The Mystery of Lawlessness
Among all the mysteries in the New Testament, the mystery of lawlessness is the darkest. While every other mystery refers to something positive — God's plan, Christ's body, the gospel, the resurrection — this one describes the hidden working of evil in the world. It appears in one of the most debated passages in all of Paul's letters.
The Key Passage: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming."— 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 (ESV)
Paul is writing to correct a misunderstanding. The Thessalonians had apparently been told — falsely — that the day of the Lord had already come. Paul says no: before that day, a "man of lawlessness" must be revealed, one who "opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
What Is the Mystery of Lawlessness?
Paul says that this lawlessness is not a future phenomenon only. It is "already at work" in his own time. The word "mystery" here follows the same basic pattern as elsewhere: something hidden that operates beneath the surface. But unlike the mystery of the gospel, which was hidden and then revealed for salvation, the mystery of lawlessness is hidden and working toward destruction.
The "mystery" aspect may refer to the fact that evil does not always announce itself openly. It works covertly, through deception, through cultural drift, through the corruption of institutions and ideas. The full revelation of the "lawless one" is still future, but the forces that will produce him are already present.
The Restrainer
One of the most debated elements of this passage is the identity of "he who now restrains" (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Paul seems to assume the Thessalonians already know who or what this restrainer is ("you know what is restraining him now," v.6), but he does not spell it out for us. Major interpretive proposals include:
- The Roman Empire or the rule of law in general
- The Holy Spirit
- The preaching of the gospel
- An angelic being, possibly Michael (drawing on Daniel 10-12)
- God's providential governance of history
No consensus has ever been reached, and the passage remains one of the most genuinely mysterious in the Pauline corpus.
The Lawless One
The "man of lawlessness" (also called "the son of destruction") is a figure who will appear before Christ's return. His characteristics include self-exaltation to the point of sitting in God's temple and claiming divinity. He operates "by the activity of Satan" and performs "false signs and wonders" (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Throughout church history, this figure has been identified with various individuals and institutions, but the text itself does not name him.
This figure bears similarities to the beast imagery in Revelation 17, where another mysterious figure embodies opposition to God.
Counterpoint to the Mystery of God's Will
The mystery of lawlessness operates as a kind of dark mirror of the mystery of God's will. Where God's will is to unite all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:10), lawlessness works to fracture, deceive, and rebel. Both are described as mysteries; both operate in the present age; both will reach their culmination at the return of Christ. The difference is that the mystery of God's will ends in triumph, while the mystery of lawlessness ends in destruction: "the Lord Jesus will kill [the lawless one] with the breath of his mouth" (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
Connection to Revelation
The themes of 2 Thessalonians 2 find their fullest development in the book of Revelation, particularly in the visions of Babylon the Great and the beast. The "mystery" written on Babylon's forehead (Revelation 17:5) and the "mystery of God" that will be finished at the seventh trumpet (Revelation 10:7) both connect to the tension between divine and satanic mystery that Paul introduces here.