Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Thessalonians 1-3.

I want to take note of Paul’s description of what will happen in eternity for those who reject the Gospel.  They will be shut out from the presence and glory of God.  So, what Paul tells us is that those who reject God will be punished for eternity by not being allowed to be in His presence.  When people ask why a loving God would damn people to Hell for refusing to do His will we need to remember that all of the other torments described result from them being separated from God.  And they have made it clear by the choices which they have made that they do not wish to be in God’s presence.

When I read what Paul writes about the man of lawlessness I go back and forth between thinking that it applies to a specific individual, the Antichrist, and thinking that it refers to a state of society in general.  If Paul means the latter then we must consider that the Day of Christ’s return is near, very near.  Paul tells us that the man of lawlessness will oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God.  He will proclaim himself God.  When the lawless one comes displays of power will be used to serve the lie.  Those who refuse to love the truth will delight in wickedness and believe the lie.  So, if we look at our society today it is becoming ever more lawless, rebelling against the very idea of law.  Paul writes that we must stand firm in our belief in the Truth which comes from God and the traditions which contain it.  Further, he tells us that holding firm means that we must not allow ourselves to be idle.  We must seek work with which we can fill our time.  We must never tire of doing what is good.  This is yet another area, similar to when Paul writes about prayer, where I feel called out: I allow myself to be idle entirely too much of the time and I know that Satan uses such idleness to lead me into sin.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.