2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (NKJV) 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
We have been studying James 4:7 for some time. In our last post, we looked at the fact that we often try to fight the wrong enemy in the wrong arena. We try to fight people, or governments or whatever thing we perceive as the problem in the natural. Our weapons are not carnal and will not function if we try to use them in that areana. If we use the weapons God has given us in the arena for which they were designed, we can make a difference.
What is the nature of our weapons. Let us begin by looking at today’s verse more closely. The first line is important. Paul reminds us that we “walk in the flesh.” We live in this flesh and blood world. It is hard for us to understand that we are not limited by what we can see. When we were received Jesus as our Lord and savior, our inner man, the part created to be joined vitally to God was, born again. The sin nature that separated us from God at the deepest and truest level of our being was dealt with and we became new creatures in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17-21.) We are now able to relate to the invisible world as well as the visible.
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NKJV) 18while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
It is hard for us to accept that we can impact the visible through our connection to the invisible, but that is exactly what Paul is saying. We do not war in the flesh. Yet what we see in the flesh is what seems most real to us. We often try to solve problems in the flesh, and we try to resist in the flesh. When we do, we are out of our arena. We are operating in the very arena where the devil still has influence and control. We must learn not to do that.
Paul goes on to say that the weapons at our disposal are not carnal. This word means that our weapons do not pertain to the flesh. They are not bodily and they are not temporal. That is an interesting word. It means time-based. Our weapons are not bound by time any more than they are by the limitations of our flesh. They will work according to God’s timeframe, which is eternal. Nevertheless, Paul declares that they are powerful.
It is easy to see why we do not think of these “spiritual weapons” as particularly effective or relevant. It seems that the things we need to change are always “time-based” and carnal. How can weapons we cannot see change what we can see. The answer is that they change them by faith.
Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith was designed by God to bridge the gap or make the connection between the seen and the unseen. Our weapons are powerful, but that power is released when we believe in them and apply them according to that belief. To fight or resist the devil with any other weapons is always ineffective. When we start in the spirit, even if the Lord leads us to use “carnal” things, they are not carnal weapons because they are directed by the spirit not the flesh.
What are these weapons able to do? They pull down strongholds. The word translated strongholds means fortifications or castles. It can figuratively imply arguments, and it certainly means that here. However, I believe that when we use them to pull down arguments, they are also able to break strongholds in our thinking and ultimately strongholds in our visible life.
In verse 5, Paul gives us a clear picture of what our weapons do and how they work. He tells us to cast down arguments and any “high thing” that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. What is the knowledge of God Paul is referring to. It is what we know to be true about God and his nature. Where does this knowledge come from. It comes from His written word as it is revealed by his Spirit.
When we read the Word of God and meditate on it in the spirit, the Holy Spirit, the one Jesus called the comforter, leads us to the truth of it by revealing it to us (John 16:13-16.) The Word of God means what it says and says what it means. The Word of God is also a living thing (Hebrews 4:12.) Although it never changes, the Holy Spirit will lead us to the truth that applies to our lives at the time we need it. When God spoke it, he did not speak to one people or one time only. He spoke it to all people at all times.
How do I wield this weapon? I cast down every argument that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. The KJV uses the word imaginations instead of arguments. Each of those words give us a part of the picture that reveals what we are casting down. First, we must cast down arguments. These are the thoughts and words that say the Word of God is not true. They say that God does not do things like that anymore. They say that God will never do something like that for you. If the Word of God says that God will do it and if he ever has done it, we can declare this argument irrelevant, null and void.
We also must deal with imaginations. We might call this worry. We imagine all the bad things that will happen to us. The Word says that God is my healer or my provider, but we imagine all the reasons he will not provide for us. Both the arguments and the imaginations must be cast down. The word for cast down means to lower with violence; literally demolish. This is not a picture of a passive action. It is a picture of actively resisting the devil’s attempts to fill our minds with arguments that exalt themselves against the truth that God has revealed to us. We must recognize them as the lies they are an actively remove them from our minds and replace them with the promises of the Word of God.
Over the years I have taught this by illustrating the process by taking hold of an empty water bottle and, with all my might, take it from my head and throw it to the ground. At the same time declaring the truth of the Word of God, reminding myself and the devil that I choose what I think.
The next phrase is also very descriptive. I must capture these thoughts and bring them into captivity in Christ. I see these thoughts as mice running around my house. I will not just let them run around spreading filth and disease in my home. I trap them, capture them and get them out of my house. We must do the same to the arguments, imaginations and any high thing that tries to make itself more important in our thinking than the truth of the Word of God.
This is not a one-time thing. We are talking about resisting the devil. Paul calls these things the weapons of our warfare. We are fighting for our faith through the application of the Word of God to our minds and by extension our actions. I have applied this process often in my life. Sometimes I have had to capture those critters again and again until I finally eliminate them from my thinking. It may take hours and days or weeks and months, but I eventually come to the point where the truth of the “knowledge of God” rules and my outward life begins to reflect the truth that has been revealed in me.
That is how our weapons work, but Paul uses the plural because there are many weapons God has given us to accomplish his purpose. We will look at more next time.
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