Does God Cause An Individual To Believe A Lie?

An individual once asked, “In 2 Thessalonians 2:11, it states that God will send people a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. My question is, Does God cause an individual to believe a lie?”

The text of 2 Thessalonians 2:11 KJV states: “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.“

Since God cannot lie (Titus 1:2 ; cf. 2 Timothy 2:13; Hebrews 6:13-18), He logically cannot be the author of lies, nor does He cause an individual to believe a lie (James 1:13).

In the Bible, God is sometimes represented as actively doing something, when He only allows or permits something to occur (cf. Jeremiah 4:10; Jeremiah 14:9-10; Ezekiel 20:25). As free moral agents, God has given man the ability to “choose” whether or not to believe a lie, or to come to know and understand His truth (cf. Joshua 24:14-15; John 8:31-32; Ephesians 3:1-4; Ephesians 5:15-17).

When dishonest folks willingly “choose” to close their ears to God’s truth (cf. Acts 5:27-33; Acts 7:51-54), God will not force anyone to believe His truth. He will honor their decision to believe error or a lie if they are inclined to do so (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10,12).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets