Chapter II.
(Vers. 1-4.)
(Verse 1-4.) But we request you, brothers, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him, not to easily be shaken from your mind, nor to be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as if coming from us, as though the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, because unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. He begs them not to lightly and easily receive the opinion of the impending arrival of the Lord, as if it were certain; and he gives such commands, that even if someone were to speak as if inspired by the Spirit, they should not be believed; nor should assent be given if something were written in a treatise or letter, perhaps written in the name of the apostles. For deceivers often fabricate a letter under the name of some famous man, in order to commend by the authority of the name that which could not be accepted on its own merits. For this reason, lest they be found unwary because of the disturbance itself, able to be led astray into adoring the devil, who will boast of this in order that, appearing under the name of the Savior and deceiving the saints, he may desire to be adored, to deceive believers in Christ. But in order that the most shameless Satan may not have the opportunity or occasion for deceiving that he thinks he has, he has marked the time and signs of the advent of the Lord, because the Lord will not come before the downfall of the Roman empire occurs, and Antichrist appears, who will kill the saints, even though Roman liberty has been restored, under his own name however. Knowing that the Lord is coming to repress them, he will usurp His name for himself; and in order to appear that his kingdom is true, he will attract with him those who shall perish together with him; so that in the house of the Lord, in the seat of Christ, he may sit and assert himself as God, not as the Son of God. Wherefore in the Gospel to the Jews the Lord says: I came in my Father's name, and ye received me not; if another comes in his own name, him ye will receive (John 5:43). Therefore, from circumcision, it is to be hoped that he will come, circumcised, so that there may be trust for the Jews to believe in him. Therefore, when the Apostle writes to the Thessalonians, he instructs that all should be cautious in such matters.
(Vers. 5, 6.)
(Verse 5, 6.) Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 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. 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.
(Vers. 7.)
(Verse 7) For the mystery of iniquity is already at work, only that he who now holds back may hold back until he is taken out of the way. The mystery of iniquity began with Nero, who, encouraged by his father the devil, killed the apostles with a zeal for idols, up until Diocletian and finally Julian, who, with a certain art and cunning, could not complete the started persecution because it had not been allowed from above. Satan uses these ministers to deceive men under the guise of a multitude of gods, as long as the Roman kingdom, that is what he says: Until he is taken out of the way.
(Vers. 8, 9.)
(Ver. 8, 9.) And then that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: him, whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Antichrist will appear, as it has been mentioned. For in the last times, knowing that the devil is nearing his destruction, and with the Roman Empire falling, he will be sent down from heaven, cast down to the earth (as it has been stated in the Apocalypse of the Apostle John). He will deceive and seduce people, performing certain signs of power, by the permission of the just God, in order to make himself be worshipped as if he were God. For he will imitate God, so that just as the Son of God, born or made man, demonstrated his divinity through signs and wonders, so Satan will appear in man, showing himself as God through the virtues of lies, as has been said. This is the revelation of the mystery of iniquity; for when the Antichrist appears, it will be known that he is like their God, whom the common people previously worshipped as gods by his command, of whom he will be the first or highest, which he will make credible through the virtues of signs. Therefore, he indeed spoke falsehoods of miracles, because he wants to be believed through signs which are not real, in order to deceive those whom he is about to deceive. This is why it was foretold to the saints, so that they may know what to beware of.
(Vers. 10.)
(Ver. 10.) And in every deception of iniquity for those who perish: because they did not receive the love of truth, that they might be saved. To them he says that the deception of iniquity of his wonders is advancing, who are about to perish; because they have rejected the charity of truth, through which they could have been saved, as the apostles preached, they are delivered to the devil; for they do not want to be saved, they are abandoned by God.
(Vers. 11.)
(Verse 11) And for this reason God will send them the operation of error, so that they may believe falsehood; so that all those who did not believe the truth but consented to iniquity may be judged. The operation of error is to place faith in falsehoods, so that those who did not want to acknowledge the clarity of light would think that darkness should be called light; so that the enemies of truth, who are inclined towards wickedness, may be condemned without contradiction, while the supporters of iniquity.
(Vers. 12, 13.)
(Ver. 12, 13.) But we must always give thanks to God for you, beloved brethren of the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation, through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. At this place, the foreknowledge of God resounds, because He knows the minds of all before their birth; and He is not unaware of those who will believe. Therefore, from the beginning, he knows that these faithful ones will be, who, by believing, make an increase of faith, not a detriment; for, being sanctified through the faith of the truth of the Gospel of the Son of God, they are acquired for an increase of the glory of the body of Christ, as he also says in another epistle: that all things may grow unto the increase of God (Colossians 2:19). For whoever, having deserted the devil, take refuge in the faith of Christ, makes an increase for God in the body of Christ, which they had previously caused a detriment.
(Vers. 14.)
(Verse 14.) Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you have learned, whether by word or by our letter. In order that the foreknowledge of God may remain for their salvation, he warns them to stand and persevere in the tradition of the Gospel; so that they may be diligent, lest they become sluggish in the works of God, and not fulfill what they have begun. For in this way, they will know how to believe and be able to remain, if they are constantly urged by frequent admonition.
(Vers. 15, 16.)
(Vers. 15, 16.) But our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who has loved us and has given us eternal consolation and good hope in grace; may he comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word. For the Father and the Son are one power, one divinity and substance, therefore he did not hesitate to first mention our Lord Jesus Christ, then God our Father by his dignity, not by the truth of their nature: who loved us so much that he gave his Son for us (John 3:16), God for men, the Lord for servants, the true Son for the adopted; so that his death may be our life, and his resurrection our justification, and his second coming our rest of life, and glory forever; so that this hope may be the consolation of present troubles, through which they may be established and grow in good works and doctrine.