https://odb.org/2025/05/23/love-the-truth
2 Thessalonians 2:7–12 (NIV): 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
One of the main means Satan uses to draw God’s people away from God and into his path of destruction (the broad gate), besides the bright lights of the material world, is spiritual deception. So, lawlessness may come in the form of false teachings, and such teachings could go from one extreme of liberalism to the other extreme of radical conservatism. Just because a strict approach is taken towards Christian values doesn’t mean it is on the right path. As I mentioned yesterday, there is the cross to the crown and is thus not suffering and hardship all the way. See the link below: https://ronnielim.com/2025/05/22/the-crown-with-the-cross/
No matter whether it is one or the other extreme or the middle ground, ultimately, the true determining factor is the truth. We need to know the truth to separate the chaff from the wheat or the lambs from the goats. What matters the most is not the form but the substance. Any teaching must adhere to the core tenets of the faith as enumerated in the bible. If, for example, we derogate Paul’s letters and teachings as an offshoot of his own slant of the faith and only follow the teachings and traditions of the Old Testament, we are clearly in dangerous territory. The Old Testament is a good foundation, but Jesus Christ is very much in the Gospels and the various letters of the Apostles as He is prophesied in the Old Testament. That is why Christianity is a culmination of the prophets of old and the teachings of Christ and that of the Apostles about Him. Don’t forget that also we have the apocalyptic Revelation that points us to the end of time.
The ODB writer today spoke of love as the motivator to learn. Therefore, the love for Christ is a great catalyst for us to know Him deeper, especially through the pages of the bible. As we read descriptions and narratives of Him in the Gospels, imagine Him walking and teaching in Galilee and Jerusalem. In the end, it is our love for Christ that will push us to study to increase our knowledge of Him and the mysteries of the Kingdom. The truth that we pursue and the knowledge of the truth will ultimately safeguard our soul and mind from being deceived by the evil one and his cohorts.
Ronnie's Thoughts 