“For though we live in the body, we do not wage
war in an unspiritual way, since the weapons of our warfare are not
worldly, but are
powerful through God
for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every
high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking
every thought captive to obey Christ. And we are
ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience has been confirmed.” (2
Corinthians 10:3-6 HCSB)
I
don’t like to lose—at anything. If I am
playing my grandchildren in a game of Old Maid, I try to beat them. Some might think I am a bit competitive. They are wrong—I am a lot competitive! But, these are just games. There is an area, however, that isn’t a game
and we dare not lose because the cost of defeat is so high—that is spiritual
warfare. Yet, too often, we yield to
temptation, surrender to sin and feel utterly downcast—defeated by the Devil. We may have even settled for this, convinced
we just can’t win.
Paul
says that is wrong! We can wage winning
warfare! He did, others have and we
may. The Corinthian church faced
spiritual attacks and so Paul lays out a battle plan for them to overcome their
opposition. This is our path to our victory
as well.
We
must first see THE SPHERE OF CONFLICT.
“For though we live in the body, we do not wage
war in an unspiritual way, since the weapons of our warfare are not
worldly, but are
powerful through God
for the demolition of strongholds.” (v.3-4)
If you are not in the right theater of
operations, then you cannot fight the foe.
Let’s go back to D-Day in World War II.
Everything is set for an assault on the beaches of Normandy Australia
Neither will we experience victory if we head out
to fight a spiritual foe in an unspiritual way.
Our theater of operations is not fought out in the flesh with carnal
weapons. Rather, our conflict is in the
spirit world. Our war is against
error. The weapons we have are
spiritual—and the primary offensive weapon we have is the Sword of the
Spirit—which is the Word of God (see Eph.6:10-18).
Remember how King Saul tried to dress David up in
his armor to do battle with Goliath? It
didn’t fit—God had other means. The large
sword of a sovereign would not have suited the hand of David, but the little
stone in a slingshot brought the giant to the ground.
Often, in “unspiritual” ways—that is by fleshly
effort, we try to oppose a spiritual foe.
We grit our teeth, stiffen our spine, flex our biceps and resolve to win
the next time. We just need more
commitment—better resolve—and we shouldn’t be surprised that we are whipped
again. Now, there is certainly a place
for commitment and resolve, but it must be grace empowered commitment and
Scripturally equipped resolve. The
source of strength in spiritual battle is the Spirit of God who uses the Word
of God to bring to bear the power of God for winning warfare. Left to our own, try as we might, we are
impotent to overcome the Dragon.
Where is the battlefield? Don’t we need to show up in the right sphere
of conflict? This spiritual war is
fought out in the space between our ears.
It is the battle for the mind, against error, and won with the weapon of
truth. This is suggested in terms like,
“arguments,” “high-minded,” “against the knowledge of God,” and “taking every
thought captive” in verses 4-5 of our text.
With that, let us march on with THE STRATEGY OF
CONQUEST.
“since the weapons of our warfare are not
worldly, but are
powerful through God
for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every
high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking
every thought captive to obey Christ.” (v.4-5)
You not only need to show up in the right sphere,
you need a proper strategy. You are
going to assault a Satanic stronghold.
What is a stronghold? The Corinthians would have understood. On high ground, there was a citadel, heavily
fortified where the citizens of Corinth
Thus, in the spiritual realm, this is an area
where the Deceiver is firmly entrenched.
Satan has built barricades, and through time has fortified the
area. It is an way of thinking that will
not easily be brought down. As we have
already noted, with human methods, it cannot be vanquished.
The depraved mind of man, deceived by the Devil,
is constantly devising methods foe putting another brick in the wall of this
stronghold in our thinking. It is so
subtle—so gradual—we may scarcely notice it happening. How is it done? A little error here, a carnal thought there,
day after day through magazines, movies and media of all sorts—through peer
pressure and the propaganda of secular educators—wrong patterns of thinking
develop and those errors get entrenched.
Belief shapes behavior. No wonder
we are defeated!
It is amazing to me at times what some professing
Christians believe. Their thinking has
been shaped by the world. Their minds
have strongholds. Paul saw this at Corinth
The old saying attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson
goes like this, “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you
reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you
reap a destiny.” It all begins with the kind of seed sown in the soil of
our minds, and the fruit of destiny results.
So, we must get to the root of the problem if we would stop this harvest
of bad habits.
Otherwise, we are just mowing dandelions! Picture springtime with the grass turning
green and growing. The lawn becomes
lush—but, then these little yellow flowers begin to pop up—dandelions. So you
dutifully cut them down and they return, go to seed and spread. The only way to get rid of them is to kill
them at the root.
Worldly ways of thinking are at the root of our wrong actions and
wicked habit patterns. These set our lifestyle. You can attempt to alter your direction and
adjust your habit patterns, but you can only modify the surface at best. Inside you will be the same and eventually
the “dandelions” of deception will resurface—and even proliferate.
We have often confused repentance with reformation. We saw repentance as changing our conduct,
and sincere Christians will try to change their conduct—that’s
reformation. But, this only ends in frustration,
as we find ourselves rededicating and relapsing, then rededicating and
relapsing—a vicious cycle. Finally, we may
just give up and accept defeat, “Well, nobody’s perfect” and accept this as the
norm, or we hide out behind self-righteousness, becoming a Pharisee—a
legalistic hypocrite who outwardly may appear religious but is inwardly full of
evil. God’s purpose for you is
neither—it is repentance.
Repentance literally means, “a change of mind.” Doubtless that leads to a change in action,
but it must begin with a change in thinking.
That’s where the war is waged and it is the Sword of the Spirit—the Word
of God—that must be used to overcome “arguments.” Get your thinking straight and your walk will
be.
You don’t out-argue the Devil.
Eve tried to dialogue with him, and she was out-flanked. What did Jesus do? He quoted Scripture! He used the weapon of truth to chase the
Deceiver away. He didn’t try to
out-argue that subtle Serpent. Our
Lord’s thinking was saturated with Scripture and so He repelled these
high-minded ideas (and they sounded so reasonable, even somewhat Biblical)
which were contrary to the knowledge of God.
Christ’s every thought was held captive to obedience.
That is to be our strategy. We
are to repent—to change our thinking—by meditating on the Word of God and
applying it with faith and obedience.
Every wrong idea is to be bombarded with Bible truth until it is
demolished. Then rather than the world
molding our thinking, our minds will be shaped by Scripture. This is what Paul means in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you
may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
We do not battle alone. Another important dimension of this winning
warfare is THE SUPPORT OF COMRADES.
“And we are ready to punish any disobedience,
once your obedience has been confirmed.” (v.6)
Paul expected the church body to confront the
false teaching which had built a stronghold of error among some. They were to be obedient to truth by
confronting deception. When the
stronghold was brought down, then the Apostle would come in and with a “mopping
up” operation, eliminate the last of the resistance.
Even a stalwart soldier is in danger of defeat,
if he or she must stand alone. We need
our comrades in arms to fight alongside us.
There is strength in numbers. We
are encouraged by the fellowship of the saints.
Morale is boosted in battle when we have others charging the strongholds
in support.
When Paul spoke of putting on God’s armor and
standing for Christ, he mentioned how vital it was to have the prayer support
of the church. As he brought this
discussion to a conclusion in the aforementioned sixth chapter of Ephesians, he
stressed this:
“Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open
my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For
this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be
bold enough in Him to speak as I should.” (Eph.6:17-20)
If Paul needed
the support of comrades on the battlefield, then how much more do we need
that!
In these days
of intensifying spiritual deception, it is imperative that we arm ourselves
with truth and fight back against error.
There can be no tolerance of it—no “ceasefire” allowed. Here is the warning, “Now
the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart
from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings
of demons” (1 Tim.4:1). “For among them
are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened
down with sins, led along by a variety of passions, always learning
and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also
resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to the
faith.
But they will not make further progress, for
their lack of understanding will be clear to all, as theirs was also.” (2
Tim.3:6-9) “For the time will come when
they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for
themselves because they have an itch to hear something new. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to
myths.” (2 Tim.4:3-4)
It is time to take the sword from the sheath, and
demolish the strongholds of deception. This
is how to wage winning warfare.
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