What is Lawlessness?

 

What is Lawlessness? According to the apostle it is sin, “Everyone who sins breaks the law, and in fact, sin is lawlessness.

You know that Christ* was revealed to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin.

Whoever remains in him does not continue in sin, but whoever practices sin has not seen him and does not know him.

Little children, let no one lead you astray. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Whoever lives in sin belongs to the devil, since the devil has been a sinner from the beginning. This was the purpose of the manifestation of the Son of God, to undo the work of the devil.

Those who have been born of God do not keep on sinning because God’s seed abides in them. They cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

This is how the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, and neither is the one who does not love his brother [or sister].” (1 John 3:4-10, Eastern Orthodox Bible, Apple App). 

These passages are very enlightening. Sin is lawlessness, which helps us interpret Christ’s words, “And because lawlessness (sin)will be increased, the love of many will grow cold,” (Matthew 24:12) and “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (sin).” (Matthew 23:27-28). It is important to note that the issue is practicing lawlessness (sin), as Jesus says elsewhere, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you  who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23). We saw earlier in John’s epistle and in the words of the apostle Paul, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21). The chief issue is practicing lawlessness/ sin, which means to get good at ift to no longer repent and turn from it. Jesus died for all our sins and if we stumble he is faithful to forgive us, “we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:7-10). 

Lawlessness comes up again, only this time its not Pharisees, and end times people, it is the antichrist: 

“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 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.  Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.  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. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12). 

Since Lawlessness is Sin, that explains why some translations use Man of Lawlessness or Man of Sin, it being the same thing. 

The mystery of the Lawlessness is already at work. We are seeing the world fall into deeper and deeper sin, where bizarre and taboo lifestyles and behaviors are not only accepted but endorsed, supported, and legalized. Even ancient Romans never made certain hedonistic and depraved behaviors legal and supported by the courts.  We have sin no longer denounced, but celebrated and put into law as normal. Oh woe unto the nations who say sin is not sin!, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make God out to be a liar and Jesus’ word (Word of God) is not in us.” (1 John 1:10), “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter,” (Isaiah 5:20), “But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!” (Matthew 6:23), and “And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19). 

Christ has paid for all our sins, and we still repent, apologize and recognize our sins and ask for His forgiveness and turn from them. When we keep repenting we keep acknowledging His Amazing Grace (1 Corinthians 11:26), that His Blood purify our sins, but if we decide to not call sin a sin anymore and justify it, then we are practicing sin and insulting the Spirit of Grace, “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?/ Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to” (Hebrews 10:29); people who call sin not sin are in effect saying they don’t think Jesus needed to die for that and are calling Him a liar. The problem with practicing sin is the heart and attitude is turned against God, it is mankind in his hubris saying “I know better, its not a sin even though you Lord say it is in Scripture.” Practicing Sin is to be a  child of the devil (1 John 3:8) because the devil was the first to disagree with God and become proud in his merchandizing and wanting the throne of God (Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14:11-18) and Jesus says of the devil, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44). When we say sin is not sin, we are trying to usurp God’s authority, and sit on a throne of we know better; worse we are spitting on Christ’s blood and saying every drop and mark of suffering He bore was not necessary because we disagree its not sin. That is why practicing and condoning sin is so dangerous, it turns you against God automatically, when He is your Savior and died for all your sins; but if you believe some of those sins aren’t sins, you are saying He died for no purpose and are calling Him a liar. That is serious blaspheming and worse. 

Yes Jesus forgives all sins for all time, “so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:28). We still repent, we still feel convicted (sorry, stirred to sorrow) over the sins His blood covers [We acknowledge them and are so happy He paid for them already on the cross], we confess that sin to Him, and we seek to turn from doing those sins again with His help, “Jesus said, ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).  The issue with condoning and justifying sin (calling it not sin) is it turns one against the Savior who paid it all for sin. That is why it is terrifying place to be in, and should be avoided at all costs! Confess your sins and believe Jesus Christ already paid for them in full at the cross; that you are saves by Grace through Faith in Christ and His finished work; we continue to call sin a sin so that we may look at our mighty Savior and say yes it was bad, thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me of this lawlessness. Amen.