3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

Reading this text without any context you might even think that this passage is happening right now in the political world from both sides of the political spectrum.

But it’s not. Of course this passage needs to be considered with, at the very least, both books of Daniel and Revelation, and even then, there are no guarantees of who this man of lawlessness is, where he came from, or anything like that.

For our purposes, I think the main point of this passage portion are the first words, “don’t let anyone deceive you in any way.” It’s perhaps important not only in this context but in life in general.

Under the right circumstances, all of us can be deceived. Hundreds of thousands of people young and old, rich and poor are scammed out of money every day.

So, too, in the spiritual world, many will come to deceive us.

As in the business world, if it sounds too good to be true, it just might be – the exception, of course, is salvation itself.

As the day of His appearing approaches, we need to be on our guard against false teachers and those who would rob us of joy, holy living, hope, and of course, money. Be careful about flocking to someone for “special” teaching or teaching you won’t find anywhere else in the world (as the teacher would say). Don’t disregard red flags of doctrine or extra-biblical revelations. Test them.

Above all, as Proverbs 24:3 teaches, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. That also implies that you don’t want to poison or pollute it.