Love the Truth

Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12)

From this passage and others, we see that saving faith involves more than a mere assent to the truth. It involves a change in the affections. Paul says in v.10 that they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. One might think that Paul is going against the doctrine of justification by faith alone that he develops so fully in Romans. I can almost hear the objections: “Wait a minute, Paul. You said that we just had to believe the truth, not love it!” However, I think Paul would respond with v.12 and say that believing the truth and loving the truth are the same. True saving faith includes a change in affections, not just assent. You can make the connection in this text between receiving “… the love of the truth” (v.10) and “…believe the truth” (v.12). You can also make a connection between “…believe what is false” (v.11) and “…(take) pleasure in wickedness”. There is no middle ground you either “take pleasure in wickedness” or you "love...the truth”. Which is just like saying you either believe what is false or believe the truth.