Spiritual Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NKJV)
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Every believer in Christ Jesus has now entered a war. This war is not, as verse 4 tells, a physical war, but one of the mind. All who know Christ as savior are now on the enemy’s direct hit list because they are now God’s possession. They are also the instruments that God uses to spread His word.

We need to beware, the devil works deceptively, viciously and at the times that we least expect it. He does this by putting thoughts into our minds when we are weakest. He knows our every point of weakness and seeks to destroy and kill every thought that is good or right. He seeks to divert our thoughts from God and toward evil. He does this by pointing out what we are lacking and how incomplete our life is without that particular point of temptation.

If we entertain these kinds of thoughts the devil will gain a toehold in our minds. This can be removed easily by resisting the devil. But by continuing to entertain these ideas, he then gains a foothold. A foothold is a place the devil can stand and move around. If we do not properly deal with these destructive patterns, they will become an established pattern and turn into a stronghold.

Paul tells us in vs. 5 how to fight these fiery darts to our mind. “Casting down” has the idea of throwing something away with the intent of destroying it. We need to cast down (swiftly dismiss) the thoughts that the devil puts into our minds with vengeance. These kinds of thoughts that the devil implants in our minds come in the form of doubt, fear, guilt, loneliness, unforgiveness and many other destructive forms. Dismiss them quickly or they will gain a stronger hold over time. The greatest problem we have is that these thoughts are so subtle and they come when we least expect them.

We not only need to quickly and vengefully dismiss improper thoughts in our mind, but we need to seek passionately for the thoughts on which God wants us to dwell. The idea of “bring into captivity” has the idea of putting something into secure holding. We need to grab onto God’s desire of love, joy, peace and obedience to Him. Once we have these thoughts we need to seek them with all our heart and mind. Paul tells us, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things”, (Phil. 4:8, NKJV). Thinking on these thoughts needs to dominate our mind and not thoughts of vengeance, bitterness, unforgiveness and disobedience to God. If we spend all our time thinking on honorable thoughts and His word, we will not have time to do anything else.

Thoughts, comments, objections.



Daniel A. Smith