II THESSALONIANS 2:6-7

One Bible teacher who visited our home study group explained to us that this verse means that the Holy 

Spirit is the restraining force that is now holding back evil; He will be removed from the earth at the 

rapture of the Church. 

 

This idea is given nowhere else in the Bible, which should make us dubious right off the bat, and 

nowhere is the restraint of evil stated as a role for the Holy Spirit. Wanamaker (The Epistles to the 

Thessalonians, p. 249-254) says that “these verses are among the most problematic texts in the whole 

Pauline corpus.” That is the second reason one should be very cautious about making absolute 

pronouncements regarding its meaning. 

 

Any survey of standard commentaries will give at least 4-8 possible views on this subject. Some do not 

even mention the possibility that the Holy Spirit is the restraining factor, Hendricksen rejects it out of 

hand, and others such as John Stott (The Gospel and the End of Time) and Peter Cousins (The 

International Bible Commentary, F.F. Bruce, ed.) mention it only to reject it in favor of  another 

explanation. 

 

The identification of the restraining force with the Holy Spirit is explanation probably stemmed 

originally from notes in the Scofield Reference Bible. It is still taught by some modern 

Dispensationalists. (Thomas L. Constable, The Bible Knowledge Commentary)  However, Payne says 

that many others in that theological camp now reject this idea and say that the Holy Spirit will continue 

to be active on the earth during the tribulation (Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy, p. 565).

 

Complicating the interpretation of this passage is the fact that two different participles, one neuter and 

one masculine, are employed for the restraining power in question. This may indicate that, in fact, there 

is both a thing and a person doing the restraining. As Wanamaker explains, this teaching may have 

been very clear to the Thessalonian church at the time since Paul is now rehashing ideas he presented 

when he was present earlier. Unfortunately, we were not around to hear his clarification.