Years ago, I went to counseling to work out some brokenness in my life. I will never forget what the counselor said. “You can think a thousand thoughts each day, but it’s what you do with those thoughts that matters.” I have remembered those words as I think what seems like thousands of thoughts each day. Some of us can agree, our thought life never ends.
Our verse of the day comes from 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.
” For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
Thoughts. We all have them every single day. But what is the Apostle Paul saying in the above passage? What does he mean when he says to take every thought captive to obey Christ?
Paul’s opponents were accusing Paul of walking according to the flesh. In other words, he had no supernatural power, and Paul admitted to as much. I don’t have any supernatural power either. I’m tracking with Paul so far.
The weapons Paul would use would destroy lofty opinions and opposing arguments of his critics. He had a three-fold plan.
- Paul would demolish the fortresses, the false reasoning and arrogant arguments that keep people from a true knowledge of God.
- Next, he would take captive wrong thinking with the goal of conforming that thinking to the gospel.
- Finally, he would punish those who remained disobedient upon his arrival. Firm rebuke is sometimes needed to build up the church.
It’s not that the Christian needs to force every thought to be pleasing to Christ. Rather the picture seems to be that we want to thwart every single hostile plan of battle so that there will be allegiance to Christ.
The Corinthian church needed to recognize and support spiritual disciple else; it would remain largely ineffective. Paul’s detractors were trying to cast doubt on his apostolic authority in an attempt to undermine his credibility in the church.
What happens to those who fall prey to that kind of spiritual warfare? Believers who are not strong in their faith can fall away and fall for anything.
We must stand firm in our faith. Be careful not to allow your thoughts or anyone else’s thoughts to thwart the gospel of Christ crucified. When we allow ungodly thoughts we or others think to take permanent residence in our lives, we open ourselves to the bondage of sin.
Take every thought captive to Christ. Seek him daily and stay in the Word.
Blessings!
The Gospel:
1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received; that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,”
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