2 Corinthians 10:3-6
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
We exist in the physical realm in the form of a human body - the flesh - which contains our unregenerated human nature that is prone to sin and opposed to God. But we also exist in the spiritual realm in the form of a spirit - a regenerated spirit if we've accepted Christ as our Saviour - which is that part of our being that is able to relate to God.
Paul is saying that we must use spiritual weapons to bring our physical bodies into submission to God. Those spiritual weapons are mighty through God to demolish our strong holds (anything on which we rely to oppose God).
The first military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God". This literally means to demolish human reasoning and philosophies that have become barriers against the knowledge of God. Isaiah 55:9 says, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." We need to recognize that God's thoughts are higher than the thoughts of man. When man's philosophies oppose God's knowledge, we are to demolish them so that we can receive the knowledge of God.
For example, the theory of evolution opposes God's account of creation as told in the very first chapter of the Bible. What a strong hold! A person that accepts man's philosophy of evolution over God's account of creation has erected a barrier against the most basic and fundamental knowledge of God. And not only against creation, but against all that follows in the Bible. How can the knowledge of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ break through that barrier?
The second military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ". This literally means to capture your own mind and force it to obey Christ. Sounds easy? It's not. It would be if my mind only generated a couple of thoughts a day. But thousands of thoughts run through my mind every day - they stream by so fast, I can't even type fast enough to capture them on paper. Capturing every thought is difficult because it's constantly demanding.
It's like an super thorough internet filter. When each and every url has to be checked for content before it's viewed, it slows down the processing speed. So it is with our thoughts; when we capture every thought and check it for content before we use it, it will slow down our thought process. And that will slow down our communication process. But that's okay - because James 1:19 says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." Being slow to speak certainly includes the idea of checking our thoughts first to be sure they're obedient to Christ before we let them roll off our tongues.
The spiritual battle we wage
against our own sin
is won or lost
in our own minds.
Finally, the third military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience". Literally this means having a spiritual fitness, a preparedness, to protect and defend against all disobedience (foreign and domestic). As a soldier builds and maintains his physical readiness for the rigors of physical battle, we are to build and maintain our spiritual readiness for the rigors of spiritual battle. Sometimes we will have to defend and protect against our own disobedience; sometimes against the disobedience of others that threatens to ensnare us or our fellow soldiers.
So what builds the spirit? The same thing that builds the physical body - food, water, rest, exercise, resistance, discipline. Our spiritual food is the Word of God. Our spiritual water is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our spiritual rest - the assurance of our salvation by faith not works. Our spiritual exercise and resistance - the temptations and trials that we encounter and push through and overcome. As James 1:2-4 says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Our spiritual discipline - obedience to Christ.
Temptations and trials
that try our faith
also work to make us
spiritually complete.
The life of a soldier during wartime is not easy. Neither is the life of a Christian who is daily fighting a spiritual battle against sin. Our enemy is bringing the battle to us every day of our lives - are we engaging the enemy or just surrendering?
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
We exist in the physical realm in the form of a human body - the flesh - which contains our unregenerated human nature that is prone to sin and opposed to God. But we also exist in the spiritual realm in the form of a spirit - a regenerated spirit if we've accepted Christ as our Saviour - which is that part of our being that is able to relate to God.
Paul is saying that we must use spiritual weapons to bring our physical bodies into submission to God. Those spiritual weapons are mighty through God to demolish our strong holds (anything on which we rely to oppose God).
The first military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God". This literally means to demolish human reasoning and philosophies that have become barriers against the knowledge of God. Isaiah 55:9 says, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." We need to recognize that God's thoughts are higher than the thoughts of man. When man's philosophies oppose God's knowledge, we are to demolish them so that we can receive the knowledge of God.
For example, the theory of evolution opposes God's account of creation as told in the very first chapter of the Bible. What a strong hold! A person that accepts man's philosophy of evolution over God's account of creation has erected a barrier against the most basic and fundamental knowledge of God. And not only against creation, but against all that follows in the Bible. How can the knowledge of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ break through that barrier?
The second military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ". This literally means to capture your own mind and force it to obey Christ. Sounds easy? It's not. It would be if my mind only generated a couple of thoughts a day. But thousands of thoughts run through my mind every day - they stream by so fast, I can't even type fast enough to capture them on paper. Capturing every thought is difficult because it's constantly demanding.
It's like an super thorough internet filter. When each and every url has to be checked for content before it's viewed, it slows down the processing speed. So it is with our thoughts; when we capture every thought and check it for content before we use it, it will slow down our thought process. And that will slow down our communication process. But that's okay - because James 1:19 says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." Being slow to speak certainly includes the idea of checking our thoughts first to be sure they're obedient to Christ before we let them roll off our tongues.
The spiritual battle we wage
against our own sin
is won or lost
in our own minds.
Finally, the third military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience". Literally this means having a spiritual fitness, a preparedness, to protect and defend against all disobedience (foreign and domestic). As a soldier builds and maintains his physical readiness for the rigors of physical battle, we are to build and maintain our spiritual readiness for the rigors of spiritual battle. Sometimes we will have to defend and protect against our own disobedience; sometimes against the disobedience of others that threatens to ensnare us or our fellow soldiers.
So what builds the spirit? The same thing that builds the physical body - food, water, rest, exercise, resistance, discipline. Our spiritual food is the Word of God. Our spiritual water is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our spiritual rest - the assurance of our salvation by faith not works. Our spiritual exercise and resistance - the temptations and trials that we encounter and push through and overcome. As James 1:2-4 says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Our spiritual discipline - obedience to Christ.
Temptations and trials
that try our faith
also work to make us
spiritually complete.
The life of a soldier during wartime is not easy. Neither is the life of a Christian who is daily fighting a spiritual battle against sin. Our enemy is bringing the battle to us every day of our lives - are we engaging the enemy or just surrendering?
No comments:
Post a Comment