¹¹For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹²in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Deep are the mysteries of God that He would send a “deluding influence” to prevent people from believing in the truth! How can this be? Yet this statement by the apostle Paul, inspired as he is by the Holy Spirit, is not unique in Scripture (see for example 1 Kings 22:22, 1 Sam. 16:14). In attempting to understand the unfathomable, we highlight a few observations.

The reason God will send a “deluding influence” finds its answer in the previous verses. The end times will be preceded by an individual who under Satanic influence will deceive people who refuse the truth of Jesus Christ. God is not the author or originator of sin. Deception began in the heart of Satan and took its entry through the serpent in the Garden of Eden. None of this happened without permission from the God of the universe, who created all things and who knows all things long before they happen.

Some teach that since God created all things, it logically follows that He created sin. But this teaching contradicts the very nature of God. For if sin is falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), acting contrary to God’s purposes and contravening God’s nature, then it is impossible for God to sin (Heb. 6:18). By definition, God is truth, and there is no principle of truth higher than God which He must obey. He is the standard.

Second, notice that God is not the one who will deceive. Yes, God is one who sends that evil influence, but that sending is completely in line with His purposes and character. As it is written elsewhere, “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper . . .” (Rom. 1:28). So God will fulfill this promise to confirm people in their delusion, in their depravity.

We must understand this not to mean that God is passive or reactionary, simply using what was initiated by Satan. No, God is proactive in the sense that He is fanning the flames to show just how evil and deceptive Satan is, and to confirm beyond any shadow of doubt that His judgment of those who reject Christ is true and good. If the book of Job teaches us anything, it is that although it seems that Satan rises up to challenge God, the truth is that God brought the challenge to Satan (Job 1:1–8). The Almighty threw down the challenge as the one who is completely in control. As Paul teaches here, God will show that to be the case at the last judgment, to remove all doubt!

Lord, I believe the truth that Jesus Christ is Your Son, the Truth.