2 Thessalonians Chapter 2
A word of Warning, continued
VERSE 10 “And with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (NKJV)
VERSE 10 “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (AV)
Although the NKJV is our preferred translation as it has to a limited degree corrected many of the errors found in the AV, we will nevertheless be using the Authorize Version in this instance due to the fact that the author’s original study was based upon this translation.
“The words “in them that perish” are troublesome because we want to know the degree of the perishing and of the being “damned” (Verse 12). Furthermore, there is the sobering statement “they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
The word “damned” is usually thought of from the standpoint of judgment. Concordances list three related Greek words that pertain to judgment: krima, krisis, and krino. Without quoting from concordances, we will use a simple rather than a scholarly approach. It is interesting that in our vocabulary the word krima is “crime” and krisis is “crisis.” (For krino we do not have a comparable English translation.)
A person who has purportedly done something wrong is guaranteed the right to a trial, and so the defendant has to be exposed to a process of judgment either to find him guilty or to exonerate him from the charges. The crime (krima), the act, is set forth. During the crisis (krisis) period of trial, the jury listens to all of the lines of evidence. The climax occurs when a decision, a verdict, is reached by the jury, but it is the judge who pronounces the sentence.
In R4583, previously quoted from, the Pastor said that the verdict to be rendered will be proportionate to the knowledge and the responsibility of the individual. The degree to which one has been either faithful or unfaithful affects the verdict. For instance, Acts 24:15 speaks of the “resurrection of the dead, both of the just and [the] unjust.” And the Apostle John, in referring to the general resurrection, said that the hour is coming when all “shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28, 29), but the “resurrection of damnation” is actually a resurrection of judgment or resurrection of trial (krisis): a testing period.
Education will be necessary, and stripes will be meted out for willful disobedience, but the “resurrection of damnation” does not necessarily mean Second Death. Of the different groups, the most responsible individuals are those who have fully consecrated themselves to the Lord (This is something the vast majority of professed believers have never done and as such they are not susceptible to Second Death at this time). As part of that group (who have consecrated), we must be alert, for the Lord has furnished information to both safeguard us from the dangers and alert us to them (such as Gal 1:8 and Matt 24:24). Truth is a shield to protect the Christian.
In considering Verse 10, we ask, “How can unrighteousness deceive?”
An illustration is the extreme doctrine of Universal Salvation or Reconciliation, which teaches that all will eventually be saved, including even Satan.
Comment: Another example of how unrighteousness can deceive is false love along moral lines. We should love the things God loves and hate the things God hates.
Reply: We must not be more magnanimous than God or Jesus in our judgment of wrongdoing. One of the problems in the brotherhood today is the failure to distinguish the difference between sins committed before consecration and sins committed after consecration. God casts behind His back sins that occurred before consecration, and we should not pry into other people’s backgrounds for nosy information. God forgets and so should we. But grievous sins committed after consecration should be dealt with for the safety of the brotherhood and their reputation in representing Christ before the world. Such sins become more serious to various degrees depending on what the aberration is.
Consider the practices of the nominal Church. Some denominations or portions of denominations approve of homosexuality and lesbianism in the Church. There is even pressure to sanction marriage between two men or two women, that is, to have it enacted by law. (The original article from which this study is based was written before the first law providing for same sex marriage was first enacted in the Netherlands in April of 2001).
What good is all the enlightenment that has come through education? Satan is turning upside down the fundamentals of Christian life and doctrine and subverting almost every area. The people think they are more enlightened, but they are deceived in unrighteousness. Under today’s conditions the Scriptural norm becomes relatively meaningless, for people’s own imaginations take priority. Practices commonly seen today would have seemed impossible 40 or 50 years ago. Therefore, the term “deceivableness of unrighteousness” means that the unrighteous think they are right.”
We will continue with our study of Verse 10 in our next post.
A word of Warning, continued
VERSE 10 “And with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (NKJV)
VERSE 10 “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (AV)
Although the NKJV is our preferred translation as it has to a limited degree corrected many of the errors found in the AV, we will nevertheless be using the Authorize Version in this instance due to the fact that the author’s original study was based upon this translation.
“The words “in them that perish” are troublesome because we want to know the degree of the perishing and of the being “damned” (Verse 12). Furthermore, there is the sobering statement “they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
The word “damned” is usually thought of from the standpoint of judgment. Concordances list three related Greek words that pertain to judgment: krima, krisis, and krino. Without quoting from concordances, we will use a simple rather than a scholarly approach. It is interesting that in our vocabulary the word krima is “crime” and krisis is “crisis.” (For krino we do not have a comparable English translation.)
A person who has purportedly done something wrong is guaranteed the right to a trial, and so the defendant has to be exposed to a process of judgment either to find him guilty or to exonerate him from the charges. The crime (krima), the act, is set forth. During the crisis (krisis) period of trial, the jury listens to all of the lines of evidence. The climax occurs when a decision, a verdict, is reached by the jury, but it is the judge who pronounces the sentence.
In R4583, previously quoted from, the Pastor said that the verdict to be rendered will be proportionate to the knowledge and the responsibility of the individual. The degree to which one has been either faithful or unfaithful affects the verdict. For instance, Acts 24:15 speaks of the “resurrection of the dead, both of the just and [the] unjust.” And the Apostle John, in referring to the general resurrection, said that the hour is coming when all “shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28, 29), but the “resurrection of damnation” is actually a resurrection of judgment or resurrection of trial (krisis): a testing period.
Education will be necessary, and stripes will be meted out for willful disobedience, but the “resurrection of damnation” does not necessarily mean Second Death. Of the different groups, the most responsible individuals are those who have fully consecrated themselves to the Lord (This is something the vast majority of professed believers have never done and as such they are not susceptible to Second Death at this time). As part of that group (who have consecrated), we must be alert, for the Lord has furnished information to both safeguard us from the dangers and alert us to them (such as Gal 1:8 and Matt 24:24). Truth is a shield to protect the Christian.
In considering Verse 10, we ask, “How can unrighteousness deceive?”
An illustration is the extreme doctrine of Universal Salvation or Reconciliation, which teaches that all will eventually be saved, including even Satan.
Comment: Another example of how unrighteousness can deceive is false love along moral lines. We should love the things God loves and hate the things God hates.
Reply: We must not be more magnanimous than God or Jesus in our judgment of wrongdoing. One of the problems in the brotherhood today is the failure to distinguish the difference between sins committed before consecration and sins committed after consecration. God casts behind His back sins that occurred before consecration, and we should not pry into other people’s backgrounds for nosy information. God forgets and so should we. But grievous sins committed after consecration should be dealt with for the safety of the brotherhood and their reputation in representing Christ before the world. Such sins become more serious to various degrees depending on what the aberration is.
Consider the practices of the nominal Church. Some denominations or portions of denominations approve of homosexuality and lesbianism in the Church. There is even pressure to sanction marriage between two men or two women, that is, to have it enacted by law. (The original article from which this study is based was written before the first law providing for same sex marriage was first enacted in the Netherlands in April of 2001).
What good is all the enlightenment that has come through education? Satan is turning upside down the fundamentals of Christian life and doctrine and subverting almost every area. The people think they are more enlightened, but they are deceived in unrighteousness. Under today’s conditions the Scriptural norm becomes relatively meaningless, for people’s own imaginations take priority. Practices commonly seen today would have seemed impossible 40 or 50 years ago. Therefore, the term “deceivableness of unrighteousness” means that the unrighteous think they are right.”
We will continue with our study of Verse 10 in our next post.
