What Happens First to Reveal The Antichrist? – 2 Thessalonians 2

Man Of Lawlessness

What must happen?

I am sure almost everyone has heard about the Antichrist. Every so often a person emerges who many people think fits the description of the Antichrist and people begin to wonder if that person is him, but what does the Bible say about what must happen before the Antichrist appears?

What does antichrist mean?

Antichrist is the Greek word antíxristos a compound word antí meaning opposite to and in place of, and Xristós meaning Christ. An antichrist is any person acting in place of and against Christ. Any substitute for the teachings of Jesus is an antichrist teaching. Personal, self defined unbiblical teachings or doctrine is antichrist doctrine.

John wrote way back in AD 85–95, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.” – 1 John 2:18

What did John mean by the last hour? Many people will say, “See, they have been talking about these are the last days for thousands of years, these are not the last days,” but last hour here means a season of limited time to reach a goal. The clock has been ticking for human salvation since Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross for our sins.

This is the season of grace, the time allotted by God for humans to become saved. People are still going to be able to be saved after the Antichrist appears, but every day it gets more difficult to believe in the truth as the world becomes increasingly antichrist.

The Great Apostasy

–2 Thessalonians 2

Paul wrote that the Antichrist will not appear in his time until the falling away happens first. “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….” –2 Thessalonians 2:3

What is the falling away?

The falling away is when Christianity starts fragmenting into different beliefs, not just different denominations based on different customs, but actual antichrist doctrine, doctrine of demons.

What is Doctrine of Demons?

Paul wrote to Timothy about The Great Apostasy in 1 Timothy 4, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

This list of doctrines of demons is not a complete list, nor is it the list of one antichrist fragment of Christianity, but it is a list of many different kinds of antichrist doctrines that are out there in the world today.

In the last 20 years, this falling away has become increasingly more bold and prideful. An antichrist does not think the Bible is inerrant. An antichrist church will preach doctrines of demons and call it love, when God’s love is love that centers around morality, God’s morality, not man’s definition of morality.

These doctrines of demons are growing more deceitful as these apostate churches intertwine so much real Christianity but throw in things like all women preachers are demon possessed. These are the wolves in sheep clothing Jude warned us about would be here in our days.

So, the first thing that must happen before the Antichrist is revealed, the falling away, the great apostasy, has already began to happen in the world.

The Restrainer

The second thing that must happen before the Antichrist is revealed is He who restrains must be taken out of the way. Paul wrote, “And you know what restrains him [the Antichrist] now, so that he will be revealed in his time.” –2 Thessalonians 2:6

The devil has a time, and here it means the Antichrist will come at the most opportune time, at the right moment so he can take full advantage of those whom he may devour.

Mystery of Lawlessness

Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way,” but what does lawlessness mean?

Lawlessness in its simplest definition means without law, but here Paul is saying lawlessness is the state of those who are not born again, those who lack the Holy Spirit, Who is the Restrainer of the Antichrist and The Promise God gave us through His prophet Jeremiah.

God said, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

“No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Those who do not have God’s Law in their minds and written on their hearts, those without the Holy Spirit, those who are not really born again, they don’t actually know good from evil or right from wrong, no matter if they claim to be a Christian or not. They still need taught because they do not know God.

Lawlessness is the blatant disregard for God’s law, which is what God expects from people who do not know Him. That is the reason why us who know Him need to always strive to remain above reproach as far as how we live our lives as an example of following Jesus.

Lawlessness is a choice to put your own will above God’s will. The mystery of lawlessness is not a mystery to those who know God, it is only a mystery to those who do not know God because they choose to not put their faith in God and what He says, but instead put their faith more in their own self. I know. I used to be one of those people.

The only cure for spiritual lawlessness is to hear the voice of God and respond to Him with obedience. Most people first hear the voice of God through a born again believer, then through their Bible, then by the power of the Holy Spirit later. That is how it happened with me. I grew up Catholic, going to private Catholic schools most of my childhood.

I learned a lot about the history of Jesus in the Bible and I always believed in Jesus, but I did not know Him. I never even heard about being born again until I was almost 21 years old, and being born again is in the Bible! Jesus Himself said it, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” – John 3:3

He who now restrains

Who is He who now restrains? He who now restrains is the Holy Spirit working through born again believers who have God’s Law in their minds and written on their hearts. The Holy Spirit working through us is The Restrainer. This is what is holding back the Antichrist from being revealed in his time. 

The Antichrist cannot be revealed until we who have God’s Law in our minds and written on our hearts are taken out of the way. Some say this is the rapture and others say this is martyrdom. I believe us being taken out of the way is the rapture.

Paul goes on to write about after we are taken out of the way, “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” –2 Thessalonians 2:8.

Paul is referring to Revelation 19 45 years or more before Revelation 19 was written by John, when Jesus returns to earth on a white horse to stop Armageddon and throw the Antichrist and the false prophet alive into the lake of fire.

Strong Delusion

The Antichrist and his satanic miracles he will be permitted to perform is the strong delusion sent by God to fool those who would not accept the truth, but instead loved to live their life in a lie.

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

“And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. –2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12