The Lawless One, also identified as the man of sin and the son of perdition, is the figure whose revelation marks the culmination of the great apostasy. Paul describes him as one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or worshiped, seating himself in the temple of God and proclaiming himself to be God. His coming occurs according to the working of Satan and is accompanied by all power, signs, and lying wonders together with all unrighteous deception directed at those who perish because they refused the love of the truth. For this reason God sends them strong delusion so that they believe the lie and are condemned for taking pleasure in unrighteousness. The Lord will ultimately consume him with the breath of His mouth and destroy him by the brightness of His coming. Paul situates the Lawless One within the ongoing mystery of lawlessness, a force already active in the first century yet destined to reach its height when the restraining element is removed. That restraint is the opposite of lawlessness, namely the law of God with its fixed and absolute standards that have been infused into human society since Eden. From the beginning humanity has shown an impulse toward lawlessness, evident in Adam and Eve, Cain, the generation before the Flood, and later in Israel when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Throughout history this impulse has been held in check by the counter-influence of God's law mediated through patriarchs, prophets, the nation of Israel, the church, and even the residual traditions of the broader culture. As those biblical and traditional standards decline, lawlessness gains ground unchecked. The same dynamic prepares the way for the Lawless One today. Modern conditions that rewire thought processes, especially among the young, produce minds less able to weigh evidence or recognize absolute truth and therefore more susceptible to unrighteous deception. This progressive impairment of rational and moral discernment accelerates the very conditions Paul foresaw, allowing the mystery of lawlessness to intensify until the restraint is taken away and the Lawless One is revealed.