*****************ATTENTION MEMBERS********************** The Admins of the group would like to emphasize the importance of being extremely careful in what is said regarding salvation. If the comment cannot be backed up by scripture or if it is simply your own opinion, please refrain from commenting. Salvation is of eternal importance and is something we must always be right on! A question that comes up a lot is, if a person hears the gospel and rejects it, will they have the opportunity to be saved in the Tribulation Period? Quite often, many will refer to II Thessalonians 2:11-12 to try and say that if a person has heard the gospel and rejected then they cannot be saved in the Tribulation Period. However, a proper understanding of this passage of scripture in context will show that this is not the case. Let me try to explain... First of all, what does II Thessalonians 2:9-12 actually say (verses 9 and 10 added)? 2 Thessalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 2 Thessalonians 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Upon first glance, verses 11 and 12 seem to support the notion that once a person hears and rejects, he is damned forever. However, if we take the entire chapter in context, it is understood that these verses do not mean that at all. The key to understanding verses 11 and 12 is to go back and read 9 and 10. The context here is Pauls description of the coming of the man of sin, which is who is being referred to in verse 9. Many take verses 11 and 12 to mean that ALL who have heard and received not the love of the truth would be damned. But if we refer back to verse 10, we see that the subjects of verses 11 and 12 are not everyone in general, but the followers of the man of sin. Notice the phrase them that perish. We have to keep in mind that God has foreknowledge of who will or will not be saved. There are people who will enter the Tribulation Period who ARE perishing. In other words, there are people that God knows will follow the anti-Christ. These are the people who will be sent strong delusion that they should believe a lie. There are people hell bent on denying the truth! But there are people whose attention God will get during the Tribulation Period. It is estimated that the average person hears the gospel 8 times before receiving Christ as Savior. There are people that hear the gospel now who have not responded but it does not mean that that individual will not respond when put under severe pressure during the time of Gods wrath. That is not to say that it will not be much harder to be saved in the Tribulation, because it will! There will be incredible deception and things will be much different than it is now in this dispensation of grace. Man will have to demonstrate faith in Christ and give up their life for their faith as common, everyday practice. To summarize, this passage of scripture does not teach that ALL people who have heard the gospel and rejected will never have the chance at salvation. These verses tell us that individuals who are perishing, who will never get saved (and only God knows who they are), the ones who will follow the anti-Christ, will be sent strong delusion because they loved not the truth. There will be multitudes saved during the Tribulation Period (Rev 7:9-14), some who heard the gospel but never responded and others who never heard. There will also be multitudes lost and headed for Hell, and it is these who will be sent the strong delusion because their minds were already made up to deny the truth!! God is a God of mercy and is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He paid the ultimate price and that was the blood of His Son!
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 03:30:48 +0000
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