle’s words: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
The primary point in this section of 2 Corinthians is that we are in a spiritual warfare. What leads up to the statement that we take every thought captive is important. In verse 3 Paul states that though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh. That is, we do not rely on human ingenuity or manmade plans to bring the victory. The flesh is powerless against the wiles of the devil. In verse 4 Paul mentions the “strongholds” or the “fortresses” that are destroyed by God’s power. These strongholds are the philosophies, arguments, and “proud opinions” mentioned in verse 5.
Without question, there are many human thoughts that need to be taken captive. Numerous ungodly philosophies hold people in bondage, and those spiritual “fortresses” need to be demolished. The systems of thought that war against us are “arrogant obstacles” (NET), “lofty opinions” (ESV), and “sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing” (AMP) that prevent people from knowing God. In our day, these systems of human thought include the theory of evolution, secular humanism, existentialism, the cults, the occult, and false religions. How many people are held captive by the idea that they are the products of chance in a godless universe? How many spiritual prisoners labor under the requirements of Allah and await freedom in Christ? We must take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
False religion and secular philosophy have created thinking that has imprisoned the minds of millions. It is a true spiritual battle: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Any idea, opinion, or worldview that asserts that Christ is unnecessary is reflective of the devil’s pride. Such thoughts must be taken captive and made obedient to Christ. Those who know the truth must confront error with the weapon we’ve been given, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).
Our weapons in the spiritual battle are not carnal but mighty through God. As we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), we engage the battle against pretense and arrogant philosophy in the world. Trusting Christ and rightly dividing the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15), we take every thought captive, pull down the strongholds, and, by the grace of God, set the captives free.
The phrase the mystery of iniquity occurs in the KJV of 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” Other translations render the phrase as “the secret power of lawlessness” (NIV) or “the mystery of lawlessness” (ESV and NASB). Before we attempt to interpret the meaning of this phrase, let’s look at the context of the passage in question:
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness (2 Thessalonians 2:1–12, emphasis added).
Paul’s intent in this passage is to correct a false teaching that was being propagated, namely, that the Day of the Lord (the end times’ judgment) had already come and the Christians of Thessalonica had been left behind to endure it. Paul wants to set the record straight about Christ’s return and our gathering together to Him—the rapture. Paul states that the two events that go before the Day of the Lord are the apostasy (or “the rebellion”) and the revelation of the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist). The “mystery of iniquity” that will one day culminate in the appearance of the Antichrist is already at work in the world, but it is being restrained for now so that the world is not as evil as it could be (but will be, once the Restrainer is removed from the world).
What is the apostasy? The Greek word apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 means “departure, falling away, defection, revolt.” This end times’ apostasy is the mass “falling away” of people from God as the world prepares to receive the lawless one who claims to be God (verse 4). It is an unprecedented, worldwide revolt against all things godly, and even many who claim to be Christians will be caught up in it. Another possibility, espoused by a small minority of scholars, is that the “apostasy” is the “departure” of the church from the world, that is, the rapture that Paul alludes to in verse 1 and which he had previously discussed in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. It is important to note that a pre-trib interpretation does not require equating apostasia with the rapture.
Who is this man of lawlessness? He is a literal person, often referred to as the Antichrist. He will be Satan’s henchman, a pseudo-Christ who will perform miracles, signs, and wonders by the power of Satan and ultimately deceive the world. John wrote that many antichrists will precede the coming of the ultimate Antichrist (1 John 2:18), referred to as “the beast” in Revelation 13:1–10, “the little horn” in Daniel 7:8, and “the king who does as he pleases” in Daniel 11:36.
The mystery of iniquity is already at work in the world. The forces that would bring the Antichrist to power are eager to establish his unholy kingdom, but they are currently being restrained (2 Thessalonians 2:6–7). What or who is the Restrainer? Possibilities include the Holy Spirit, the church, human governments, and angels. The Thessalonians knew the identity of the Restrainer, so Paul did not elaborate (verse 6). We believe the best answer is that the Holy Spirit is the Restrainer. The Spirit convicts the world and indwells the church, enabling God’s people to be a limiting influence on the world’s evil. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the world is right now thwarting the revelation of the man of lawlessness. Wickedness gets no traction in seizing global power—but this will change. Upon the departure of the church from this earth (at which time the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence will depart), the mystery of iniquity will have free rein, and the tribulation on earth will begin (Matthew 24).
What exactly is the mystery of iniquity (KJV) or the secret power of lawlessness (NIV) that is being restrained by the Holy Spirit? The word mystery denotes something hidden for a time before God chooses to reveal it. Some “mysteries” revealed in the New Testament include the doctrine of the Gentile church (Romans 16:25–27; Ephesians 3:4–12; Colossians 1:25–27) and the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51–52). This particular “mystery” in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 concerns the working of lawlessness in the world, leading to a worldwide rebellion against God. It works in secret right now, but it is working. The revelation of this lawlessness will coincide with the revelation of the Antichrist, mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:8. The man of sin’s rise to power will represent a climax of lawlessness, a satanic movement against the administration of God. This secret, behind-the-scenes movement is as yet restrained but waiting to be revealed.
The mystery of iniquity has been at work for a long time—since Paul’s day—and, when it finally erupts in all its hideousness, the world will be shaken to its core. The Antichrist, who leads the descent into lawlessness, will set a new standard of depravity. The enormity of the acts of moral monsters such as Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Robespierre, and Caligula will pale in comparison to the evil of the Antichrist.
Believers have the privilege of helping restrain the mystery of iniquity even as they look for their blessed hope, the Savior, Jesus Christ. At His second coming, Jesus will reign as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. By the breath of His mouth, He will destroy the works of the enemy. The Antichrist will have “his power . . . taken away and completely destroyed forever” (Daniel 7:26).
What does it mean that there will be a great falling away before Christ returns (2 Thessalonians 2:3)?
Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians, in part, to offer an eschatological clarification after some of his readers misunderstood that the day of the Lord was upon them already (2 Thessalonians 2:1–2). Part of that clarification includes a statement that many have interpreted as predicting a great rebellion before Christ returns. Second Thessalonians 2:3 says this: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (NKJV).
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul commended the believers for their faith, hope, and love (2 Thessalonians 1:2–3) and challenged them to excel still more (1 Thessalonians 4:1, 10). One area in which Paul encouraged them to grow was in their hope. To help with that, Paul taught them about the resurrection that will occur when the Lord meets believers in the clouds and the dead in Christ are raised (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17). This event, often referred to as the rapture, allows believers to grieve in a way consistent with their hope.
After the rapture, Paul explains, the day of the Lord will come. It will be a time of great difficulty for those who remain on earth in those days (1 Thessalonians 5:2–3). Paul explains that that day would not overtake believers (1 Thessalonians 5:4) and that God has not destined believers for wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). However, because of the shortness of the time, the Thessalonians needed to make the most of their opportunity, being awake and sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6–8).
It is evident that the Thessalonians misunderstood the timing of the day of the Lord, as some thought that the day of the Lord had come upon them (2 Thessalonians 2:1–2). Paul explains that the day of the Lord had not yet come and that it would not come until some things happened first. One of those events preceding the day of the Lord would be the revealing of the man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Also, Paul says, the “falling away” or “apostasy” (NASB) would come before the day of the Lord. Many have understood from this statement that before Christ returns many people will reject the faith and rebel against God.
Paul uses the Greek word apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, so “apostasy” is a good, literal translation. The Greek word means “to be apart from or to stand apart from.” Paul uses the same word in 1 Timothy 4 when he explains that in the last days people will stand apart from (or fall away from) the faith and follow various kinds of falsehood (1 Timothy 4:1–3). So, there will be a standing apart from the faith or a great falling away before Christ returns. Wickedness will grow worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13). This might be what Paul is referring to in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. On the other hand, Paul could be referring to the departure of the church (the rapture). Paul reiterates that the apostasia would come before the day of the Lord, and he could be referencing the church standing apart from or departing before the judgment falls.
In 1 Thessalonians 4 Paul had described the event of the church’s meeting Christ in the clouds; then Paul explained that the day of the Lord would come upon those slated for destruction (“them”) but not upon believers (1 Thessalonians 5:3), because believers were not destined for wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Then in 2 Thessalonians he says a standing apart or away from will take place before the day of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Some commentators take the view that the “falling away” is simply a “departure” of the church from the world.
The semantic range of the word apostasia can allow for either type of departure: doctrinal or physical. The great falling away before Christ returns could be a reference to the wickedness of mankind or to the physical removal of believers before the day of the Lord.
