Can We Identify Antichrist?

The Apostle Paul’s discussion in his letter to the Thessalonians is essential in identifying the Man of Sin. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9 (KJV), Paul mentions three names for Antichrist:

The Man of Sin (Vs. 3)
The Mystery of Iniquity (Vs. 7)
That Wicked [One] (Vs. 8)

If the Man of Sin and Mystery of Iniquity are, indeed, names of the same entity, then we have an important clue as to both the identity and the time of operation of the Man of Sin.

Most translations—including the New International Version (NIV) and The New American Standard (NAS)—leave no doubt that all three names refer to the same entity.

2 Thess. 3:3-8 (NIV)

³ Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

⁴ He opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, and even sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

⁵ Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?

⁶ And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

⁷ For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.

⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

2 Thess. 3:3-8 (NAS)

³ Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.

⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

⁵ Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

⁶ And you know what restrains him now, so that in his times he may be revealed.

⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

⁸ And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.

Notice the names, “Man of Lawlessness” and “Mystery of Lawlessness” (vss. 3 and 7). These two translations are based on the two oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament where the same Greek word anomia (anomia) is the basis of both names, “Man of Sin” (anomia) and “mystery of iniquity” (anomia).[1] Actually, all three names (vss. 3, 7 and 8) contain this same basic Greek word. The nas translates this basic Greek word anomia in the English, “man of lawlessness” (vs. 3), “mystery of lawlessness” (vs. 7) and “that lawless one” (vs. 8).

Obviously “that lawless one” (vs. 8) that is destroyed during the Lord’s second advent is the “man of lawlessness” (vs. 3) who is also called the “mystery of lawlessness” (vs. 7).

NAS That Lawless One = Man of Lawlessness = Mystery of Lawlessness

KJV That Wicked = Man of Sin = Mystery of Iniquity

Although the name “man of lawlessness” is more Scripturally accurate, the name “Man of Sin” is the name of popular usage. Therefore, we will continue to use “Man of Sin” in this treatise as rendered in the King James Version.

Origin of the Man of Sin

Having established the Man of Sin and Mystery of Iniquity as names of the same entity, we can readily understand the important clues the Apostle Paul provides us in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 identifying the Man of Sin.

Clue #1
Already at Work

Paul calls the Man of Sin the Mystery of Iniquity and observes that it is already at work in his day. The Man of Sin could not be a literal man for he would be nearly two thousand years old by now!

Clue #2
Mystery Class

Why did Paul call the Man of Sin the Mystery of Iniquity? Paul’s lesson of contrast is clear. Remember the beautiful mystery of the true Church described in his letters (Ephesians 5:30-32; Colossians 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-28). Christ is “not one member, but many”! Just as the human body is a union of many members, so the church is the body of Christ. Just as there is a mystery class of righteous or justified believers who compose Christ, so there is a mystery class of iniquity—evil workers—who comprise Antichrist.

Clue #3
Removal of Pagan Rome

All agree the King James Version is a poor translation of vss. 7 and 8, “For the mystery of iniquity [Man of Sin] doth already work [in Paul’s day]: only he who now letteth [Greek, restrains][2] will let [restrain] until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked [Man of Sin] be revealed.” All other translations are similar to the nas, “For the mystery of lawlessness (Man of Sin) is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that lawless one (Man of Sin) will be revealed.”

The Pagan Roman Empire was the restraining factor. Any profession of Christianity, true or false, was restrained in varying degrees during the first three centuries of church history. But the political power opportunists were ever present in the Church. When Constantine became Emperor of Rome, the power-grasping Nicolaitan element found its opportunity and Christianity was declared the religion of the Roman Empire. When “he” (Pagan Rome) ceased to restrain the Christian Church, it was just a matter of time before a worldly Christian Church claimed to be the kingdom of God on earth.

Clue #4
Revealed before Return of Christ

The Man of Sin is a “mystery” or secret during its incipient beginnings. This secret stage is in contrast to its revealment during its future full-scale operation. And that revealment, Paul explains, would come before “our gathering together unto him” (vss. 1-3), which many refer to as the “rapture.”

Carefully study 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, NAS:

1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him.

2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed. . .to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.

Verse 2 establishes that “the day of the Lord” includes both “the coming of our Lord and our gathering together with him.”

When Paul says in vs.3, “it will not come,” he is referring to “the day of the Lord” (vs. 2). Since the day of the Lord is the time of the “coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering together to him,” we may conclude the “man of lawlessness” or the “Man of Sin” is revealed before the first resurrection of the saints or “rapture.”

This sequence presented by the Apostle Paul presents a problem to those who hold the pre-tribulation rapture scenario (that Jesus returns to rapture his saints before the tribulation). Paul is here teaching that the Man of Sin is revealed before “our gathering together to him,” whereas, pre-tribulationists[3] believe the Man of Sin is revealed after their rapture.

Clue #5
Preceded by a Doctrinal Apostasy

“The day of Christ” could not come except there come “a falling away first” [apostasy] and secondly, “that man of sin be revealed” (vss. 2-3, KJV).

These two events must precede “the day of Christ.” “First,” the “falling away [Greek, apostasia]” and then the “Man of Sin be revealed.” Many believe this apostasia is a rebellion or wave of anarchy that will cause the world to accept a superman dictator who will during the last half of the 7-year tribulation be revealed as the “Man of Sin.”

However, this Greek word apostasia as used in the Bible means “a defection from the truth”[4] and not a political rebellion. Apostasia is used twice in the New Testament—here and in Acts 21:21, where the text speaks of those who “forsake” the teachings of Moses.[5] The revealment of the Man of Sin, which is a system and not an individual, will be preceded by a doctrinal defection and not a political rebellion.

Clue #6
Exalted in the Temple, the Church

The “Man of Sin” “exalts himself” “in the temple of God.”

2 Thess. 2:4 (NAS)

…who opposes and exalts himself [above every so-called] god or [object of worship,] so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Can there be any doubt as to what “temple of God” Paul means? Paul speaks of only one temple of God in all his writings. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Paul speaks of Christians as being “built upon the foundation of the apostles” and “Jesus Christ…the chief corner stone; in whom all the building…together groweth up unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:19-21). The church of Christ is now the temple of God.

Some speculate that Israelis will construct a literal temple just before or during the first part of a 7-year tribulation. But when God destroyed His literal temple in A.D. 70 during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, that temple was only a picture or type of the Church which is the actual or antitypical temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). God left no instructions for the Jews to build a temple before He sets up His Kingdom in Jerusalem. By no stretch of the imagination will a man-initiated, man-ordained temple built before God’s Kingdom be accepted and called by God as His temple—“the temple of God.”

Therefore, when the Apostle Paul said the Man of Sin will exalt himself in “the temple of God,” he meant Antichrist would exalt itself in the “temple” of professed Christians. “Know ye not, ye are the temple of God.”

Apostle John and Antichrist

Most students of prophecy agree that the Antichrist and the Man of Sin are one and the same entity. The Apostle John’s evaluation of Antichrist in 1 John 2 somewhat parallels the Apostle Paul’s description of the Man of Sin in 2 Thessalonians 2.

1 John 2:18 (NAS)

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that [the] antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour

By the authority of the Apostle John, the Christian dispensation is called the “last hour” during which the Antichrist—the Man of Sin—would come.

Clue #7
Anti Means “In Place Of”

The Apostle John calls the Man of Sin the “Antichrist” for good reason. The name Man of Sin implies an entity that would be against or opposing the righteous ways of Christ. But the Greek prefix anti signifies “instead of” or “in place of.”[6] Anti is used 20 times in the New Testament as a complete word and never does it have the meaning of “against.” Nineteen times it is translated “for” as in Romans 12:17, “Recompense no man evil for evil.”[7] We should not return or replace evil with evil. Thus “Antichrist” replaces the position of Christ. Since Antichrist is also called the Man of Sin, obviously the operating principles of this system would be also against the principles of Christ.

Summary of the Apostles’ Clues:

The Man of Sin was at work in Paul’s day, but was not a literal man for then he would be almost 2,000 years old.
The Man of Sin is a counterfeit body of Christ, that is, a system of lawlessness intent on setting up a pseudo Kingdom of God contrary to God’s arrangement and laws.
The Man of Sin was held back by the Pagan Roman Empire until a Roman Emperor joined forces with the power-hungry element of the Christian Church.
The Man of Sin system would be in full operation, identified and revealed before the dead and living in Christ are “gathered” to him.
The revealment of the Man of Sin system would be preceded by the apostasy, a great defection from pure Christian doctrine.
Professed Christians are the temple of God in which the Man of Sin will be exalted.
“Antichrist” signifies not only against Christ, but in place of Christ

Introduction     Chapter 5
Chapter 1        Chapter 6
Chapter 2        Chapter 7
Chapter 3        Chapter 8
Chapter 4        Chapter 9
Footnotes

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