“For the Mystery of Iniquity is already working; only He who now restrains will restrain, until he be taken out of the way” (II Thessalonians 2:7).

Jesus said, “It is given unto you to know the ‘mysteries of the Kingdom'” (Luke 8:10a), [See Kingdom Speak 1/10/21] and the Mystery of Iniquity is one of those mysteries to which our LORD made reference.

The Mystery of Iniquity is an opposing force in the Kingdom of God, for the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Righteousness; for Christ reigns over His Kingdom with a Scepter of Righteousness (cf. Hebrews 1:8).

The word, Iniquity, is a translation of the Greek word: Anomia. It means against Law, or Lawlessness, or wickedness. The Greek word for Law is: Nomos, along with a (against); or, against the law, thus lawless.

The Apostle Paul identifies the Mystery of Iniquity as a person whom Paul calls the “Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition” (II Thessalonians 2:3). This man of sin “opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (II Thessalonians 2:4). So, the Man of Sin is a lawless, wicked person who opposes God.

Paul says the spirit of the lawless one was working in his day and will be fully revealed in due time. Remember, the word mystery means hidden things that must be revealed to be fully understood. So, the spirit of the Man of Sin, the Lawless one was hidden and working unseen in the world through the working of men throughout the ages, from the days of Adam to the present time.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul makes reference to the working of the spirit of the lawless one when he wrote: “And you has He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the Power of the Air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1-2).

The Apostle in his Epistles to Thessalonica and Ephesus connect the dots between the Man of Sin and the Prince and Power of the Air. We see, then, that it is Satan, Lucifer, the fallen angel, who is behind man’s rebellion, his lawlessness, wickedness, rebellion, and source of iniquity in man. Adam sinned and subjected mankind to the evil influence of Satan.

The Wicked One shall be revealed in the Man of Sin, “whom the LORD shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming” (II Thessalonians 2:8).

It is vital for the believer to understand the mystery of iniquity and to keep himself from him. Paul says to the believer, “God has chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth; whereunto He called you by the Gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our LORD Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 2:13-14).

It is a dangerous thing, indeed, to reject the Gospel, or to turn from the love for the Truth. Paul says to those who reject the Truth, you are in grave danger of becoming subject to “strong delusion, that you should believe a lie” (II Thessalonians 2:11). Believing the lie condemns us to damnation, even those who take “pleasure in unrighteousness” or iniquity (cf. II Thessalonians 2:12).

The Day of the LORD is fast approaching. The full revealing of the Man of Sin is coming, as well. Be watchful, be prayerful, be vigilant. Do not forsake “the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhort one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

It is but “a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10 37). “Surely, I come quickly. Even so, come, LORD Jesus! Maranatha! The grace of our LORD Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Revelation 22:20-21)