THE HOLY RESTRAINER

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.  Remember not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?  And now you know What withholds that he might be revealed in his time.  For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only He who now lets will let, until He be taken out of the way.  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming:  even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Th. 2:1-10).

Who is this Restrainer?  In verse six, He is described in neuter terms: "And now you know What withholds..." [lit., that which restrains].  In verse seven, He is described in masculine terms: "... only He who now lets (limits], will let until He be taken out of the way."

How can the Restrainer be both neuter and masculine?  This only makes good sense if the Restrainer be God the Holy Spirit.  He is masculine because He is the blessed third Person of the Triune Godhead.  He is neuter because the Greek word for "Spirit" (pneuma) is always neuter in gender. Thus the Bible sometimes describes the Holy Spirit in masculine terms (see Jn. 16:13-14; also notice how many times the pronoun "He" is used), and it sometimes describes the Holy Spirit in neuter terms (Rom. 8:16).

That which is restraining evil today, is the Holy Spirit, who is now dwelling in a unique and special way in the Church, which is Christ's Body (Eph. 2:22; 1 Cor. 3:16; Jn. 14:17). When the Church is removed by means of the Rapture, the indwelling Spirit of God will be taken out of the way. Just as He came on the Day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, to indwell God's children, He will "leave" with the Church when it is Raptured.  As God (Acts 5:3-5), He is omnipresent, but His presence will be as it was prior to the Dispensation of the Church Age, when His focus was on Israel.  Daniel's 70th week complete the prophecy concerning Israel (Dan. 9:24-27).

Therefore, the Church must be removed before the man of sin is revealed (Rev. 3:10).  The man of sin will be revealed when he makes a treaty with Israel (Dan. 9:27), and this will mark the beginning of Daniel's 70th week.

The Spirit in us will work through us 'til Jesus comes!