[Biblemat] S) THE MAN OF SIN

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is a study from my
files.  Use to the glory of God.

THE MAN OF SIN

     We read of the "man of sin" in 2 Thes. 2.  Paul wrote that
Jesus would not come until after a falling away (apostasy) of
the church and "that man of sin be revealed, the son of per-
dition; Who opposeth and exalteth above all that is called God, or that is 
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (vss. 3,4).
Many views have been proposed as to the identity of this per-
sonage.  Obviously he is the son of perdition (vs. 3), the "Wicked" (vs. 8) 
and in league with Satan (vs. 9).  He sits in
the temple of God, i.e., the church (Eph. 2:21; 1 Cor. 3:16) 
and shows himself that he is God.  Who is this man of sin?
Here is what some say:

     He Is The Pope In Rome: -- Not any specific Pope, but the
papacy or line of Popes.  But what Pope ever sat in the temp-
le of God?  The Catholic Church never got close enough to
the New Testament church for a Pope to sit in it.  The Cathol-
ic Church is not the church apostatized, but rather it develop-
ed out of the apostasy.  Several apostate groups preceded
the first Pope in A.D. 606.  There were the Gnostics, Ebonites
Montanists, etc.

     The Roman Emperor: -- That is the line of emperors all 
represented by the man of sin.  But what emperor sat in the
temple of God?  The emperors did demand worship by burn-
ing incense each year in honor of the emperor and saying,
"Lord God Caesar."  This was especially true during the time
of Domitian.  But the emperor was not sitting in the temple of
God when such homage was expressed.

     The Antichrist: -- Where in the Bible is any man given the
name Antichrist?  There is no such person.  We hear the 
ame "Antichrist" bandied around all the time by the Millennial-
ists as though it were a common biblical designation.  But it
was concocted in the minds of men, not of God.  It is specu-
lation, a figment of man's imagination, a fanciful theory.  We 
read of antichrist (1 Jno. 2:18,22; 4:3; 2 Jno. 1:7), but not
anything about the antichrist.  This Antichrist is supposed to
be a dictator of the imaginary revived Roman Empire, namely
a federation of the ten common-market European nations who invade Israel at 
the supposed literal battle of Armagedd-
en, wherein he sits in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, exalt-
ing himself as God.  Where does it say that this temple is the
Jewish temple in which to sit?  Therefore, the Millennialists
cannot expect the Rapture tomorrow, followed by the Great
Tribulation.  They have to have the Jewish temple in Jerusal-
em as a component part of their theory.

     Apostasy Personified As A Man: -- To me this is the most
plausible explanation.  We could call this man of sin the "prin-
ciple of lawlessness."  Revised versions have "the man of law-
lessness" (vs. 3) and that "lawless one" (vs. 8).  In my think-
ing, David Lipscomb and E.G. Sewell got it exactly right when
they wrote: "The man of sin is understood to be a principle of
error or lawlessness that arose in the church...the lawless
principle is a principle among those claiming to be the Lord's
people but are not willing to be controlled in all things by the
Word of God" (Questions Answered, p. 603).  McClintock and
Strong state that the "man of sin" is an "impersonation of the
sinful principle spoken of by the apostle Paul in an emphatic
manner" (Vol. V. p. 689).

     Hence the "man of sin" is lawlessness; a disrespect for 
truth, genuinely depicted as a man who usurps the rule of the
church through apostasy of God's people.  The "man of sin"
is present in every age whenever men in the church oppose
Christ, alter the truth, speak presumptuously, go beyond what is written, 
introduce innovations into the church or ignore God's Word.  The only thing that 
prevents men from
perversion of the truth is a love and respect for it.  Loving not
the truth (vs. 10) and believing not the truth (vs. 12) remove
that which restrains (vs. 7) apostasy and as a result, the man
of sin, the lawless one, moves in and takes over.

     Only God has the prerogative to make laws for our religio-
us practices (Jas. 4:12).  Any man, or group of men who makes laws to govern 
people religiously, or revises God's
Laws, enthrones himself as God and becomes a usurper of 
the authority that belongs only to the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18).  
(Therefore, he becomes opposed to (anti) Christ and His Law, and therefore is 
antiChrist, JWS). -------
Weldon Warnock in Biblical Insights, Vol. 6, No. 8, Aug. 2006.


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