The Mystery of Christian Anarchy

 The psalmist prayed to the Lord, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psa. 119:97). Again, “I hate and abhor lying, but I love Your law” (Psa. 119:163). And again, “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Psa. 119:165).

Psalm 1 describes a righteous man thus: “His delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psa. 1:2).

King David wrote, “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (Psa. 40:8).

It’s safe to say that mainstream Christianity views God’s law much differently than King David and the other psalmists did! Those men loved God’s law; Christians hate it.

Mainstream Protestants declare God’s law to be abolished. Null and void. As Psalm 119 laments, “It is time for You to act, O LORD, for they have regarded Your law as void” (Psa. 119:126).

Many professing Christians will tell you that God’s law is a burden. But the apostle John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

The psalmist declared, “And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts” (Psa. 119:45). The apostle James described God’s law as “the perfect law of liberty” (Jam. 1:25). Yet Christians protest that God’s law takes away their liberty!

As we’ve seen before, mainstream Christianity isn’t founded on the Bible, nor does it follow the Bible’s teachings. It’s founded on the traditions of men, and, like the Samaritans of old who “feared the LORD, yet served their own gods” (2 Kings 17:33), it has mixed truth with paganism.

In fact, one of the fiercest rivalries on Planet Earth is Christianity vs. the Bible. Christians vs. God’s law.

How did this come to be?

The Mystery of Lawlessness

Both Old and New Testaments prophesy of the end-time Beast, also called the Antichrist. They further tell us that Jesus Christ will destroy this wicked man when He returns to the earth. Dan. 7:11 and Rev. 19:20 describe the Beast being cast into the lake of fire.

But we’re also told, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).

Many antichrists have come. This brings us to a fascinating passage written by the apostle Paul.

In 2 Thes. 2:1-12, Paul delivered a warning about the end-time Antichrist, whom he called “the man of sin,” “the son of perdition,” and “the lawless one.” Note verses 7-8: “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. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”

Just as John told us that “many antichrists have come,” so Paul asserted that “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” At the time God allows, this lawlessness will culminate with the rise and fall of the Beast — the man of lawlessness and sin — and the return of Jesus Christ. But until that time, “the mystery of lawlessness” rages on, from Paul’s day to ours.

Dan. 7:25 prophesied of the lawless one that he “shall intend to change times and law.” Putting this together with the verses we’ve already read, it becomes apparent that the mystery of lawlessness represents, among other things, an attempt to change times and law.

Now what has mainstream Christianity done for these past many centuries? It’s taught men to disobey God’s law and told them that God’s law is abolished. It’s forgotten God’s Sabbath and Holy Days, and replaced them with Sunday and the various pagan holidays. It has changed times and law, replacing the Almighty’s with its own.

Are any of these ideas Biblical? No! This IS the mystery of lawlessness! It was already at work in Paul’s day, and it’s still at work in ours. It will culminate with the end-time Antichrist.

Billions and billions of Christians have been taught to disobey their Creator. Very few have been taught to obey Him. As Jesus told us, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it” (Mat. 7:13-14).

But Jesus foretold that many of those who call themselves by His name — that is, Christians — would practice lawlessness:

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’

23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Mat. 7:21-23.)

Woe to those who teach men to disobey their Creator! Again, Jesus said, “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 5:19).

What commandments was Jesus talking about? Why, the law of God! Here are the two preceding verses: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Mat. 5:17-18). These are the commandments Jesus warned against disobeying!

Now, let’s think about this for a moment. If Jesus had actually taught against God’s law, as so many claim, then He would be a false prophet and a false messiah! Not only by the standards of Deut. 13:1-3, but also by His very words here. “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.”

But He didn’t teach against God’s law.

Jesus told us He came to call sinners to repentance (Mat. 9:13; Luke 5:32). Repentance from what? Sinning. And what is sin? The transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). He called upon sinners to repent of breaking God’s law.

Compare this to Ezek. 33:14-16, where God says, “Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.”

Christ rebuked the Jewish leaders for perverting God’s law: “Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” (Mat. 15:6). He chastised them, not for trying to obey the minute details of God’s law, but for neglecting the rest of it. He said, “These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Mat. 23:23; Luke 11:42).

The Savior warned us concerning the last days, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Mat. 24:12). Why does lawlessness lead to lovelessness? Because God’s law IS love!

Jesus taught us God’s law is all about two things: “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Mat. 22:37-40).

Jesus quoted these two commandments verbatim from the so-called “law of Moses,” from Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18. Now if God’s law is all about these two things, loving God and loving one another, then it logically follows that God’s law is love! No wonder, then, that God gave us His laws “for your good” (Deut. 10:13).

Over and over again, Jesus taught and affirmed God’s law. Despite the proclamations of mainstream Christianity, He made not one statement that any reasonable person could point to and say, “See? He abolished the law!”

But the truth is, the teachers of lawlessness don’t tend to use Jesus’ words when they proclaim God’s law to be null and void. Instead, they twist a handful of the apostle Paul’s words, while ignoring the rest.

And, in fact, the apostle Peter warned that this would happen. He warned that many would twist Paul’s writings to their own destruction:

15 …our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,

16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked…. (2 Pet. 3:15-17.)

Now, if Paul had contradicted Jesus Christ, then he would be a false prophet. But he didn’t.

Paul simply taught that it’s impossible to earn salvation. No one but Jesus Christ has ever lived a sinless life, and therefore no one can earn God’s grace. The rest of God’s Word says the same. As King Solomon wrote, “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Eccl. 7:20).

But did Paul teach that God’s law is abolished? Null and void? Here’s his answer: “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Rom. 3:31).

Did Paul hate God’s law? No. He described it as “holy and just and good” (Rom. 7:12).

Paul described lawlessness as the enemy of righteousness: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). Notice that this passage also puts lawlessness in the same category as darkness and unbelief.

Paul wrote that the law defines sin, and therefore agreed with John that sin is the transgression of the law. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Rom. 7:7).

Did Paul teach anyone to continue in lawlessness? Certainly not! “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Rom. 6:1-2).

Did Paul teach anyone to break God’s law? Here are his own words: “For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified” (Rom. 2:13). What was that again? “The doers of the law will be justified.” In other words, God will justify those who obey Him.

Jesus Christ didn’t teach against God’s law. The apostle Paul didn’t teach against God’s law. None of the apostles or prophets taught against God’s law.

But the false prophets do and always have. They’ve twisted the Scriptures to justify their own disobedience. The end-time Antichrist will be the culmination of this.

Now here’s a question to ponder. David was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22), and he loved God's law. So what does that make those who don't love God's law?

The Fruits of Lawlessness

Like the world around them, many self-proclaimed Christians live in sin, routinely practicing fornication, adultery, drunkenness, watching pornography, going to strip clubs, and more. Most Christians have no better morals than atheists. Why? Because they, too, are lawless.

Many self-proclaimed Christians now embrace feminism, no-fault divorce, sodomy, transgenderism, abortion, and more. The churches are filled, not with repentant sinners seeking God’s grace, but with unrepentant sinners proudly defying His Word!

Many churches appoint female pastors in open defiance of God's Word. Worse still, many even ordain sodomites and other unrepentant sinners!

The world’s churches teach sinners that they don't have to repent. As one blaspheming sodomite put it, “God doesn't want to change me. He just wants to love me for who I am.”

When God says to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” as we read earlier, He does so in the hope that they will repent and be saved! When God tells His servants, “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isa. 58:1), it’s so that some may repent and turn from their sins.

But the so-called Christians do not cry aloud and spare not. Worse, they praise the wicked! They are those “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (Rom. 1:32).

After God warned Adam and Eve not to disobey Him or they would die, Satan told Eve, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). When God says to the wicked, “Repent, or you will surely die,” Satan’s churches tell them, “Don’t change, for you will not surely die.”

All these things are the product of lawlessness. A little leaven leavens the whole lump (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9). When a people rejects God’s law and His standards, every form of wickedness and all manner of abominations are sure to follow. The mystery of lawlessness that was at work in the apostle Paul’s day is even more so at work in ours. “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:13).

What God and all His servants have loved — what Paul called “holy and just and good” — Christians have hated for centuries. What God hates, Christians embrace. “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!” (Isa. 5:20).

But what of those churches that don’t embrace all these things? The ones that only reject part of God’s law and not all of it? The ones that still teach a form of Biblical morality and have merely replaced God’s Sabbath and Holy Days with Sunday and the pagan holidays?

They don’t hate all of God’s law — only part of it! They don’t trample on everything God said, just the parts they don't want to keep. Like the Sabbath and Holy Days.

Remember, the mystery of lawlessness includes the changing of times and law! They, too, are lawless.

How are Christians going to spend all eternity with God if they find it burdensome to spend even one whole day with Him? On the day of His choosing, rather than man’s?

It’s such a simple command, yet the whole world rejects it!

And let’s not leave ourselves out of this, either. Do we truly love God’s law and obey Him with all our hearts? Do we wholly submit ourselves to Him and His will, holding nothing back? And do we really keep the Sabbath holy, or does God only get a couple hours of our time in church each Sabbath?

The Law of Love and Liberty

God’s law is love and liberty. He gave it for our good. As the apostle John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

It isn't bondage to refrain from murder, adultery, and theft; to worship God alone; or to keep the Sabbath.

If a mother tells her child, “Don’t stick your finger in the electric outlet,” or, “Look both ways before crossing the street,” she’s not putting her child in bondage. These instructions are for the child’s own good.

Likewise, when God tells you, “Don’t commit adultery,” He’s not putting you in bondage. He’s telling you that because adultery will destroy you and hurt the people around you. When God tells you, “Keep the Sabbath,” He’s not putting you in bondage. He’s telling you that because you need to rest from your labors and spend time with Him.

God gave us two choices. “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deut. 30:19).

Life or death. That’s the choice. God is life, His way is life, and His instructions will lead us along the way to life. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psa. 119:105).

So do we follow God’s way or Satan’s way? The narrow way or the broad way? God’s laws or the mystery of lawlessness?

Mainstream Christianity uses Christ’s name, but rejects His words. It preaches and follows the mystery of lawlessness. Lawlessness is anarchy. And you can rest assured that there will be no anarchy in God’s Kingdom!