and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Parallel Translations
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and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
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and in all deceavablenes of vnrightewesnes amonge them that perysshe: because they receaved not the (love) of the truth that they myght have bene saved.
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And in al deceiuablenes of vnrighteousnes, among them that perish, because they receiued not the loue of the trueth, that they might be saued.
Cross-references (27)
Passages linked to 2 Thessalonians 2:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- Proverbs 1:7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
- 2 Corinthians 4:2-3 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who are dying,
- John 8:45-47 But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.”
- Romans 16:18 For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
- 2 Peter 2:12 But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
- 1 Corinthians 16:22 If any man doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Come, Lord!
- Ephesians 4:14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
- Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
- Romans 2:7-8 to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation,
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 11:15 It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
- Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you, so as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures: then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and find the knowledge of God. For Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
- Proverbs 4:5-6 Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don’t forget, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth. Don’t forsake her, and she will preserve you. Love her, and she will keep you.
- John 3:17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
- John 3:19-21 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
- John 5:34 But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved.
- Romans 10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.
- 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved and in those who perish:
- 1 Timothy 2:4 who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.
- Matthew 13:11 He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
- Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered.
- 2 Corinthians 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles.
- Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
- James 1:16-18 Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
- 2 Peter 2:18 For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
- 1 Thessalonians 2:16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10 In those that perish. He limits the power…
10 In those that perish. He limits the power of Satan, as not being able to injure the elect of God, just as Christ, also, exempts them from this danger. (Matthew 24:24.) From this it appears, that Antichrist has not so great power otherwise than by his permission. Now, this consolation was necessary. For all the pious, but for this, would of necessity be overpowered with fear, if they saw a yawning gulf pervading the whole path, along which they must pass. Hence Paul, however he may wish them to be in a state of anxiety, that they may be on their guard, lest by excessive carelessness they should fall back, nay, even throw themselves into ruin, does, nevertheless, bid them cherish good hope, inasmuch as Satan’s power is bridled, that he may not be able to involve any but the wicked in ruin.
Because they received not the love. Lest the wicked should complain that they perish innocently, and that they have been appointed to death rather from cruelty on the part of God, than from any fault on their part, Paul shews on what good grounds it is that so severe vengeance from God is to come upon them — because they have not received in the temper of mind with which they ought the truth which was presented to them, nay more, of their own accord refused salvation. And from this appears more clearly what I have already stated — that the gospel required to be preached to the world before God would give Satan so much permission, for he would never have allowed his temple to be so basely profaned, had he not been provoked by extreme ingratitude on the part of men. In short, Paul declares that Antichrist will be the minister of God’s righteous vengeance against those who, being called to salvation, have rejected the gospel, and have preferred to apply their mind to impiety and errors. Hence there is no reason why Papists should now object, that it is at variance with the clemency of Christ to cast off his Church in this manner. For though the domination of Antichrist has been cruel, none have perished but those who were deserving of it, nay more, did of their own accord choose death. (Proverbs 8:36.) And unquestionably, while the voice of the Son of God has sounded forth everywhere, it finds the ears of men deaf, nay obstinate, and while a profession of Christianity is common, there are, nevertheless, few that have truly and heartily given themselves to Christ. Hence it is not to be wondered, if similar vengeance quickly follows such a criminal contempt.
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It is asked whether the punishment of blindness does not fall on any but those who have on set purpose rebelled against the gospel. I answer, that this special judgment by which God has avenged open contumacy, does not stand in the way of his striking down with stupidity, as often as seems good to him, those that have never heard a single word respecting Christ, for Paul does not discourse in a general way as to the reasons why God has from the beginning permitted Satan to go at large with his falsehoods, but as to what a horrible vengeance impends over gross despisers of new and previously unwonted grace.
He uses the expression — receiving the love of the truth, to mean — applying the mind to the love of it. Hence we learn that faith is always conjoined with a sweet and voluntary reverence for God, because we do not properly believe the word of God, unless it is lovely and pleasant to us.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them…
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Ver. 10. And with all deceiveableness] Popery is nothing else but a great lie, a grand imposture, a farrago of falsities and heresies. It is not without cause that the Centurists say, "That all the old heretics fled, and hid themselves in the Popish clergy." (Cent. x. c. 11.)
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Because they received not the love] This is the great gospel sin, punished by God with strong delusions, vile affections, just damnation. Infatuati seducentur, seducti iudicabuntur. Given up by God they shall be seduced, and being seduced they shall be condemned. It is Austin’s note upon this text.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness; or, deceit of…
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness; or, deceit of unrighteousness, unrighteous deceit, or deceitful unrighteousness. And it is universal, all. It is unrighteousness managed with great subtlety to deceive; and so the same with the mystery of iniquity, mentioned before, or the mystery of unrighteousness, as we may read it. All sin is unrighteousness, whether against God or man, as all virtue is comprehended in righteousness. The apostle here means unrighteousness so cloaked and covered, that men discern it not, but are deceived by it: as the Pharisees, who devoured widows’ houses, and for pretence made long prayers; and so also they tithed mint and cummin as exactly religious, built the sepulchres of the prophets, made broad their phylacteries, would not eat with unwashen hands, &c. The like we find in the Church of Rome, as I mentioned before, where men are ambitious, covetous, cruel, superstitious, &c., and all under a pretence of righteousness, and for honour to Christ and the church: make use of Peter’s keys to open rich men’s coffers; and for a sum of money, to absolve men in this world, or to redeem them out of purgatory in the other worid; which is a mere cheat, &c. Thus comes this man of sin, and by such ways he hath advanced himself.
In them that perish: this shows who they are that are deceived by him. Reprobates are often so described, 2Co 2:15; 4:3; and it is the same as elsewhere signifies damnation. The word signifies men that are lost, so used Mat 18:11, or destroyed, 2Co 4:9. They are such as have not their names written in the book of life, Rev 13:8; and who shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever, Rev 14:10,11.
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Because they received not the love of the truth: and the apostle gives the reason why they are thus deceived. He saith not they had not received the truth, but the love of it, and so hold it not fast, but are carried away with the general apostacy. Truth is either natural, which the heathen had, and detained in unrighteousness, Rom 1:18; or supernatural, from Divine revelation. This is meant, for he speaks not of heathens, but Christians; not the world, but the church.
That they might be saved: and the truth here meant is saving truth, as the gospel is called the word of truth, Eph 1:13; Col 1:5; for had they received it in love they might have been saved, but for want of that they perish; so that it is unsound, notional professors that are carried away by the man of sin, and deceived by him. Truth, if it be not received into the heart as well as the head, will not secure against apostacy or popery, nor prevent perishing. And the amiableness that is in gospel truth calls for love, as the certainty of its revelation calls for faith; and had they so received the truth they might have been saved.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Here we have a threefold description given of the…
Here we have a threefold description given of the subjects of Antichrist’s kingdom: they are described,
1. By the ways and means how they are drawn into this apostasy and defection, and that is, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness; where, by unrighteousness, understand his false doctrine and wicked laws, which tend to the making his disciples and followers injurious to God, unjust to men, and cruel to themselves; and by deceivableness, is meant all manner of deceits and wiles, tricks and cunning persuasions, to make the world believe his unrighteous errors to be pure and innocent truths.
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Learn, That such as are ringleaders to error, are men of no conscience, but find out all unrighteous ways and means to make their tenets plausible, and pass for truth; they come with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.
Again, 2. They are described by the doom and misery which await them, they are such as perish; that is, such as are in an actual state of perdition, and, without hastening out of it, are undone for ever.
Learn hence, That the subjects of Antichrist’s power and seduction are those that perish.
And, 3. They are described by their sin, which is the cause and reason of this doom: Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Where mark, It is not enough to receive the truth in the light of it, but we must also receive it in the love of it, or it will do us no good; to make truth operative, there is required, besides knowledge, faith and love, there may be knowledge without faith, and there may be faith without love, that is, without any affection to the truth believed; it was therefore a pious prayer of St. Austin, Fac me, Domine, &c. "Lord, make me taste that by love, which I taste by knowledge." As the certainity of truth calls for faith, so the amiableness of truth calls for love: if truth be not received into the heart as well as the head, it will not secure against apostasy, nor prevent perishing.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness,.... Not that he…
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness,.... Not that he deceives, or goes about to deceive, or thinks to deceive by open unrighteousness; but by unrighteousness, under a pretence of righteousness and holiness; as with the doctrines of justification and salvation by a man's own righteousness, with the doctrines of merit and of works of supererogation, which are taking to men, and by which they are deceived, and are no other than unrighteousness with God, and betray ignorance of his righteousness, and a non-submission to it; as also with practices which carry a show of holiness, religion, and devotion, when they are no other than acts of impiety, superstition, and will worship; as their litanies and prayers, their worship of images, angels, and saints departed, their frequent fasts and festivals, their pilgrimages, penance, and various acts of mortification and the like: but then these deceptions only have place
in them that perish; whom the god of this world has blinded, from whom the Gospel is hid, and to whom it is foolishness: all men indeed are in a lost perishing condition, through original and actual sin; but all shall not perish, there are some that God will not have perish, whom Christ is given for that they should not perish, and whom he has redeemed by his blood, and to whom he gives eternal life; but there are others that are vessels of wrath afore ordained to condemnation, reprobate men left to themselves, and given up to their hearts' lusts; and these, and only these, are finally and totally deceived, by the signs and lying wonders, and false appearances of antichrist; see Mat 24:24
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because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved; by the "truth" is meant either Christ the truth of types, the sum of promises, in whom the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are, and by whom grace and truth came; or the Gospel, often called truth, and the word of truth, it coming from the God of truth, has for its subject Christ the truth, is dictated and directed into by the spirit of truth, and contains nothing but truth: and by "the love" of it is meant, either the loveliness of it, for truth is an amiable, lovely thing, in its nature and use; or an affection for it, which there is, where true faith in it is, for faith works by love: there may be a flashy affection for the truths of the Gospel, where there is no true faith in Christ, or the root of the matter is not, as in the stony ground hearers; and there may be an historical faith in the doctrines of the Gospel, where the power of them is denied, and there is no true hearty love for them; and in these persons there is neither faith nor love; the truths of the Gospel are neither believed by them, nor are they affected with them, that so, they might be saved; for where there is true faith in the Gospel of Christ, and in Christ the substance of it, there is salvation; the reason therefore of these men's perishing is not the decree of God, nor even want of the means of grace, the revelation of the Gospel, but their rejection and contempt of it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Because they received not the love of the truth…
Because they received not the love of the truth - Therefore God suffered them to fall into that "strong delusion."
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness] With…
Verse 10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness] With every art that cunning can invent and unrighteousness suggest, in order to delude and deceive.
In them that perish] Εν τοις απολλυμενοις· Among them that are destroyed; and they are destroyed and perish because they would not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. So they perish because they obstinately refuse to be saved, and receive a lie in preference to the truth. This has been true of all the Jews from the days of the apostle until now.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness - There are…
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness - There are two ideas here. The first is, that there would be deceit; and the other is, that it would be for the purpose of promoting unrighteousness or iniquity. The iniquitous system would be maintained by fraudulent methods. No one who has read Pascal’s Provincial Letters can ever doubt that this description is applicable to the system of the Jesuits; and no one familiar with the acts of the papacy, as they have always been practiced, can doubt that the whole system is accurately described by this language. The plausible reasoning by which the advocates of that system have palliated and apologized for sins of various kinds, has been among its most remarkable features.
In them that perish - Among those who will perish; that is, among the abandoned and wicked. The reference is to men of corrupt minds and lives, over whom this system would have power; countenancing them in their depravity, and fitting them still farther for destruction. The idea is, that these acts would have special reference to men who would be lost at any rate, and who would be sustained in their wickedness by this false and delusive system.
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Because they received not the love of the truth - They prefer this system of error and delusion to the simple and pure gospel, by which they might have been saved.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain God shall send them the operation of error.[9] That…
God shall send them the operation of error.[9] That is, says St. John Chrysostom and St. Cyril, he will permit them to be led away with illusions, by signs, and lying prodigies, which the devil shall work by antichrist, &c. (Witham) --- God shall suffer them to be deceived by lying wonders, and false miracles, in punishment of their not entertaining the love of truth. (Challoner) --- The end God proposes is the judgment and condemnation of such as reject the proffered light. This is the march of sin, according to St. Thomas Aquinas on this place. In the first place a man, in consequence of his first sin, is deprived of grace, he then falls into further sins, and ends with being eternally punished. Hence it happens that his new sins are a punishment of his former transgressions; because God will permit the devil to do these things. Deus mittet, quia Deus Diabolum facere ista permittet. (St. Augustine, lib. xx. de Civ. Dei. chap. 19.)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Mittet illis Deus operationem erroris, Greek: pempsei, &c. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 5. Greek: sunchorei ginesthai. See also St. John Chrysostom, Greek: log. d. p. 236.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain deceivableness--rather as Greek, "deceit of (to promote) unrighteousness" (Th2…
deceivableness--rather as Greek, "deceit of (to promote) unrighteousness" (Th2 2:12).
in--The oldest manuscripts and versions omit "in." Translate, "unto them that are perishing" (Co2 2:15-16; Co2 4:3): the victims of him whose very name describes his perishing nature, "the son of perdition"; in contrast to you whom (Th2 2:13) "God hath from the beginning chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."
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because--literally, "in requital for"; in just retribution for their having no love for the truth which was within their reach (on account of its putting a check on their bad passions), and for their having "pleasure in unrighteousness" (Th2 2:12; Rom 1:18); they are lost because they loved not, but rejected, the truth which would have saved them.
received not--Greek, "welcomed not"; admitted it not cordially.
love of the truth--not merely love of truth, but love of THE truth (and of, Jesus who is the Truth, in opposition to Satan's "lie," Th2 2:9, Th2 2:11; Joh 8:42-44), can save (Eph 4:21). We are required not merely to assent to, but to love the truth (Psa 119:97). The Jews rejected Him who came in His divine Father's name; they will receive Antichrist coming in his own name (Joh 5:43). Their pleasant sin shall prove their terrible scourge.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. Deceivableness—Rather, deceivingness, actively taken; referring to the deceiving…
10. Deceivableness—Rather, deceivingness, actively taken; referring to the deceiving operations of the man of sin.
Of unrighteousness—The deceptiveness of his iniquity.
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In them that perish—The objects of the unrighteous deception; literally, towards or upon them who are the perishing: namely, those who receive, and become partisans of, the iniquity of antichrist. They are now sinking to perdition.
Because—Reason why they are the perishing; first, they loved not the truth; secondly, they consequently believed not the truth; thirdly, they incurred from God these strong delusions to the belief of the deception of the man of sin, that they might be (not damned) but judged.
Received not the love of the truth— Back of their disbelief of truth was their hatred of the truth. And this hatred was voluntary and not necessary, for they received not—they rejected the possible predisposition towards the truth. Back of all was a free responsible will. For these followers of antichrist had, or might have had, knowledge of the true Christ. They were in the Church, as he was seated in the Church, 2Th_2:4; and they were guilty of a falling away, 2Th_2:3, an apostasy.
That they might be saved—The result which would have followed their choosing the love of truth.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them…
10. and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish] Both reading and rendering need to be amended; it is rather, and in all deceit of unrighteousness for the perishing—the opposite of “them that are being saved,” or “the subjects of salvation” (1Co_1:18; 2Co_2:15). They follow, alas, the guidance of “the son of perdition,” and share his ruin (2Th_2:3).
“Deceit of unrighteousness” is a phrase compounded similarly to “good pleasure of goodness,” ch. 2Th_1:11; it signifies such deceit as belongs to unrighteousness, that which it is wont to employ. These devices are “deceit for the perishing,” for men without the lie of God, whose spiritual perception is destroyed by sin and who therefore fall a prey to deceit. The children of God are not imposed upon by these means; they know how to “prove all things” (1Th_5:21). Read carefully 1Jn_4:1-6, and compare with this context.
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because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved] Placing himself amid the scenes of the triumph of Antichrist and viewing the sad fate of his victims, St Paul explains their ruin. They had no “love of the truth.” This sentiment they never “entertained.” And so—in compensation for this—they believe wicked lies, to their undoing: in return for their refusal to entertain the love of the truth. On receive, see note to 1Th_2:13 (second “received”); there is implied a want of heart to receive.
It is not “the truth” simply, but “the love of the truth” that these unhappy men repudiate. Their unbelief is not of the reason so much as of the heart. Those of whom the Apostle speaks resist “the truth” with an instinctive, invincible prejudice; for they have no desire to “be saved” from the sins it condemns. Christ found in this moral prepossession the reason why so many rejected His word. “Every one that doeth evil,” He said, “hateth the light” (Joh_3:20; comp. Joh_10:26; &c.). So St Paul writes in 2Co_4:3-4, “Our gospel is a veiled thing amongst them that perish. The god of this world has blinded their minds … that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ may not shine upon them.” It is a just, but mournful result, that rejecters of Christ’s miracles become believers in Satan’s, and that atheism should be avenged by superstition. So it has been, and will be.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) And with all deceivableness.—“Deceivableness” does not mean “readiness…
(10) And with all deceivableness.—“Deceivableness” does not mean “readiness to be deceived,” but, according to old English usage, has an active meaning; the words include and expand the list just given “in all sham power and signs and wonders, and, in fact, in every iniquitous fraud.”
In them that perish.—Rather, for them. These are not the persons who exercise the fraud, but the objects of it. The word depends not only on “deceivableness,” but on the whole sentence:” his coming (for them) is,” &c. St. Paul adds the words as a consolation to “them that are saved”: it will not be possible to seduce the elect (Mar_13:22). “They that perish” (1Co_1:18; 2Co_2:15; 2Co_4:3; comp. also Act_2:47) is a phrase which contains no reference whatever to the doctrine of predestination, but merely describes the class; the men who let themselves be thus duped are, as a plain matter of fact, in course of perishing.
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Because.—Here does come in the question of God’s decree. The phrase rendered “because” means “in requital of the fact that,” which at once implies that their being duped by Antichrist’s coming is a judicial visitation. (See next verse.) “They did not receive,” i.e., it was offered them, and they refused it; not, as Calvinism would teach, because it was not given them. The grace of love of the truth is offered us along with every new presentment of truth; if we are too indolent to examine whether it be truth, we are rejecting the love of the truth. This is a worse thing than not accepting the truth itself: if they had only aspired to know what was the truth they would have been saved, even if, in fact, they had been in error.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness; or rather, with…
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness; or rather, with all deceit of unrighteousness (R.V); either with all deceit leading to unrighteousness or with all deceit which is unrighteousness. The man of sin works by deceit and falsehood; and by means of imposture and wonders and high pretensions he will succeed in imposing on the world. The energetic power of the man of sin is, however, by no means irresistible; only they who perish will succumb to it. In them. In the best manuscripts the preposition "in" is wanting; therefore the words are to be translated for them or to them. That perish (comp.; (2Co_2:15) because they received not the love of the truth. Not only did they not receive the truth when it was offered them, but, what was worse, they were destitute even of a love of the truth. By the truth here is meant, not Christ himself, as some expositors think, but primarily the Christian truth, and secondarily the truth generally. There was in them a want of susceptibility for the truth, and thus not only were they prevented embracing the gospel, but they were led astray by numerous errors and delusions. That they might be saved. The result which naturally would arise from the reception of the truth.
Vers. 10-12.
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The love of the truth.
The reason for the doom of those who are to be destroyed at the second coming of Christ here given, is that they do not receive the love of the truth.
I GOD EXPECTS US TO RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH.
1. Truth is good in itself. Truth is to the soul what light is to the body. It is natural for men to love the day, unnatural for them to shun it. In a right and healthy state we should love truth simply as truth, whatever else it be.
2. Christian truth is peculiarly attractive. Scientific truth is beautiful, philosophic truth is valuable; but the truth of the gospel has far deeper attractions, because it contains revelation of the love and fatherhood of God, of the grace and goodness of Christ, of the redemption of the world, of the way of salvation, of the heavenly rest, etc.
3. Truth should be welcomed with love. We cannot accept it to any advantage until we love it; for
(1) love opens our eyes to a sympathetic understanding of it, and
(2) love saves us from a cold, barren acceptance of it, and helps us to receive it profitably.
II IT IS AN EVIL HEART THAT PREVENTS MEN FROM RECEIVING THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH. St. Paul traces back the bad condition of those who reject the love of the truth to the fact that they "had pleasure in unrighteousness." The pleasures of sin cannot exist side by side with the love of the truth. Evil hates the light. (Joh_3:19) Moralcorruption has no sympathy for the lofty thirst for truth of a pure soul. Hence it may be concluded that indifference to truth is a sign of moral evil. The corrupt life is a false life, and its departure from truth reveals the baseness of the character beneath. This is why the rejection of the truth is culpable. Intellectual doubt is of quite a different character. Indeed, it often arises from genuine love of truth, while self-satisfied orthodoxy is often quite indifferent to verifiable facts, preferring respectable error to painful truth.
III THE PENALTY OF REJECTING THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH IS INCAPACITY TO KNOW TRUTH FROM ERROR. God punishes men in this condition by sending "them a working of error, that they should believe a lie." This is an awful fate. Truth is too precious a pearl to be cast before swine. They who do not love it shall not have it. Liars become incapable of knowing truth. The habit of indifference to truth so grows upon some people that the whole idea of truth becomes obscure and meaningless to them, and they ask with Pilate, half bewildered, half scornful, "What is truth?" Is not this a veritable destruction the spiritual eye blinded and burnt out by the fires of falsehood and unrighteousness; the highest intellectual faculty, that of grasping truth, killed by corruption and falsehood? God save us all from this hideous doom! W.F. A,
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10. Deceivableness of unrighteousness. Unrighteous delusions which will be…
10. Deceivableness of unrighteousness. Unrighteous delusions which will be accepted by its votaries, them that perish. Those that perish, receive not the love of the truth. They have a disinclination to receive it.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that…
and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved . [Antichrist comes with lies, to those who love not the truth as to right and wrong, etc., that they may be saved by it; but sentence themselves to perish by preferring that deception leading to unrighteousness--which makes unrighteousness appear the better course.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Rom 1:16").
saved
(See Scofield "Rom 1:16").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.