Who Is The Restrainer?

"...he who now restrains will restrain
until he is taken out of the way.
AND THEN the lawless one will be revealed..."
2nd Thessalonians 2:7-8

Who Is The Restrainer that is holding back the revealing of the Antichrist?

It is not the Holy Spirit.

We know that no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 12:3), so the Holy Spirit has to remain when the church is removed. If the Holy Spirit were taken out of the way, no one would be saved from that point on. We know there will be multitudes of people saved during the Tribulation, so the Holy Spirit is on the earth then, which means the Holy Spirit is NOT the restrainer referred to in this passage because He has to be here to bring the Tribulation saints to Christ.

Then who is taken out of the way?
Who is hindering the mystery of iniquity?
Who IS the restrainer?

The one restraining evil is the Body of Christ on earth. The believers in Jesus, the Body of Christ, is restraining the evil on the earth.

The believers in Jesus Christ are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
The believers in Jesus Christ are to occupy until Jesus comes.
The believers in Jesus Christ are hindering the working of iniquity.

Yes, it is the Spirit of God within the believers who restrains, but when the believers are removed, the Holy Spirit still remains here so that others can be saved even during the Tribulation.

If the believers weren’t here all wickedness would have free reign without any restraint whatsoever. We have seen, especially in the past recent years, the almost unbelievable advance of evil. People in previous generations would never have believed that the time would come when women were ENCOURAGED to murder their unborn babies, even full-term babies no less! People in previous generations would never have believed the day would come when lesbians married to lesbians would be pastors of churches. People in previous generations would never have believed children would be encouraged to change their gender, or that men who have done so would by law be allowed in women's bathrooms. It is born-again believers who push back against these evils, who cry out against this insanity, who do all they can to restrain the advance of evil.

. The restrainer restrains.
. Then the Rapture removes born-again believers.
. THEN the Antichrist is revealed.

“And now you know what is RESTRAINING,
that he (the Antichrist) may be revealed IN HIS OWN TIME.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work,
only he who now restrains will restrain until he is taken out of the way.
AND THEN the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth
and destroy with the brightness of his coming.”
2nd Thessalonians 2:6-8

It is the Church, the Body of Christ, who are crying out, who are resisting evil, who are is testifying to the lost, who are preaching the Gospel and calling to people to come to the Lord and be saved. And it is the Church who will be taken out of the way so that the Antichrist may arise.

"The lawless one," the Antichrist, will be revealed when there isn’t a single righteous person left on earth to restrain him. In fact, those who are left behind will welcome him:

“I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me;
if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.”
John 5:43

The Rapture is the next thing to take place in Bible prophecy, and the signs of the impending Tribulation are all before us, so we know the Rapture is near because it precedes it. If you haven't settled your eternity with Jesus Christ, do it now - while there is still time.

"...the night is coming when no one can work."
John 9:4

MORE:
The Rapture