I. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and the meaning of apostasia  
   A. The warning not to be deceived about the day of the Lord  
      1. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 is read as a comfort to believers who are troubled by claims that the day has already come  
      2. The event before that day is an identifiable first occurrence, not an obscure or empire-wide condition  
   B. Translation and semantic range of apostasia  
      1. RSV "rebellion" and NKJV "falling away" reflect the word apostasia  
      2. The word is examined by etymology, but compound parts do not automatically determine meaning  
      3. Scholarly consensus is acknowledged, yet the context is judged to resist "rebellion" as the best sense here  
   C. Lexical evidence from Greek usage  
      1. Moulton and Milligan, Matthew 5:31, and Deuteronomy 24 are used to show legal uses such as divorce, quittance, renunciation, and separation  
      2. Liddell and Scott is used to survey broader secular Greek senses: defection, revolt, departure, disappearance, distinction, distance, and separation  
      3. Related images include military mutiny, a bill of divorcement, a restraining order, a loosened bandage, and sails removed from a mast  
   D. Interpretive conclusion from the word study  
      1. Apostasia is taken as "departure" or "standing away" rather than a generalized apostasy  
      2. The word implies a prior association followed by separation  
      3. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the departure is proposed as the rapture of the church  
      4. This interpretation is argued to fit the passage's logic and the Thessalonians' need for reassurance  

II. 2 Thessalonians 2:5-7 and the restraining of the man of lawlessness  
   A. The Thessalonians already knew the referent from prior teaching  
      1. 2 Thessalonians 2:5 shows Paul had already told them these things in person  
      2. The same pattern appears in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15, where what was taught by word and epistle must be held fast  
      3. False words and false epistles are contrasted with the real apostolic message  
   B. The man of lawlessness  
      1. "Man of sin" is treated as "man of lawlessness" from 2 Thessalonians 2:3  
      2. Anomia is explained as being beyond or above law, not merely morally bad  
      3. The figure is compared with dictators and rulers who exempt themselves from the laws they impose on others  
   C. The restraining principle and its removal  
      1. 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 is read as describing a present restraint on the man of lawlessness  
      2. The departure must occur before his revelation  
      3. The church's presence on earth is proposed as the restraint until taken away  
      4. Once the restraint is removed, the man of lawlessness is revealed in his own time  

III. Application, eschatological comfort, and fidelity to the word  
   A. The Thessalonians' concern is answered by the order of events  
      1. The day of the Lord cannot come until the man of lawlessness is revealed  
      2. He cannot be revealed until the departure occurs first  
      3. This protects believers from being shaken by claims that the day has already arrived  
   B. The tribulation and the believer's posture  
      1. The passage grounds later discussion of the tribulation and the Antichrist  
      2. The presence of the church is said to restrain the outbreak of evil until God's appointed time  
   C. Final exhortation  
      1. Believers are warned not to be deceived on eschatology or anything else  
      2. Stability comes from God's word, the apostolic epistle, and the truth taught by God's authorized messengers  
      3. The goal is steadfastness in faith and refusal to depart from it  

Summarizing Topics  
1. Apostasia as departure  
2. Lawless man restrained  
3. Word-based stability  

Bible Passages Most Explored  
2 Thessalonians 2:1-7; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15  
Matthew 5:31; Deuteronomy 24:1-4  
Joshua 22:22; Daniel 3:32