v.3 "that day [the day of the Lord FROM VERSE 2! (i.e. THE TRIB!!)] will not be present if not shall have come [/taken place] ____ *FIRST* [ONE thing *first*] AND [distinctly] the man of sin BE REVEALED [he's 'revealed' AT SEAL #1 at the START of the 7-yr period we call the TRIB]"--
...at THAT point (and THAT POINT ALONE) it can then legitimately be "claimed" (truthfully) "THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD *IS PRESENT*!" (the FIRST SECOND of the Trib! [that is, 2520 days prior to the END of the Trib / Second Coming to the earth / Rev19]).
Alas, it was a "false claim" at the time of Paul's writing to them about it in the first century.
But it SEEMED reasonable [deception does that] BECAUSE of their present circumstances per 1:4!!
...at THAT point (and THAT POINT ALONE) it can then legitimately be "claimed" (truthfully) "THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD *IS PRESENT*!" (the FIRST SECOND of the Trib! [that is, 2520 days prior to the END of the Trib / Second Coming to the earth / Rev19]).
Alas, it was a "false claim" at the time of Paul's writing to them about it in the first century.
But it SEEMED reasonable [deception does that] BECAUSE of their present circumstances per 1:4!!