Love the Truth

5 min read

8 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. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
— 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12

This chapter surprises me every time I read it. It gives us a sure sign of the coming of the Lord—the revealing of the man of lawlessness. But even though the coming of the lawless one is a sure sign, it’s not necessarily a crystal clear sign. What kind of person will this man be? A government leader? A business leader? A church leader? And what kinds of signs and wonders will he demonstrate such that people would acknowledge them as “signs and wonders”?

While it is natural to think about such matters when we read this text, loving the gospel truth so that we will not fall under the spell of “a powerful delusion” is the more important point. Also, I think that it is important to point out that God is not determining that anyone should “believe the lie.” Because as powerful as any delusion may be that God sends, people must still choose to love the truth or to refuse to love the truth. It may be more accurate to say that God will send “a powerful delusion” to identify those who refuse to love the truth.

As followers of Jesus Christ, our salvation is driven by our determination to love the truth—Christ and Him crucified, resurrected, and returning. In the same way, as followers of Jesus Christ, our witness must be driven by our determination to love the truth.

Loving the truth is not merely faith in the basic gospel proposition—although, that is where our salvation must begin. Loving the truth is a commitment to the reality of the full counsel of Scripture. Refusing to love the truth is a refusal to make that commitment to the word of God.

When we love the truth, we cannot help but bear witness to Jesus Christ.

Father, in the fullest sense possible, Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path. I would be utterly lost without it. And while Your word may be “crystal clear” at times, I love Your word. And so, illuminate my heart with understanding. For me and for the Canvas family. In Jesus’s name. Amen.