It may seem that Paul’s main method of warfare is in the mind! 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 says, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete, (from Mental Warfare? – www.skipmoen.com).
Remember the Greek focus is changing our thinking in our mind (nous). In verse 3 and 4 Paul acknowledges we are in the flesh in this world, but our battle is not of the flesh. We are to use spiritual weapons to defeat the enemy. Paul teaches against reasoning (speculations) and pride (lofty things). He can’t mean mental weapons verses mental opponents which would mean the weapons of this world.
Our war is to use the “knowledge of God.” The Greek word is (gnosis), but the Hebrew word is (yada.) Yada is intimately knowing God and his Word. Therefore, anything that opposes his Word and the living God must be destroyed because it leads to speculation and lofty things and eventually leads to lawlessness.
Paul says to take captive every thought. It literally means take prisoners of war. It does not mean to execute or erase them. It means to render them powerless. They are harmless now because they are in prison. The battle is not thinking disobedient thoughts, but not performing them. We fight with spiritual weapons, not human intervention. Paul says to employ the knowledge of God in this fight. He wants us to live his Word, God’s revelation of Himself. It means to do what God asks regardless of what I think about it. The solution to mental struggles is physical compliance.
In verse 6 Paul says to punish all disobedience which means an outward behavior that is out of alignment with a standard. Lawlessness required punishment which led to repentance, restoration, and then obedience. One major key to spiritual warfare is obedience.
I try to keep the prison door shut by praising Him and practicing what he asks of me. When I stop focusing on him and his Word and disregard his sovereignty the prison door opens. Keeping focused on worship, his Word, and yada (intimate covenant relationship) renders the enemy harmless. The enemy’s screaming, name calling, lies, and distractions cannot affect me unless I allow my focus to leave him and listen to all the garbage.
My weapons are now the Word of God which was used by Jesus in the wilderness against satan. If God’s words flow from my mouth, the prison door stays shut. So, whenever we hear the person in prison getting noisy either in our head, others, the media, or through any form of technology, let’s speak his Word and do spiritual warfare the way Paul must have done it! What are some of your favorite warfare scriptures to quote?
In His Covenant Love,
