Paul, the Patient Warrior

Paul, the Patient Warrior

2 Corinthians 10 1-6

v.1 For the remainder of the book we will see a change in Paul’s tone. His intention is to call attention to the false teachers within the church who are attacking his credibility. Paul is sure to tell them that he is doing this by the “meekness and gentleness of Christ.”

Meekness is closely related to humility. Meekness is measured by our response to the actions of others. The meek person endures slander, rejection, or even physical persecution for the glory of God. It does not mean that a person is weak but rather that they have self control. Christ is the ultimate example of what it means to be meek (Matt. 11:29).

Gentleness speaks of the way we treat someone. A gentle person does not use all of the power they have to execute judgment against someone. Christ is the perfect picture of this as well. His power is unlimited, yet He chooses to react to us with grace (Luke 23:34).

Paul did not react to the Corinthians in his own strength. He relied on the power of Christ within him. He treated the false teachers in the same way that Christ would treat them.

Paul had been charged with being humble when present with the Corinthians but bold when writing them letters. Paul’s enemies probably said this to depict him as a coward. Meekness and gentleness are often perceived by the world as weaknesses. Calling Paul a coward would have been an attack against his masculinity.

v.2 Paul wants them to know that he will be bold with them in person if he needs to. He is urging them not to force him to use his authority. Paul was no coward. He risked his life every day as he preached the gospel. A coward would not have endured persecution for the gospel as Paul did. Those who are ashamed of the gospel have no place in the kingdom (Rev. 21:8, Luke 12:9). If Paul needed to, he would be bold in their presence.

In fact, Paul was ready to be bold with some of the false teachers within the church. These people were charging Paul and other faithful pastors as “walking according to the flesh”. This phrase simply means that they were living as an unsaved person would live. Their biggest charge was probably that Paul was a money hungry preacher. Chapters 8-9 deal extensively with this subject. If Paul needed to, he would call these men out and use his authority to exercise church discipline. He was not afraid of them, and they should be wary of trying the apostle. Paul wants the men to get right with God. Yet if they force his hand, he will take serious measures. Paul’s priority was protecting the church and proclaiming the true gospel.

v.3 Paul acknowledges that he and other teachers of the word do walk in the flesh, in the physical sense. In other words, they live in physical bodies. Yet the battles they fight are spiritual battles. “War” means “to make war or to engage in a battle.”

The battles that Paul was fighting with those in the church were not physical battles. They were spiritual battles. Behind the false teachers were demons unseen by the naked eye. Satan continually attempts to thwart the plans of God. His priority is to change the gospel. It is through the gospel that people become saved. If he can infiltrate the church with false teachers he can do much damage. The false teachers Paul was butting heads with were driven by demonic forces seeking to keep people away from the kingdom of God.

v.4 We do have weapons to fight the spiritual war. Those weapons are spiritual not carnal. Nevertheless, they are mighty. Our weapons are powerful because they come from God (Ephesians 6:13-18). These weapons will successfully pull down spiritual strongholds. A stronghold was a fortress used to protect people from an attacking enemy. Many large cites had strongholds available for its people. When an army attacked they would huddle inside the fortress to be protected from the enemy.

Strongholds made it difficult for an army to successfully take a city. The stronghold would have to be destroyed if the army wanted to have complete success. It would take more than common weapons to take a stronghold. It would take diligent planning and shrewd strategy.

The spiritual strongholds spoken of here are probably demonically inspired ideologies. Satan successfully deceives the lost through their mind (see 4:4). Salvation is only possible if we believe the gospel. That’s why Satan focuses his attention on the mind. False teachers deceive by the content of their message. We destroy these strongholds with the truth of the Word of God. The sword of the spirit can collapse these demonically built fortresses. When the ideology is destroyed the people held captive within that ideology are released. Their eyes are open to the truth. The false teachers at Corinth were building strongholds through their false teaching. Paul was destroying those strongholds with the truth of the gospel.

v.5 Paul tells us what we are destroying when we tear down strongholds.

Arguments- these are thoughts and reasonings. In context they are demonically inspired thoughts and reasonings. Through the truth of the Word we cast these arguments down.

Every lofty opinion- these are ideologies that exalt themselves above the truth of God’s word (knowledge of God). Satan continually seeks to exalt himself and his lies above the truth of God.

Every thought- these are general ideas that people have which are contrary to God’s truth. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are bringing the thoughts of men to the obedience of Christ.

Our job is to change the way people think. In fact, that is what the term “repent” means. We change the way they think by sharing the gospel with them. As they receive it they are blessed with a new mind, the mind of Christ.

v.6 Paul states that he is ready to punish the disobedient false teachers at Corinth. Despite their claims that he is a coward, he assures them that he will take disciplinary action if the problem persists. Then Paul says something interesting. He is not going to administer the punishment until the Corinthians, as a whole, begin to obey his instructions. Paul knew that he could not force a church to be holy. If they wanted the false teachers there, he could do nothing about it. Once the church had made its decision to obey the truth, Paul would step in and use his apostolic power to remove the troublemakers.

Thoughts To Consider

1. As believers we should model the humility of Christ.

2. Godly leaders do not enjoy using their authority in disciplinary matters.

3. When necessary godly people will boldly go into battle.

4. The church must want to change before any preacher can change the church.