Why Legalism is a Hallmark of A Lawless Spirit
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, RSV.
“We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers–and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine” 1 Timothy 1:8-10, NIV.
If we look throughout history at recent despots and tyrants like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Mao, what is notable is the fact that all these rulers used an extensive legal system to control their people. The massive legal apparatuses their courts controlled by party loyalty rather than impartial justice legalized punishment for all types of infractions, minor and major. It was through the instrumentality of the law that they gained inordinate control over the lives and “loyalty” of their people. They held the people in subjection through threats of punishment or death, and heightened fear of exposure through an extensive network of spies. Hitler used the law to establish his dictatorship, and then passed laws that outlawed opposition parties. Later, he used his powers to legalized the inhumane treatment of the Jews.
What is common to these dictators is not only that they want absolute power over the lives of others, but that they want to extinguish freedom of thought, of speech, of opposition and true debate. They want to control human behavior and they demand ultimate and complete allegiance from all who surround them. Any person found to waver in his support is removed from power, arrested, or executed. Mao’s can you over the counter “re-education” camps were an attempt not only to control the behavior of the opposition, but to control the thoughts of the heart and mind to force them into abject obedience. In short, demagogues demand a godlike obedience that not even God requires of his subjects.
The irony is that despots use the laws of the land to justify their lawless behaviors. Hit squads, abductions, assassinations and torture become part of the arsenal of the State in its quest for security and secrecy. It isn’t just for matters of national security, but these forces of intimidation and murder are used to eliminate perceived enemies as well as those who only disagree with their policies. The extreme examples of the misuse of the law for evil purposes are genocides [the Holocaust or persecution of a race of people, the Gypsies, e.g.], forced sterilizations of people determined to be “inferior,” for imprisoning opposition parties, and for enforcing personality cults, like Maoism or Fhrer worship. In other words, the law, or the power of law, is misused by despots to cloak evil behaviors. It is this misuse of the law, to make what is evil appear to be good, that is at the heart of lawlessness.
In some ways, Hitler had the appearance of good things. He taught children to respect their elders, he restored the economy, and he suppressed public immorality. Yet at the root of his “order” was a craving for personal and absolute power over the lives of others. If we take Hitler as an example, we can see that the heart of lawlessness will flourish in a State with many laws. Laws create power, and laws misused can reinforce injustice.
Since Paul says, this “Man of Lawlessness” will be one “who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God,” we can surmise that he will have the power to enforce absolute obedience and worship over all his subjects. He can only enforce such control over people through a worldwide legal and governmental system which has the power to kill or imprison all of those who oppose him. For this reason, the “Man of Lawlessness” will have the appearance of morality and be a man of many laws.
