Lesson
15, May 19
Review:
Passage
Number One: 2 Corinthians 10:2-5
Paul and
his partners in the work of Christ had been accused of walking according to the
flesh, i.e., that the standard for their conduct was the flesh, the sinful
nature including not only its desires
or lust patterns, but also its speculations and solutions to life.
We must
always remember that the World's standard's are not
God's.
In
verses 3-5 we see the answer or defense. Paul denied their accusations (vs. 3)
and quickly rejected any such idea.
Need to
note the piling up of military terms in verses 4-5, which strongly emphasizes
that believers are soldiers of Christ in a life and death struggle, in
spiritual combat and in a spiritual war.
For a
soldier to be able to fight, he must have weapons — a reference to the things
that we as believers are to use in carrying out our ministries and daily
lives.
10:4 “for the weapons of our warfare are not
of the flesh”
- not the methods, the means, and strategies
that men naturally lean on according to the dictates of the old nature and
ideas of the world.
“But divinely powerful”
- Christian warfare must be carried on by faith in
the Lord and in the powerful weapons given to us in Christ.
“For (proj) the destruction of fortresses” or “to demolish strongholds”
“Fortresses” is “to fortify, make firm or
strong.”
- When used
figuratively in the NT, as it is here it refers to a strong system of
philosophy and reasoned arguments opposed to the true knowledge of God, therefore a false argument
Verse 5 continues Paul’s explanation and further defines what he means
by “the destruction of fortresses.”
There
are two things to be done:
First, “destroying
speculations and . . .”
“Speculations” is logismoj which
means “calculation, reasoning, argument, reflection,
thought process.”
It
refers to anything that comes from the mind, that is, the faulty, human, and
speculative reasoning of men by which they seek to live life apart from or
without the absolutes of God and therefore apart from His revelation to us in
the Word and in Jesus Christ
Man’s
ideas and strategies are not only contradictory to the Word and divine
viewpoint, but they are enemies and hindrances to the knowledge of God and what
knowing God and developing a relationship with Christ is all about.
The big
question is how can we tear down these fortresses of human reasoning, that
human viewpoint?
“Taking every thought captive . . .” shows
us how Paul tore down such exalted human reasoning that opposes the truth about
God.
“Thought” is nohma and means “thought, idea,
purpose, design.” It looks at anything that is the product of our thinking
processes.
“To the obedience of Christ” points
us to the goal, the aim in view.
It is an
obedience that stems from living in the Word and listening to the Lord.
The
foundation for obedient living and godly change is our thought life and our
beliefs upon which we base our thinking and by which we derive our attitudes
and plans of action or strategies.
Passage Number Two:
Philippians 4:8-9 What is to characterize our thinking!
We must understand that our thoughts are real and
very powerful even though they cannot be seen, weighed, or measured.
Now
Paul spells out a summary of attitudes, viewpoints, we should have as
advancing, maturing believers.
The key to the whole list is the first item on the
list, whatever is true.
- avlhqh,j >>
truth >> and it's placed first because truth is the foundation upon which
all the rest are based.
“Let your mind dwell” is literally
“these things be thinking.”
It means
“to reckon, calculate, consider, take into account.”
It was an accounting term. We are not just to think about these things, but we are to think these things.
Instead
of bitterness, revenge, frustration, fear, and all that accompanies such a
downward focus, a focus away from Him, we are to have our minds filled with
all that should flow from an ongoing focus on the Lord and the truth of His
Word.
4:9 Since Paul himself
early in their Christian life had been their teacher and example, what they had
learned from him they were to keep on practicing. He was their role model.
Please
note the context—rejoicing in the Lord, counting on God’s nearness, putting a
stop to worry or anxiety by taking things to God in prayer, and learning to
live contentedly through drawing on the strength which the Lord gives. 4:6-7