Paul wrote his second letter to the church in Corinth c. 56 A.D., possibly from Philippi. At the time of that letter’s writing many people, particularly Jews, did not accept Paul’s gospel. To them it was veiled, but Paul would not change it to make it more palatable, as his opponents had done (see 2 Cor 11:4). Those who rejected the gospel message were unable and unwilling to accept it, aided in their unbelief by Satan, the “god of this world” (cf. Eph_2:2) who, though defeated by Christ continues his hold over this present world. His blinding of peoples’ minds makes it impossible for them to see the light of the gospel.

Paul wrote both of his letters to the Thessalonian church c. 51 A.D, a few years earlier than his letters to the church in Corinth. In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul hoped to encourage their young but growing faith, He also spoke of the end times, reminding them that the Lord’s second coming was still in the future, contradicting the false teachers who had been presenting fake letters as if from Paul and telling the Thessalonian believers that the day of the Lord had already come.

Paul had already told them (2 Thess 2:1-4) that before Christ’s return the “lawless one” (the antichrist) would enter history, proclaiming himself to be God. Paul told them that God Himself would send a “strong delusion” to unbelievers so that they would believe the lie and worship the man of lawlessness. Ultimately, Jesus would kill the man of sin with His very breath when He does return and Satan defeated once again, this time for all eternity.

Can you see the similarities in Paul’s letters? First, the work of Satan is evident in both. Paul told the church at Corinth that Satan was, and still is “the God of this world”, while in writing to the Thessalonians, Paul described Satan’s last attempt to truly rule the world by ushering in the man of sin to proclaim to be God, ultimately to be defeated for eternity (Satan and the antichrist).

Second, and perhaps more importantly, Paul describes unbelievers in both passages as having “blind minds” and being under a “strong delusion” so that they are unable and unwilling to hear and understand the message of the gospel and be saved. Rather, they would believe lies. And when we look around the world we live in today, it seems like we are living in an overwhelming “sea of lies” on multiple fronts, or as one of my Battle Buddies describes it, a moral cesspool. that was unimaginable 20 years ago.

Why is all of this significant!?

I’m glad you asked! No matter how bad it seems (insanity on steroids?) our mission as believers and pilgrims on this earth has never changed and it never will. That mission is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with a lost and dying world. Paul almost makes that sound like “mission impossible”. I said “almost”.

When we remember that we have been called to merely be faithful to the message of the gospel (1 Cor 15:1-4) and let God do the “saving”, it’s not just mission “possible”, but a mission with guaranteed success! God will open hearts to hear, just as He did with Lydia in Philippi (Acts 16); and Jesus WILL Save His people from their sins! (Matt 1:21)

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All scripture references are from the ESV translation.

Be Blessed!

The above quotation is from the Season 16, Episode 15 of the popular television crime drama, NCIS, titled  crossing the Line. It was spoken by an NCIS Agent to his son. The Agent was later killed in a Navy Yard bombing while his son was visiting him at work. The son visited the NCIS offices as a high school student several years later to try and find closure. But enough of the NCIS episode, and why did I mention it?

Watching the old show again (original shows are always better than the spin offs) reminded me that our NCIS quote has been spoken by wise parents to their children, military leaders to their troops, managers to their employees, and mentors to their mentees for probably centuries, in one form or another. It reminds us that instead of complaining about problems and issues, we should be about fixing things if we are able.

As an an old retired soldier myself and also a Christian, I am also reminded of another quote, “Jesus is the Answer”, which was an Andre Crouch song from 1973, and later covered by countless Christian musicians.

The truth is, quite frankly, that Jesus IS the answer to all the world’s problems, both personal and cultural, political, and societal. And while I understand being part of the solution to problems, we as Christians can never “be” Jesus. We cannot, and never will die for the sins of others, but we can share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – that it was the incarnate Son of God who did die for the sins of His people, and in so doing be part of the ultimate solution.

Regardless what our temporal purpose might be, we have an overarching purpose to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in a lost and dying world.The Apostle Paul defined that message quite clearly in his 1st Letter to the Corinthian church:

“ Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, “ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, ESV)

Be blessed as you go forth and proclaim it!