What is the great falling away?

2 Thess 2:3
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
KJV


Blessings....Miles

well since the KJV is freakin hard to understand, i'll post the NIV version in plain english...

Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

I believe this is referring to the anti-christ (the man of lawlessness) who unites the world under a world government. The rebellion is when people either choose christ or the anti-christ.

Notice that the falling away comes first before the man of sin is revealed, not after it.

Further, the falling away is "apostasia" in the Greek or apostasy in english. This is not a rebellion. It means a falling away from the truth.

That is what we have today. The people have fallen away. Their view is that accepting Jesus is a free trip to heaven. They don't have to do what God said. God love us all no matter what.

This is the apostasy. We are in the midsts of it, and the next thing to happen on the prophetic scene is that the Beast and false prophet will teach doctrines contrary to the bible and call it Christianity.

The false prophet will be a john the baptist figure and point to the Beast as God in the flesh, and the they will claim the millennium has come.

the two witnesses will preach the truth, But few will see the fallacy because they will be so far removed by the current apostasy that they will not know the difference. They will think that everything is ok with God. we can go along with this guy.

Art

When I was growing up Christian... I always wondered why God didn't just open the clouds and tell us the truth... or why so many bad things happen today that aren't stopped... and why things are getting progressively worse. I had a theory, that maybe God's idea of a day was much much much longer than our idea of a day (thousands of years maybe?) and that's how he created the earth. And I thought... Maybe he's been on his day of rest for a while now... he thought it would be alright after Jesus came down... and I thought at some point, he's going to check back in on us and he's not going to be happy. I still think we're building up to something big happening... I'm just not sure what.

art, what do you mean here? are you talking about people who "pray the prayer" and never really live by the bible? or are you talking about people like me who genuinely try their best to follow god, but still screw up sometimes BECAUSE I'M HUMAN? do you think that i am not a christian, even though i go to church almost every week and do my best to live by the bible and christ's teachings? what else can i do but try my best like i am doing now?

In the meantime we have now.

not the past to find truth, but now.

Not the unknowns of the future, but now.

seeking to know truth now.

If we neglect one another now, we will still be asleep tomorrow.

Just like yesterday is no different than what we did not do and today came and nothing new.

New every morning, every moment for that matter, is now.

If I help myself, and another today, I am apt to do that tomorrow.

If I was fearful yesterday, it is likely that I will be fearful today.

If I do not struggle with fearfulness to day, tomorrow will come and I must continue to embrace it, unless I resist it today.

It is not the answer, as much as the perspective.

We choose our path.

I think if you're activly trying... you're miles ahead of a lot of people I know.

I really respect your faith in what you believe.

I am not picking on anyone here. I don't know what "the prayer" is. I am picking on the idea that was expressed earlier. People think they can do what ever they want. I don't remember the quote exactly, but you responded to it when they said something like, I repent when I want, and I do what I want. The people today think they can shack up, be homosexual, have idols, commit adultery, and many are posting on one thread, smoking pot is ok. I bet some of them think the apostle John was loaded when he wrote revelation. Anyway, they think God still loves me and that they will go to their expected reward.

So, people believe they can worship idols. They think that they can use them in their worship and say that they are not worshiping God by it.

He says don't do it. They can argue, and they will argue, because we are in the apostasy. They argue against doing what God clearly says in the bible. Don't you see the difference?

It is not messing up once in awhile, it is more like, "who are you to tell me that I am messing up? More and more, vast numbers are coming to this mind set. Take a realistic hard look at what is being said on this forum by most. They are not searching the scriptures daily to see what is true, what God requires, and then trying to conform to His will.

They are doing what they want, and then arguing that it is ok. They think they are all right just the way they are. Here is god's characterization of His Church today. This is not me speaking, it is not me accusing anyone on this forum of anything. This is Christ speaking to the last era of the church and He says:

Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

They don't see it. They have been lulled to sleep. God is only kinda real, not the motive for living, not the hope that drives us and not a God to fear to give lip service to. It is mush mush candy coated like the Christmas tree. It it attractive, and pretty, but not what God says. That tree is an idol. Santa is the God Saturn lifted from the saturnailia. We think we can worship God this way. Anything is fine. God does not agree. He says:

Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

But we go ahead and do it anyway. Why? Because we are in the midst of apostasy. We can't stop keeping Christmas and all of its idols. Why? Well, what would people think???

Don't you see it? We care more about what people think than what God says. we have fallen away from the truth, and we have fallen away so far that the truth appears radical and weird to us. It is all reversed.

Don't you see this? It really is Christmas that is weird. Every bit of it contradicts what God says in the Bible. Why can't people see that? Because we think we are just fine the way we are in our mind. We don't need any correction, and in fact, no one tells me what to do. Religion is about us, and about how we feel. It is individual, and it is us doing our own thing. But that is our religion, not God's.

We don't see ourselves as poor spiritually and blind and yet, to God--in his eyes, we should be embarrassed by our condition, but ironically we are proud of it.

That is what I am referring to. That is the growing spirit of the people who call themselves Christians today. Where is the respect for God? Where is the Awe? Where is the reverence? Where is the fear? Where is the obedience?---It is not there, and what is there, is slipping away.

Art

ah ok. so they're taking all the love of jesus without any of the rules. that's so unitarian universalist of them.

i always see it as god being a loving parent. he loves us uncondtionally, whether we follow him or not, but if we do something wrong outside of what he tells us, then we need to be discplined.

and god doesnt make rules to take away the "fun" of life. he does it so that we might enjoy REAL happiness and joy. all the other stuff only satisfies temporarily. thats why u have to do it over and over.

as god says "if you drink this water you will be thirsty again, but if you drink of the living water i give you, never again will you thirst"

thanks for the clarification dreamer.

I think you stated it well, and of course with fewer words. Someday I'll learn, I and everyone else hopes!

art

nuts I posted twice.

Sorry,

art