How does 2 Thess. 2:10,11 work? Does God actively deceive people who willfully reject truth?

Recently, I posted:
Pastor Chuck Baldwin: A Nation of Truth Rejectors — “Churches are filled with bitterness, carnality, envy, deceit, duplicity, false accusation, greed, and cowardice due to a lack of truth. … Many of those today that are resisting and disabling truth call themselves Christians. … In reality, people who reject truth lose a whole lot more than whatever they had hoped to gain. Eventually, they lose, not only their own lives, but also the life of their country.”
In his article, Chuck stated and somewhat interpreted this 2 Thess. text:

There is a passage of Scripture that I simply must interject here: “Because they received not the love of the truth . . . God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” (II Thess. 2:10,11 KJV)

This is one of God’s universal principles: when people deliberately reject truth, God will allow them to believe lies, which always leads to ultimate destruction. I submit that is exactly where America is today. As a nation, we have rejected truth, and God is giving us over to deceit and falsehood. And what is interesting to me is the way in which many unbelievers seem to have a thirst for truth that far surpasses that of many professing Christians.

The uninterupted text states this [as a Baptist, I think Chuck Baldwin is once-saved-always-saved, which is perhaps why he ellipsed certain words that mentioned salvation]:

9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. (NKJV)

Note that most ‘Christians,’ right now are having pleasure in unrighteousness. So this is referring to most ‘Christians.’
I do believe that God can actively harden someones heart that is already hard, which seems to be what happened with Pharoah, when he was trying to decide if he would let the people go.
I think what is mostly going on is that God restrains the evil spirits as to how much they are allowed to affect people directly. Earlier in this same chapter, Paul wrote

3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. 5 Don’t you remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things? 6 Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; (WEB)

When we let the sun go down while still angry we give the Devil a place (Eph. 4), a right to reinforce this anger, probably often so it festers as hate. And only when we repent fully of this sin, like forgiving from our hearts, can we get free.
Or if we willfully lust, we open the door so lust demons can then drive the lust so this sin is much harder to break if. The demons help lust become an addiction.
So if we are completely lust free, then lust demons have no right to enter. God allows them to enter; otherwise, He restrains them to not be able to enter at all.
But as soon as we willfully lust, consciously decide “I’m going to look,” or whatever, then the demons have a right to enter and drive the lust so it’s hard not to lust. Whereas before it was much easier to not lust, to be free. I describe this process here: [Lust FREEDOM — “The Poison that Kills the Soul”] My experience: Homosexuality, heterosexuality & demonic oppression in Christians — The bad news is that demons drive lust. The good news is that demons drive lust, because…
For some reason, God decided to let the tormentors torture us in various ways when we willfully sin (including not fully forgiving, ie: Mt. 18). This can include making willful sins harder to stop.
But remember, He is waiting at the other side with arms wide open ready to empower us to overcome, when we make the cold-turkey-to-sin decision, to be free!
The Great News
What we can say for sure is that God totally restrains all demons from affecting us directly when we are living with no willful sin — including forgiving everyone from the heart. Unfortunately, almost no one is totally free from demons. But when ONE happens it will probably be fairly easy.
The “what should send us scurrying into holiness” news is that we need to realize that we are in a battle with wicked spirits who are at the ready to infest and drive our sins once we choose to commit them.
So we need to be extremely vigilant to submit to God and resist the Devil. Draw near to God and He will draw near to us (James 4). And then we can be free.
This is life or death. We are in a battle for our souls, and most are currently losing, giving demons a place, a right to control, and drive sins.
Our Great Incentive!
Knowing that we are in an active battle with invisible and totally yukky, disgusting spirits is our great incentive!
I talk a lot about who goes to heaven, which is probably rightfully the GREATEST INCENTIVE. But if we win this battle we’ll automatically go to heaven.

We must be demon free. We must obey. And when we all do our parts it will be so much easier, because the body of Christ, us believers will be strong. And the more holy we get the more His glory can come.
And then we have His tangibly felt comfort that many of us who have felt it want as fully as we can get it.
“Draw near to god and He’ll draw near to you.” This is a guaranteed principle.
Are we willing to shut all doors Randy Stonehill: “Shut De Do, Keep Out De Devil” so no demons will be able to torment us ever again?
I often mention The Red Gate Prophecy — What If I Open It Just a Little Bit? Opening up the door just a little bit allows this flood of yuck to come in like a flood, and then it’s really hard to get the gate closed again. And most ‘Christians’ are just leaving it open.
And this is how the ‘Christians’ (who were supposed to hold the sin back) opened the flood of sin and demons into our land, destroying it.
But we can shut the gate completely. When we realize what is going on, how lust demons work, how hatred demons work. Then we know that it’s not just our flesh we’re dealing with. It takes 100% cold turkey to be free. And we can do that.
And praying in tongues helps so much. Don’t let anti-Spirit people talk you out of using your #1 demon busting gift, the ability to pray perfectly with pinpoint accuracy — and we don’t even have to visualize the target — we wouldn’t want to.
I’ve had just a few visions of demons. A couple were really nasty. I’m glad that I don’t have to regularly see demons to be able to fight them by praying in the Spirit.
And when we are all operating in our unique gifts, given power and wisdom directly from the Holy Spirit, it will be so much easier to always overcome.
Are you willing to step up and determine to do whatever it takes to win your battles? We can help each other, and then when God comes in His comforting glory we will all be so happy!
Power to the peaceful — the pure in heart. They shall see God. And in God there is fullness of joy. God won’t let us be tempted above which we are able to endure. His comfort will comfort us when the sufferings of Christ flow into our lives (2 Cor. 1).
Let us engage our fights with more vigor and determination to always be totally free, to always walk in love, forgiving everyone from our hearts.
Our enemies are all demon driven. If we can understand that, to love the people always, realizing they don’t fully know what they’re doing because the enemy is so pervasive — and so invisible.

“Father, forgive them, for they no not what they do.”
May that be our prayer.

May we love everyone, forgiving all from our whole hearts.

God bless!

Jeff : )

Theme for the Third Great Awakening: Somewhere —
“We’ll find a new way of living.
We’ll find a way of forgiving –
Somehow – Someday – Somewhere!”