2 Thessalonians 2:11 Commentary and Bible Study

God’s punishment of an unbelieving world is to hand it over to the lie that it chooses to believe. Having done so, it is quite impossible that they can be saved for the lie they believe is opposed directly to the truth of God and the gospel. During the time of the man of sin the world will be taken in completely by his message, for it will be a message that appeals to values of atheistic humanism and takes advantage of the natural antagonism in the heart of man towards God. It will be buttressed with flattery and false promises and talking up of human power, and the overturning of every standard that God has every set for mankind. Satan will not be content until he has denied every creation ordinance and caused man to be the opposite of what God created him to be. All will be fuelled by pride and hatred of God and an attempt to damage and ruin the creature that God made in his own image. God’s intention is that they will be trapped in their unbelief and that they will not be able to escape. They are surrounded by a strong delusion, literally an energetic error or deception. In other words, Satan and his instruments will succeed in getting human beings to fight ferociously for their own incarceration. They will resist intensely any attempt to set them free from this prison of error and will become their own jailors, to the immense satisfaction of the devil. But not one of the elect will be lost. Satan will not have the satisfaction of having a single true child of God turn away finally from the truth.