Who is the man of Lawlessness today? What does the man of lawlessness do that makes God so Mad? Who sets the living standard for our life today?
Are you living your life for yourself or for Christ? We need to ask this question before moving on and discussing about the man of lawlessness. We have to have the right attitude and mindset with what we are being asked to do by Christ and God.
The man of lawlessness is trying to lead you away from the teachings of Christ and the truth of God’s word. After all the Scriptures indicate that the man of lawlessness operation is in accord with Satan and his powerful lying works. 2 Thessalonians 2:9
Let us look at how angry Christ got at the men of lawlessness of his day and what did Christ focus in on.
Matthew 23:27-28… Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are just like whitewashed sepulcher’s, the outside of which pleases the eye, though inside they are full of dead men’s bones and of all that is unclean. The same is true of you: outwardly you seem to the human eye to be good and honest men, but, within, you are full of insincerity (G5272 Hypocrisy) and (G458 Lawlessness) having a disregard for God’s Law.
Christ called these men out because they were disregarding some of the laws of God. Matthew 23:23 Christ said they were disregarding justice, mercy, and faith.
We also can see by this conversation that they appeared to be good, but they were dishonest inwardly. Is this just an isolated case with the man of lawlessness or how is he tied into the breaking of God’s laws?
Let us review what Christ said about the sign of the end of times that the disciples of Christ asked about. Notice what he had to say about the breakers of God’s law.
Matthew 24:4-14… And Jesus answering said to them, “Take heed that no one may lead you astray, for many will come in My Name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray, and you will begin to hear of wars, and reports of wars; see, do not be troubled, for it is necessary for all [these] to come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places; and all these [are the] beginning of travails; then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of My Name; and then will many be stumbled, and they will deliver up one another, and will hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray; and because of the abounding of the lawlessness (G458 Breakers of God’s law), the love of the many will become cold; but he who endured to the end, he will be saved; and this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world, for a testimony to all the nations, and then will the end arrive.
Let us look at another example that will keep you from entering the kingdom of God. Yes, you guessed I,t those who are practicing lawlessness will not enter God’s kingdom.
Matthew 7:21-23… “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
But did not Christ come to bring an end to the law of God?
Matthew 13:36-43…When He had dismissed the people and had returned to the house, His disciples came to Him with the request, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel sown in the field.” “The Sower of the good seed,” He replied, “is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed—these are the sons of the Kingdom; the darnel, the sons of the Evil one. The enemy who sows the darnel is *the Devil*; the harvest is the Close of the Age; the reapers are the angels. As then the darnel is collected together and burnt up with fire, so will it be at the Close of the Age. The Son of Man will commission His angels, and they will gather out of His Kingdom all causes of sin and all who violate His laws; and these they will throw into the fiery furnace. There will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth. Then will the righteous shine out like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Listen, everyone who has ears!
What about the vison the apostle Peter got about food not being unclean?
At Acts 10:9-29 God was not saying that all the food was clean, but to stop calling a non-Jewish man as unclean. God was about to give Cornelius holy spirit and God wanted the apostle Paul to support this work for the Gentiles coming to Christ. Salvation did not come by following the letter of the law but by the exercise of faith in the saving power of Christ blood.
Acts 15:28-29… For it was the Holy Spirit’s decision — and ours — to put no greater burden on you than these necessary things that you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. You will do well if you keep yourselves from these things.
To enter the kingdom of God we have to cleanse ourselves and become holy. A living sacrifice to God just like Christ by our perfecting faith.
Ephesians 5:1-6… Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering, and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints; nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no man deceive you with empty words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
The wrath of God comes against all who disregard and disobey all the commandments of God. Our bodies are a living temple for God. We need to treat it like a holy place. We need to view things the way God views them not the way man sees them. After all we do not want to miss out on the great blessing that will come for those who can sanctify their lives both physically and spiritually.
2 Corinthians 7:1… Therefore, since we have these [great and wonderful] promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, completing holiness [living a consecrated life–a life set apart for God’s purpose] in the fear of God.
Once you realize something that you are doing is unpleasing to God would you not want to stop doing it. Let us look at what the apostle John has to say with his appeal to keeping ourselves clean, pure, set apart for good works.
1 John 3:2-10… Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. Dear children, do not let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they cannot keep on sinning because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
It should be our resolve once we understand about the laws of God, all of his commandments, along with his regulations in his appointed times for his festivals. It should be our intent to try to observe them reasonably and to the best of our ability.
We should pray over our food thanking him for what we have to eat but asking God to sanctify it and bless it as he sees fit. For we should know that the reality of the moment belongs to Christ. That we do not need to succumb to the fleshly things of this world.
As I was putting together this writing I was told to let my wife know that cooking of pork smells like the sacrifices of the children that happened in Israel that was given to their false Gods.
Colossians 2:16-23… Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
We have to be reasonable in our worship. We need to understand the why, the what for, how come. Our worship is spiritual, and we need to stop giving undue attention to the fleshly things of this world at the cost of the spiritual things.
The primary purpose of our worship has to do with a communion with God now and into the future. We will not be eating the fleshly things of this world when we enter into the kingdom of God. Start to focus on justice, mercy, and faith. These are the things that the man of lawlessness have disregarded.
The dietary laws were given to protect the health of the nation. Other parts of the law were given for both the health and safety of the nation both in a physical and the spiritual aspect. May we be determined to focus on the important things of God’s law remembering that our sanctification should be the primary things in our life, for our life belongs with Christ.
WritingwithLogos.com – Last Revised 8/22/24