This outline below may provide guidance for understanding 2 Thess 2 and the man of lawlessness and the restrainer. This is taken straight from Guy Water’s article and is from the a-millennial (amil) approach to the end times (eschatology).

1. The Rebellion (2 Thess. 2:3).

• ‘He is likely thinking of some kind of future, marked rejection of God’s truth within the visible church.

2. The Man of Lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:3).

• ‘“Lawlessness” is common to both the man and the mystery (2:3, 7), but while the man of lawlessness is future, the mystery of lawlessness is present.

• ‘Since the “man of lawlessness” will be active within the church (the “temple of God,” 2:4), the present “lawlessness” is likely at work within the church as well. If so, then the false teaching Paul is opposing (2:1–2) is Exhibit A of that “lawlessness” in the Thessalonian church.

3. The Restrainer (2 Thess. 2:7).

• ‘Paul may be thinking, then, of the gospel message, the Word of God, ministers of the Word, the government of the church, the Spirit who indwells the church, or some combination of any of these. 

• ‘Nothing, Paul says, that takes place in the church–now or later–falls outside the providence of God.’

-Waters (TGC)

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(GSiV: GSiV Resource Page)