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THE RESTRAINER

(CHRIST IN US RESTRAINS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE ANTICHRIST ON EARTH)

First, in order to have Christ in us we must and need to believe what is written in the next verses:

Rom 10:9: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:10: For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We need to say with all boldness that Jesus is our Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead.

Eph 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Our salvation is by grace, believing that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing that Jesus is our Lord.

After that confession we need to learn our rights in Christ and the blessings obtained after we believed. One important assurance given by God to us is that we are free from the wrath to come:

Rom 5:8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom 5:9: Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from [the] wrath through him.

The Greek text says that "we shall be saved from The (with article definite) Wrath through him”.

1Thes 1:10: And to wait for his Son from (ek) heaven, whom he raised from (ek) the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from (ek) the wrath to come.

Again in the Greek text is written that Jesus "delivered us from the wrath to come”, with the article. Instead of being any kind of wrath, is one and specific wrath, is The Wrath.

The Greek preposition ek is like drawing a line from the very center of the circle to the outside. It is also important that in the first (Romans: teaching how to believe in our salvation by grace) and in the last (Thessalonians: teaching about our hope) the same assurance is given, that we will be saved from The Wrath to come, and we are already saved. Is like encircling the whole administration (oikonomia) of the Grace of God with that blessed hope.

The Old Testament links the day of the Lord with wrath:

Isa 13:9: Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel (stern) both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

But let’s study the contrast with what is written to us in this age of Grace:

2Thes 2:1: Now we beseech you, brethren, by {concerning} the coming [parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2Thes 2:2: That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of ~~Christ~~ {the Lord} is at hand (or, "is already here”, The New English Bible).

The textual evidence leaves no doubt that the word "Christ” in verse 2 is actually the word "Lord”. Thus it would read "…as that the day of the Lord is at hand (already here).” The subject of this section is revealed in verse 1. Therefore the subject on which Paul now beseeches the believers in Thessalonica is the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him.” He had already written them about the coming of Jesus Christ in his first epistle.

In the Scriptures the day of Christ refers to the time when he gathers the born-again ones. We anticipate his return with great joy. Why would we be shaken in mind or troubled if we believed the day of Christ was at hand (already here)? But, if the day of the Lord had already come, there would have been much cause for them to be shaken in mind and troubled. Instead of looking forward to meeting Christ in the air, they would have had tribulation and wrath facing them.

(p.51, Chapter 3, Vol. 1. Romans: The Foundation of Freedom, Ken Petty, 1998).

2Thes 2:3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away {the departure, Kenneth Wuest remarks: "the aforementioned departure [of the Church to heaven]”} first, and that man of sin [lawlessness] be revealed, the son of perdition.

Before the day of the Lord comes, two things must precede it. First, there must come "the departure” and then the man of sin [lawlessness] must be revealed.

Note on "a falling away {the departure}”: The Geneva Bible and the Cranmer Bible, first published in 1537, and the Tyndale Bible published in 1539 preceding the King James translation, all translate here "a departure first.” Before the "day of the Lord,” there must be a departure of the born-again believers from this world to be with Christ. After this will come to pass that the "man of sin be revealed” which will then be followed by "the day of wrath.” The Greek words are hē apostasia. The word hē is the article "the”. The prefix apo means "away from.” Having a circle, apo would be illustrated as a line in motion from the exterior of the circle to some distant point. Stasia here means "to separate,” or "draw out.” Hē apostasia is "a separation away from”, or "a drawing out from among”; it is "the departure”.

(p. 38, Chapter 2, Are the Dead Alive Now?, Victor Paul Wierwille, 1971).

The Greek word for divorce is apostasion. It is a separation.

2Thes 2:4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he [as God] sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Here we have this man of sin [lawlessness] presenting himself as God in the Temple of God. This is the culmination of the lie Satan told Eve in the garden, "Ye shall be as God” (Gen 3:5). Before his fall, Lucifer spoke the lie in his heart. He said that he would be like the most High.

Isa 14:13: For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Isa 14:14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

The Lie of Satan will be then consummated in the times of the antichrist.

2Thes 2:11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a [The] lie.

The specific prepositions show us that this scriptures of the New Testament are talking about specific things, is not any kind of lie but The Lie of Satan, is not any kind of wrath but The Wrath from the day of the Lord, and is not any kind of departure (apostasia) but The Departure of the Church from the earth to heaven with Christ, and after that moment, and for a while, the global unbelief on earth will be enough adequate for the enthronement of the antichrist.

(p.66, Chapter 4, Vol. 1. Romans: The Foundation of Freedom, Ken Petty, 1998).

2Thes 2:4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

This is the abomination that causes the desolation of the holy place that Daniel foretold and that Jesus Christ said would happen immediately before the great tribulation. That time of tribulation can’t begin until this man of sin [lawlessness], the antichrist, is revealed.

2Thes 2:5: Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

2Thes 2:6: And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

2Thes 2:7: For the mystery of iniquity [lawlessness] doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out (ek) of the way.

2Thes 2:8: And then shall that Wicked [lawless one] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume [slay, kill] with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy [invalidate] with the brightness of his coming [parousia]:

2Thes 2:9: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders

The verses 6 and 7 are the key to understanding this section concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together with him:

In verse 6 the words "what withholdeth” are a neuter present participle (to katechon) which should be rendered "that which is restraining.” There is something [Greek to = it], some power that restrains Satan from bringing into full fruition his plan of lawlessness, which will happen only when the "son of perdition”, the antichrist, is revealed.

In verse 7 the words "he who now letteth” are a masculine present participle of the same word translated "withholdeth” (ho katechōn) and should be rendered "he who now restrains.” There is someone [Greek ho = he] that restrains Satan from bringing his plan.

Is important to be precise in our understanding of the pronouns, because they inform us with more accuracy and in that way we can do a follow up of them in other scriptures that deal with the same context.

Only when the one who now restrains is taken "out the way,” or literally "out of the midst,” will the lawless one be revealed. Then the lawless one will present himself as God. But the one whose coming is after the workings of Satan will be destroyed by the brightness of the coming of Jesus Christ, who comes back to earth in judgment.

What is the restraining power, and who is the one restraining all this from happening now? (Restrain: To hold back from action. Repress. To limit. Syn.: Constrain, restrict, confine, circumscribe. Reference: Scribner-Bantam English Dictionary, 1977).

1Jn 2:18: Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

John wrote this many hundreds of years ago. Even then it was already the last time. The antichrist shall come, but he still has not yet come. This "last time” goes from when Jesus Christ "was taken up; and a cloud received him” until his second coming. However, there are many antichrists in the world, because for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.

1Jn 4:3: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of (ek) God: and this [it] is that spirit of [the] antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it [he] should come; and even now already is it in the world.

The spirit of antichrist is already in the world. However, the antichrist, the lawless one, who will sit in the temple of God presenting himself as God, has not yet been revealed. The next verse gives us an indication of what is restraining him.

1Jn 4:4: Ye are of (ek) God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he [ho] that is in you, than he that is in the world.

The one in us who are in the Church is greater that the one in the world. He that is in us is Christ while Satan is the one in the world. Satan is working today in the sons of disobedience.

Eph 2:2: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children [sons] of disobedience.

While Satan works within those who as sons of disobedience are his seed, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. As long as Christ is in the world, there is light. The very same spirit that was in Christ is in us! while we are on earth, we are for that reason the salt of the earth! Without us, the earth is going to get rooten!

Jn 9:5: As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

During the Gospel period, that light shined in the world through the personal presence of Jesus Christ. Today we who are sons of God with Christ within us are the lights of the world.

Php 2:14: Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.

With the departure of the Church, the Body of Christ, the light is taken out of the world. The rulers of the darkness of this world will then be able to empower the one who is the opposite of Christ. Those whom the day of the Lord overtakes as a thief in the night are those who are in darkness. The day of the Lord will be darkness and not light.

Amos 5:18: Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

2Thes 2:7: For the mystery of iniquity [lawlessness] doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

The masculine participle "he who now letteth” or ""he who now restrains” obviously refers to Christ, who is in each member of the Church of his Body.

2Thes 2:6: And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

What of the expression "what withholdeth” a neuter participle which should read "that which is restraining”? A section from the Gospel of John clarifies what the restraining power is.

Jn 14:12: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Jn 14:13: And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Jn 14:14: If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Jn 14:15: If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Jn 14:16: And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Jn 14:17: Even the [to = it] Spirit of truth; whom the [ho] world cannot receive, because it [the world] seeth him [it] not, neither knoweth him [it]: but ye know him; for he [it] dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Jn 14:18: I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Jn 14:19: Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

Jn 14:20: At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

The word "spirit” is in the neuter gender in Greek. Christ is in us today by way of the spirit. Thus that which is restraining today is the holy spirit, the greatness of the presence of Christ in us. As long as that spirit is in us and we are in the world, the antichrist cannot be revealed and the tribulation will not begin.

(p.53-56, Chapter 3, Vol. 1. Romans: The Foundation of Freedom, Ken Petty, 1998).

2Cor 3:17: Now the [ho] Lord is that [to] Spirit: and where the [to] Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

The power of the gift, it, holy spirit in us, and Christ in us, he, in the members of his body, we, the born again ones are the restrainer against the manifestation of the antichrist on earth. That is how God sees us, the great value of Christ in us is here on earth now.

Appendix:

Other scriptures regarding that we are going to be free from The Wrath to Come:

1 Thess. 5:8-10

1Thes 5:8: But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

1Thes 5:9: For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

1Thes 5:10: Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

Rom. 7:25-8:1-2

Rom 7:25: I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Rom 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Rom 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

		Domingo, 2024-12-22
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