Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 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, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. NKJ
In 2007, I started this study, this very article. Seven years ago. And as I was reading it again, in anticipation of finishing my study of 2 Thessalonians, I realized two things: One, this article in itself wasn’t really finished, and two, things haven’t gotten any better. Why is that? As a Church, what are we waiting for?
Paul instructs the Thessalonians not to be focused or fixed on the second coming of Christ. "We ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled . . . as though the day of Christ had come." Even in Paul’s day, Christians had doubts about their own salvation, about their place in the kingdom, even perhaps about God’s faithfulness. Paul doesn’t tell them "just to have faith," but rather instructs them in the knowledge of the truth.
"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV).
Our faith as Christians is based on the truth, not just based on faith itself. We have faith in God, in His holy and perfect character, in His promises, in His Word. Paul understood this and instructs the Thessalonians not to be "shaken in mind or troubled." Why? Because God can be trusted! He knows that we cannot bring about the completion of our salvation by ourselves, but are wholly dependent upon Him to save us. We need to trust Him and to trust His mercy and love.
However, Paul then tells the Thessalonians the signs of the return of Christ, which include "the falling away." "Unless the falling away comes first . . ." More than focusing upon the timing of the rapture or the Second Coming, as Christians we should be focusing upon the fact that there will be many who consider themselves Christians but who have left the true faith. Matthew Henry:
"A general apostasy, there would come a falling away first, v. 3. By this apostasy we are not to understand a defection in the state, or from civil government, but in spiritual or religious matters, from sound doctrine, instituted worship and church government, and a holy life. The apostle speaks of some very great apostasy, not only of some converted Jews or Gentiles, but such as should be very general, though gradual, and should give occasion to the revelation of rise of antichrist, that man of sin."1
Notice the things that Matthew Henry lists as characteristics of "falling away:"
• defection from sound doctrine
• defection from instituted worship and church government
• defection from a holy life
These are significant because these are what we are seeing in America today. I think we as Christians often deceive ourselves by thinking that in order to "defect" from the faith, we have to turn our backs upon God and reject Him and that this is somehow a one-time act that we would never do! However, Satan is wily and clever. His insidious attacks often don’t come frontally, but through devious means, appealing to the cracks in our spiritual armor. Defection from the faith often comes in a form of righteousness. In Matthew 23, the Lord Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they had chosen an outward form of righteousness, rather than an inward change of heart.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:27-28 NRSV).
The Pharisees didn’t deliberately turn away from God. In fact, they truly believed they were following Him! Their defection was subtle and over a long period of time. It may be that we are also on the path to defection if we are not careful to listen to the Word, to study it carefully, and to live it out in our own lives.
Defection from sound doctrine
Sound doctrine is that which agrees with the whole of scripture, rather than taking pieces of scripture out and basing beliefs on it. There are many unsound doctrines wafting about in America. We, as believers, must be careful to analyze what is being taught and compare it to scripture. The sources of "learning" come at us from all sides: from books, from the Internet, from social media.
Rather than grasping at the latest book, we need to grasp at the Bible and understand that publishers—even Christian publishers—are in it for the money! They will publish what sells, not necessarily what is spiritually good for us. Even worse, most of what is available on the Internet or through social media hasn’t been vetted. That means that there is no one to fact-check, to make sure that what is being said or that the conclusions being made are valid. We need to constantly be suspicious of what we see and hear, particularly if it rings true in our own hearts! Our hearts are deceitful and Satan will use our emotions and our intuition to trick and blind us. We must constantly question ourselves and what we are drawn to. Much of what we believe as American Christians is wrong! We need to start being aggressive with ourselves and totally open to the Spirit, not just for the working of the gifts, but for the revealing of sin!
Defection from instituted worship and church government
More and more independent churches are arising. A lot of it stems from the corruption from within denominations. But this speaks more to the governing of church from within a congregation! Are we governing ourselves? Do our pastors know who we are spiritually? Most of us would say no. Our pastors barely know our names! And that isn’t healthy church government.
Scripture talks about church discipline, that type of governance where we are so concerned about our sin and the sin of others that we follow scripture to the letter. That kind of discipline is rarely practiced any more . . . out of fear! The fear that we will offend someone, the fear that we will lose parishioners, the fear that we will be seen as unloving or intolerant. And yet church discipline is a part of scripture.
Additionally, many Christians have defected from church life altogether. (I did, for a time.) We give all sorts of reasons that sound good, but the fact is that we are called to be together regularly in worship. If we have defected from the Church, we have defected from Christ, regardless of how valid our reasons seem to be. We need each other! We need to stand together.
Defection from a holy life
Scripture is replete with admonitions over and over of how we should live. And yet, the mantra of Americans is "we’re all sinners, so we shouldn’t really strive not to sin." I doubt that any of the apostles would have agreed with that (wrong) doctrine. The fact is, the self-indulgent life (Well, let’s call a spade a spade) is exactly what may keep us out of heaven. Scripture speaks strongly against the practicing sinner.
What does a practicing sinner look like? Read Galatians 5.
"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (v. 19-21 NKJV).
", . . and the like"! The list isn’t inclusive. Rather it is an exemplary list. Paul previously says that "the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another" (v. 17). Anything that goes against the fruit of the Spirit for any reason is a lust of the flesh and can lead to practicing, habitual sin that will keep us out of heaven.
The practicing believer is living out the fruit of the Spirit. Are we kind? Are we patient? Are we faithful and loving? Do we give all things in prayer to God or do we, instead, flood the Internet with our "concerns" about the people we believe are evil (the people our Lord Jesus died for)? We need to become convicted about who we are and what we do regularly in the "name" of Christ.
The question we need to ask ourselves is whether or not we are part of those who are falling away. Likely as American Christians the answer should be closer to "yes" than "no." And if that’s the case, we have a lot of spiritual work to do.
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
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