Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:11

"And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:" — 2 Thessalonians 2:11 (ASV)

By covering again the same ground in vv.11–12 as in vv.9–10, Paul reemphasizes the fate of rejecters of the truth and adds more information about them. Already he has shown Satan’s part in getting them to believe lies and bewildering them with deceitful measures, and he has shown their refusal to love the truth. Because they deliberately reject God, he himself will send them “a powerful delusion”; this is another way of referring to the lie (v.9) and deceit (v.10) already predicted. The end result is that they will “believe the lie.” This is their only alternative because they have refused to love the truth (v.10). They will be completely defenseless against the false claims of the lawless one (v.4) and his perversion of the true Gospel. The stanic promise that deceived Eve (Genesis 3:5) will find its ultimate fulfillment in the end-time master of deceit. They will mistake someone else and his lying promises for God and his truth.