Rapture Or Apostasy?

Q. I have heard 2 Thessalonians 2:3 “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;” interpreted in 2 ways.

1) This is the Rapture 2) This is Apostasy

I personally lean toward Apostasy because there is so much of it right now. Even looking back over the last 150 years, many cult religions have been born out of re-interpretations of the Bible, (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, etc.) What are your thoughts?

A. Up until the time of the King James translation in 1611 the Greek word now translated falling away was translated departure, and was thought to be a prophecy of the rapture. Since then it’s been viewed in terms of a great apostasy. A strict interpretation of the word means we have to see large numbers of people thought to be in the church actually abandon traditional evangelical doctrine for something else. In order to fall away from something you first have to be part of it.

This means the apostasy emerges from within the so-called church family, rather than just being the formation of cult religions outside the church. I think we saw the initial glimpses of this in the main line denominations when the notion of a personal born-again relationship with Jesus was de-emphasized in favor of other things, and are now witnessing its continuation in the so-called emerging church movement.

Don’t get me wrong. People are not relinquishing their salvation in this great apostasy. Those who fall away never had it. “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:39-40)