THE SPIRIT of LAWLESSNESS

THE SPIRIT of LAWLESSNESS
by David Wilkerson

"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work" (2 Thess 2:7).

The Greek word Paul uses for iniquity in this passage means,
literally, "lawlessness." Therefore, the mystery is one of lawlessness,
meaning that multitudes are going to act without law or restraint.

Yet, this lawlessness is not simply a rebellion against the rule of
man. It is not about rebelling against civil authority or committing
robbery, rape or murder. These things do provoke God's wrath,
but the mystery of lawlessness goes much deeper. It is an outright
rejection of the truth that is in Christ, a casting aside of God's Holy
Word and rebellion against the restraints of Scripture!

This spirit of lawlessness is rampant in our nation today. It is the
force behind the legislation that seeks to banish God from our
society and the same spirit that Satan used to deceive Eve when
he told her, in so many words, "God is easy; He won´t punish you
for disobeying. You can eat the fruit and indulge your lust and you
won´t have to pay for it!"

Today Satan is using this same lie to convince masses of believers
that they can indulge their sins without paying any penalty. It is a
demonic scheme to pervert Christ´s gospel of grace and turn it into
a message of licentiousness. Tragically, many lukewarm Christians
are succumbing to this spirit of lawlessness.

Paul says the Antichrist will rise to power because people will be
blinded and deceived by their own sin: "After the working of Satan
with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivable-
ness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved"
(2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

Satan will deceive masses of people by convincing them of a subtle
but powerful lie, just as he convinced Eve: "God doesn't punish sin!"

Paul says this deception will come "with all deceivableness . . .
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might
be saved" (verse 10). He then adds, "For this [reason] God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (verse 11).

The apostle is saying, "Those who refuse to obey or respect God's
Word will fall under a powerful delusion. At first they will wink at
their sin and justify it. But soon they will actively seek out a
message of easy grace. They will invent a grace that is far beyond
what God intended. His grace never leads to license-it always
leads to repentance."

-Source-

http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/node/25407

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