Winning the War for Your Mind (2 Cor 10:1-5)
Verse 3 Paul realizes that this is spiritual warfare. This is a spiritual issue, not a worldly one.
Verse 4 The implication is that Paul sees their criticism of him being rooted in a demonic stronghold.
• The word stronghold refers to a place where an enemy force can hide and launch an attack from.
o This stronghold is a collection of lies, pretensions that the enemy can uses as a place to launch attacks.
• EHV 4 Certainly, the weapons of our warfare are not those of the flesh, but weapons made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. [We tear down thoughts…..] This belongs at the end of verse 4.
• There is both a noun and a verb used to convey the idea of tearing something down that has been lifted up.
o These thoughts are taking the place of Jesus, the only one who has been truly lifted up.
o One of the definitions for this verb is, “to take down as from a cross.”
Verse 5 Many English translations use the word pretension, but it’s two words in Greek, a noun and a verb.
• A good literal translation would be: “every high thing lifted up against” (YLT)
o What is being lifted up are, arguments, human reason and thinking, lies.
o Greek passive form, which means these thoughts are being lifted up against us without our volition.
• Often the enemy lifts these lies and thoughts up against us by rubbing them up against our old wounds.
• All of these high things that have been lift up, are being set in contrast to the knowledge of God.
o When we listen to that voice or the lies, even for a few seconds, we are prone to start to believing it.
o We have made that thought or lie, higher than the truth of Jesus in our life.
And then we have the potential for a stronghold.
What do we do? Verse 5 ends with and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
• First, take captive: The word captive here means to make a prisoner, or to take captive.
o Taking that thought in your head, and making it your prisoner rather than the other way around.
• It also says take every thought captive, every thought not just the bad thoughts.
How do we take that thought captive?
• We start by grabbing a hold of that thought and not letting it roll around in our head.
• Then determine its origin.
o Is it simply from the enemy to discourage me or take me out?
Then speak against it.
o Speak the knowledge of God, for example: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
o Is it from my past, is this from a wound? Something spoken over me?
Work through healing of that wound, and you might need help with that.
• Repent if needed, if you have believed the lie, the pretension.
o Repenting breaks the power of that lie to come back.
• Then, after we take it captive, we are to make it obedient to Christ.
o I must be the one to put the pressure on that thought to force its obedience through Christ.
Winning the War for Your Mind
