Mental Warfare?
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, 2 Corinthians 10:5 NASB
Taking captive – If we read this verse from our typical Greek worldview, we will think Paul is another moral philosopher. We will think that the real battle is in the mind! We will imagine that this exhortation is about cleaning up your thoughts. And I suppose that if you are like me, you have tried to do this over and over.
So, how’s that working out for you?
Have you discovered that you no longer think about disobedient acts because you have finished the course of mental training? Are your thoughts only good and pure and righteous now? Have you left behind all those emotional and mental struggles that so often caused you to fall?
If Paul’s advice is merely psychological, then I’m afraid that he is no better mentor than the therapists we see today. The Greek worldview is preoccupied with the place of the nous, the mind, and so it focuses its attention and its efforts on changing our thinking. But what I have discovered is this: I have spent a lifetime trying to change my thinking but none of that prevents me from falling into disobedience. In fact, I might even argue that the more I think about all this, the more I am aware of my own unrighteousness and the more quickly I tell myself that it is of no use to fight.
Perhaps we need to rethink (pun intended!) what Paul is actually saying in this verse. Notice the context. Paul is speaking about how we do battle in this world. He acknowledges that we are embodied here (in the flesh). But he tells us that we are not to wage war against the enemy by the means available in the world. We are to use spiritual weapons to defeat this enemy. These weapons are divinely empowered to tear down fortresses. And that’s exactly what we are doing. We are “destroying speculations and every lofty thing” that opposes “knowledge of God.” In the Greek text, we see that Paul’s claim opposes reasoning and calculation (“speculations”) and arrogance (“lofty thing”). If this is true, then Paul cannot be asking us to use mental weapons against mental opponents. That would be the equivalent of fighting with the weapons of this world.
Paul wants us to wage war in order to uphold the “knowledge of God.” What is that? The Greek root is gnosis. It is the equivalent of the Hebrew yada’. The Hebrew meaning is very wide and essentially embraces every way that we understand and comprehend God’s character and handiwork in the world. From a rabbinical point of view (and Paul is a rabbi), yada’ means to know Torah. Anything that opposes Torah must be destroyed because anything that opposes Torah leads to reasoned calculations and arrogance. We see that opposition to Torah is lawlessness (the Greek is anomia) and lawlessness is that basis of human pride and human religion. If we do not accept God’s revealed truth, then we will become our own gods, determining for ourselves what is right and what is wrong.
Now that we have thought about this verse, what is Paul actually saying that will help us? He says that we must “take captive” every thought. In other words, we must reign in the mind. How? The verb for “take captive” is aichmalotizo. It is literally about creating prisoners of war. To take thoughts captive is to put them in jail. But notice that it does not mean to execute, remove or erase them. It means to render them powerless. A bad man in the world creates havoc so we put him in jail. He still exists but now he is no longer able to rob, steal or destroy. He has been rendered harmless because he is restrained by prison.
Now I see that my struggle is not about not thinking disobedient thoughts. It is about not performing them. I must render these temptations harmless by putting them where they cannot affect me. How do I do that? With spiritual weapons, not human intervention. Paul does not leave us on the therapist’s couch. He tells us to employ knowledge of God in this fight. He tells us to live according to Torah, God’s revelation of Himself. And living according to Torah means doing what God asks regardless of what I think about it. In other words, the solution to mental struggles is physical compliance!
Does Paul leave us with this principle, telling us to “have a good day” because we have been enlightened? Not at all! In the very next verse, he sums up his argument with the words “ready to punish all disobedience.” That cannot be a mental maneuver. Punishment implies outward, observable behavior that is out of alignment with a standard. Paul tells us that lawlessness required punishment because punishment leads to repentance and restoration and repentance and restoration lead to obedience. Once again, the secret to spiritual warfare is obedience!
Here’s what I have learned. I cannot open the prison door and let that bad man out if I am praising God and practicing what He asks of me. When I stop praising Him, when I nullify His sovereignty, then the prison door opens. But as long as I act according to His instructions, the bad man in my prison is rendered harmless. He can shake the bars, scream at me, offer bribes, but he cannot get out until I set aside God’s sovereign care for me.
What are my weapons? More prayer? More faith? More church attendance? More tithing? No! My weapons are the Word of God, effectively used by Yeshua in His temptations. As long as God’s words flow from my mouth, that prison door stays shut. Perhaps the start of this long road to obedience is to speak His words whenever the man in the jail starts making a ruckus.
Topical Index: take captive, aichmalotizo, Torah, anomia, warfare, 2 Corinthians 10:5
Amen! Thank you for the reminder.
Shalom that Surpasses
~ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. (John 14.27)
~ I (have been and) am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not “I,” but Christ! ~ and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. ~ (Galatians 2.20)
This is our solution: ~ not “I” but Christ ~ He must increase, but “I” must decrease.
It is not about “me, or myself, nor I.” It is all about Him. ~ for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things! ~
The way “up” is down. The way “out” is in. Falling deeper in love with Him. ~ For I know that in me- that is in my flesh dwells no good thing! ~ Don’t look at me, -look at Him! ~
What about those pesky thoughts? Selah. (lol!) Selah, friend! Yes! Stop and think about it. It is the pause that refreshes.
Revelation and solution: None of us are capable of thinking two thoughts at once! I would offer (at this time) “replacement theology.” Not the church taking the place of Israel, (may it never be!) but replacing an evil or even foolish thought with something “more gooder.”
Here is what “I” need to do. Notice please, I have zero (nada) control over you, but this is FYI, for my eyes only.. and my mind only.
In the end, we win. There is (absolute) victory through absolute surrender. Confession number one: (Are you listening?) Hear my confession: I cannot (I repeat) I cannot do this. I cannot do this alone. I need help! I need Someone to help me ~ to bring into captivity every thought (emotions, you are included in this) to Christ ~
To be free, I must (also) become a slave. Yes, Bob, “You gotta serve somebody.” We gotta know something, better yet, Someone. We must no longer remain “ignorant.” We must know the Word of God, the written instructions of Elohim, found within the pages of the Book God wrote. Our “authority”, is “what does God have to say about this?” And we know these things, because the will of God, the ways of God, the wisdom of God are ALL found and clearly and completely revealed to “whosoever will” within the written words of God.
(Carl, Skip, Sally or Sue) “Study to show yourselves approved unto God. If we do not know the word of God, (His instructions for rightly-related living) we are in a heap of trouble. If we say “it is written” and then do not know what is written, having not spent any time with our nose in the pages of the living Word of God (the words I speak unto you- they are spirit and they are life!) we will be defenseless and an easy target to take down.
In short, (am I too late?) We must study God’s Book. Read the Book:- “it’s in there!” Are we all in agreement? This is no “ordinary” book! Then why do we (I) spend more time reading the newspaper or watching the “box of HD lies” known as t.v., than we (I) do reading the inspired (God-breathed) Word of the LORD? (word).
Do you (I) believe the Bible to be the word of God? If not, – mistake #1. Believe it or doubt it. Your choice.
The very first introduction of “doubt” occurred when? When Mr. Twister, the Deceiver, said these words to our not-so great, great grandfather Adam, “hath God said?” Did God really say that? Well,.. He knows that in the day that you eat of it you shall NOT surely die, but become.. (etc..). One twisted and perverted LIAR! (Ask Adam!)
Adam, (with 20/20 hindsight, of course!) why did you not simply reply: “YES!”- God did say that, and thank you for reminding us? But..- they did not believe the word of God, the simple instructions of YHWH, but doubted. The rest.. is history. Doubt kills faith. ~be not faithless, but believing! ~ Do you (another adamah) believe the Bible (our Bible) to be the word of God?
Old testament (covenant) or New (er)? Friend, ~ every word of God is pure! ~ Beyond a shadow of any doubt..- It’s all good!
Oh, but what about those pesky, nagging thoughts?
~ Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves [as] servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Solution: The prayer of presentation: “Here am I” (in Hebrew, “heneni”). Present your doubting, skeptical, unruly, wild-child self to Him.
My written public prayer for today. Why? because ~without Him, – I can do (what?)- nothing! ~
LORD, Here am I, in all of my entirety, and I give myself to YOU, I yield the members of my body as servants to You, dear Sovereign Savior. LORD, save me. Deliver me from evil in it’s entirety. Consecrate my mind and my thoughts and my following actions and behavior. Set me apart. I give myself to YOU- please, accomplish in me and through me and with me,- Your perfect will. It is not what I want, but what You want. It is not what I desire, but it is what You desire. Master and Commander, Sovereign LORD and Mighty God, use me this very day and deliver me from every evil way. ~ May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer. This prayer I offer, because Calvary’s perfect Lamb made this prayer possible. Amen.
~ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things ~ (Philippians 4.8)
Yes, we all “lust” or desire for more.., but more what? – Is this (today) the desire of our heart?
~ Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. ~ (Psalm 37.3-5)
More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.
More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.
More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my Teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me.
More about Jesus; in His Word,
Holding communion with my LORD;
Hearing His voice in every line,
Making each faithful saying mine.
More about Jesus; on His throne,
Riches in glory all His own;
More of His kingdom’s sure increase;
More of His coming, Prince of Peace.
More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.
“Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD” (1 Chronicles 16:10)
Mental Help
Yes, we do need to be “re-minded,”
~ But the Advocate, the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, (He) will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you ~ (John 14.26)
With the current state of the world and the call to chaos and fear ever growing, I believe this is totally applicable in this case too.
I see the bad man (one of them) being my temptation to become fearful at the chaos and darkness in the world. I am tempted to believe it is hopeless as the enemy would have me believe. The temptation to have faith in my arms or stores and such to survive whatever disaster may be coming is great. Even creation groans at the mess that has been made.
However, Y-H tells us many times to not be afraid. He is my Rock and Shield. Him, not my stuff. Paul talks about learning to be content in whatever state you find yourself. This is great wisdom and great comfort for me and you too if you put that bad man behind bars and do what Y-H tells you to do.
The ruckus is great as world matters deteriorate but Y-H’s words do have a calming effect when I remember them and say them out loud. I like to say them to others as well in hopes of refocusing to that which matters.
This is an amazing post and yet another rethinking of something the MS church has mistaught and it is no small thing! I was doing terrible with the original thing I was taught about this verse. Same as what Skip talks of–frustrating!
I know I am not alone is watching the times unfold from a different view than the majority have. I hope my words encourage someone somewhere today.
Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.
On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.
Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.
In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.
From Fernando Ortega, – one of my favorites!
Carl, it is in Redemption Hymnal that I have from a church that I attended in my baby years.
It is NOT in all the hymnals but should be.
It is one that I used to sing a lot but now the over-heads have won out.
I did NOT KNOW the writer as the hymnal does NOT give the author of these beautiful words from the heart.
HOW did you find out his name ?
I just looked him up and he is not the author. I do not know HOW to find out WHO wrote this marvellous hymn that was sung during the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival when many came to the LORD.
Here is a link to a YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5GirOj_hnc
I have the CD- as I said, He is one of my favorites!
I would that folks in the future would look back and remember the American revival of 2014.
Here is another link from cyberhymnal.com: http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/e/herelove.htm
Carol, The song is titled “Here is Love” was penned by William Rees in 1876. One of my personal favorites, but I had never heard the final two Stanzas, so thanks for posting them. And, yes, I agree with Carl: Fernando Ortega does a great job on this hymn. He is one of my favorites as well (Fernando, not Carl-no offense Carl). That it became the theme song of the great Welsh revival is true by all accounts. It was said that people were convicted and “saved” just from the hearing of this song-well, that and believe in Yeshua’s atonement (either before the world or at the cross I cannot yet tell)!
Such a beautiful song, thank you for posting! 🙂
I freely admit to being a novice in attempting to read the scriptures through glasses other than SBC colored glasses.
Often I read Skp’s Blog and think, “hmm, interesting.” But then I read comments on the blog and say to myself, “is that what that meant?” And so, I am hesitant to post a comment or ask a question for fear of clearly displaying my level of ignorance. Reminds me of the saying, “better to keep your mouth shut and allow others to wonder if your’re ignorant than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!”
But with that admission, and attempt at transparency, here goes.
Actions speak louder than words? ….Sure they do.
Love God, Love man!….non-negotiable guide posts for life.
Do what is right and your emotions will follow? I have found this to be true many times in life.
“Where your treasure is…there your heart will be also.” This statement clearly taught even with my SBC worldview.
So, Skips ability to open the door on new perspectives in familiar passages not only brings opportunities for exploration but sometimes validates what I thought be true (sometimes comforting for a novice and sometimes disturbing.)
“In other words, the solution to mental struggles is physical compliance!”
“The secret to spiritual warfare is obedience.”
Thanks for access to the blog….and for the support in finding out what it means to be obedient.
Sounds good to me. Keep posting.
Skip at one point in the past said, “Lighten up, people!” Okay. Today’s message is a serious one and instructional and helpful. However…
When I went to my inbox, there was an entry that said, “Duluth Trading for Women.” Hm-m-m-m-m…my wife is involved with trading for women via Duluth, Minnesota??? Not only that…there is free shipping today! Such salaciousness!
Needless to say, when I looked at the first sentences of Skip’s message, all I could “think” of was the trading for women I had just “thought” about. Timely.
And by the way, both my wife and I had a really good laugh about this.
Yes, I try to be obedient. As best I can.
But, I have HELP!
“And I pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may abide with you forever – – – the Spirit of truth.” Jn 14:16
He’s made the difference in my life. He keeps me in the Word. He keeps
me in line. He’s the driver and initiator of my obedience. He’s been the agent
in the transforming of my renewing mind. It’s Him!
“I can of myself do nothing.” Jn 5:30
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Rm 8:11
You can’t get better help than that!!!
Whenever you are tempted into the “mind only” idea of thinking, simply read the letter of James. He’ll straighten you out.
“From a rabbinical point of view (and Paul is a rabbi), yada’ means to know Torah.”
And that is to know Torah in an intimate way, not only as written, but from the many levels of
hidden insights that need to be discovered as we progress along the path, as in any relationship, takes years and years of getting to know a person real well.
“And living according to Torah means doing what God asks regardless of what I think about it. In other words, the solution to mental struggles is physical compliance!”
Knowing without doing is not fulfilling.
“Paul tells us that lawlessness required punishment because punishment leads to repentance and restoration and repentance and restoration lead to obedience. Once again, the secret to spiritual warfare is obedience!”
That was what animal sacrifices were all about-a price to pay, public confession, repentance and restoration, all through the act of obedience, of bringing an animal offering, seeking for forgiveness.
Through obedience to Torah ways, mental warfare is silenced.
“When I stop praising Him, when I nullify His sovereignty, then the prison door opens. But as long as I act according to His instructions, the bad man in my prison is rendered harmless.”
That is well versed! Thank you, Skip.
Wow … Thank you for sharing this powerful revelation. I know I am only just ready this but i am so glad I found your post.