John Calvin Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:6

"And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season." — 2 Thessalonians 2:6 (ASV)

And now what withholdeth. Τὸ κατέχον properly means an impediment or an occasion of delay here. Chrysostom, who thinks that this can only be understood as referring to the Spirit or to the Roman Empire, prefers to lean towards the latter opinion. He assigns a plausible reason: because Paul would not have spoken of the Spirit in enigmatic terms, but, in speaking of the Roman Empire, wished to avoid exciting unpleasant feelings.

He also states the reason why the state of the Roman Empire delays the revelation of Antichrist. This reason is that just as the monarchy of Babylon was overthrown by the Persians and Medes, and the Macedonians, having conquered the Persians, again took possession of the monarchy, and the Macedonians were at last subdued by the Romans, so Antichrist seized for himself the vacant supremacy of the Roman Empire. Each of these things was afterwards confirmed by actual events. Chrysostom, therefore, speaks truly as far as history is concerned.

In my opinion, however, Paul’s intention was different from this: that the doctrine of the gospel would need to be spread far and wide, until nearly the whole world was convicted of obstinacy and deliberate malice. For there can be no doubt that the Thessalonians had heard from Paul’s own mouth about this impediment, whatever kind it was, as he reminds them of what he had previously taught in their presence.

Let my readers now consider which of the two is more probable: either that Paul declared that the light of the gospel must be diffused through all parts of the earth before God would thus give free rein to Satan, or that the power of the Roman Empire stood in the way of the rise of Antichrist, since he could only break through into a vacant possession. I seem at least to hear Paul speaking about the universal call of the Gentiles—that the grace of God must be offered to all, that Christ must enlighten the whole world with his gospel, so that human impiety might be more fully attested and demonstrated. This, therefore, was the delay, until the course of the gospel should be completed, because a gracious invitation to salvation was first in order. Hence he adds, in his time, because vengeance was ripe after grace had been rejected.