Stand Firm

With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 (NLT)

Paul had been reminding the church that the Lord is coming back to right the wrong. Judgment is coming on the earth against those who reject God and His Word. It is going to happen and Paul reminds them here to stand firm and hang on tight to the Lord and His ways. There are times in which it means we desperately hang on. Doubts, discouragements, defeats, disillusionments, and despair are all part of life. We must never stop hanging on, no matter what comes our way. Eternity is at stake.

person wearing black boots standing firm

We live in a very unstable and unsteady world. People are lost and are staggering around trying to find some semblance of meaning and purpose for their lives. People are grasping for whatever their depraved minds tell them will bring them a sense of pleasure and enjoyment in their desperate lives. People everywhere are without hope and are seeking whatever reason they can find to keep on living.

Stand firm on the solid foundation of God’s Word. Trust in what God says. Live diligently by its precepts. It is the only truth there is in the world. Don’t listen to the opinions of men or trust what they say. Listen to God and what He says.

Keep a strong grip on everything you have been taught from God. Don’t let go of what you know is from God. He will never lead you astray. He will always tell you what you need to know. His only desire for you is that which is good for your soul. We live in a very perilous time and it is imperative that we cling tightly to the Lord.

Stay focused on Christ. It is when we lose our focus that we lose our grip, stumble, and fall. Don’t let anything in life distract you. Eternal life with Christ awaits those who stand firm and don’t lose their grip.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (NLT)

What does 2 Thessalonians 2:10 mean?

According to Paul, a major figure in the end times is a “man of lawlessness.” This figure is credited with impressive satanic powers, which he uses to deceive the world.

Satan has always been a master of deception (John 8:44). In the garden of Eden, he deceived Eve (Genesis 3:1–7), and he has deceived millions since that fateful day. Revelation 12:9 identifies him as “the deceiver of the whole world.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:10, we are reminded that Satan’s deception works in the hearts and minds of “those who are perishing.” Scripture indicates that those who are saved have the presence of the Holy Spirit within them (John 14:16–17; Ephesians 1:13–14), which provides a certain level of spiritual awareness (1 Corinthians 2:14). Those who have rejected Christ do not have this defense (John 3:36). Unbelievers of the tribulation will be totally duped by the false signs and wonders the Devil parades before them. These same lost people had refused to love the truth and be saved (John 3:16–18, 36).

When the gospel reaches a person, he or she has an opportunity to believe and be saved, but “the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Only the grace of God can dispel this blindness (2 Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 2:8–9).

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