2 Thessalonians 2

Chapter 2 confirms two things very strongly. One, there had to be an apostasy before the second coming. The words falling away were translated from the Greek apostasia which means apostasy, revolt, to break away. The English word apostasy means the renunciation of religious belief. The second thing is how Christ allows this to happen so that people are responsible for their choices. Wrong choices allow Satan to do his work. He opposes everything that is good, makes the false seem true and the truth appear to be false. He is the master deceiver and is extremely good after thousands of years of practice. By destroying the free agency of individuals and gaining power over them, he exalts himself to a position of god and sits on his throne thinking he is god. When Christ comes, the brightness of his glory will expose Satan and his nothingness. There will be no darkness, no doubt between what is good and evil. Satan's influence will be destroyed. All untruth, all lies, all evil, all of his secret work will be revealed. The scriptures say that when Satan is revealed, we will marvel that such weakling had so much power over the world.