To Love The Truth By Bruce W. Robida

 

Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we  passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. 2TH 2:5-15

I have often wondered why God would purposely send powerful delusions to people so that they would believe lies, and so that they would be condemned.  The answer to this question is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:10.  “...They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” It is incredibly obvious to me that many people who claim to believe in God, in one way or another, base their belief not on hard evidence or facts, but mainly on their upbringing.  They believe because they were taught to believe.  Mostly, no one considers questioning the one who is doing the teaching.  Of course, children don’t have the intellect to question someone trying to teach them something, even if they are being taught errors.  If you teach a child that one plus one equals two, that child will trust that one plus one really does equal two.  He takes your word for it because he doesn’t know any better.  If you try to teach that child that two plus two equals five, you may have just caused him future problems in school. 

But when it comes to learning the truth about God, it seems that few people take the time, or make the effort to confirm the truth about what is being taught. Look, belief in the teachings of others as opposed to the teachings of the Bible can cause people to perish.  I don’t mean just here on earth, but eternally.  The apostles tell us to believe the truth that they taught, and hold to the teachings that they passed on to us.  So why do some religious teachers teach things that oppose or otherwise contradict the teachings of the apostles?  They have themselves been given strong delusions by God because they too refuse to love the truth.  Some claim to uphold the traditions that were handed down by word of mouth through the apostle Peter, (see 2 Thessalonians 2:15) yet some of those oral traditions contradict the teachings of the Bible.  Can it be that the apostles taught one thing orally, but taught contradictory things in their letters to the churches and to other believers?  This seems unlikely since they were inspired by the Holy Spirit who Jesus said, “... will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) The apostle Paul admonished Timothy when he said, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 TI 4:16.  The Bible could not be clearer. Both the false teacher, and his followers will perish.  Do you love the truth?  If you really do, then you must go to the most reliable source of all truth, which is found in the Holy Bible. You will not find it in any man.

Contact me about this article

Blog Me - Feel passionate about this subject? Join my blog and lets talk about it. You'll have to register but it's quick and easy.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute this article in its entirety, provided that it is not sold or used in any publication that is sold.  Also, this disclaimer must accompany the article along with the author’s copyright and Zondervan’s copyright. All other uses for this article must be approved by the author in writing.