2 Corinthians 10:1-6

I. Quickness with Meekness

-Paul is urging those in Corinth to belief the truth....embrace sound doctrine…turn away from false teachers.

-He does this by the meekness and gentleness of Christ

-Christ was certainly both meek and gentle

Meekness - “humble and gentle attitude that results in the patient endurance of offesnes”

-we should be reminded that meekness is not weakness

-meekness is power under control.

-retrained…free of anger bitterness or evenge

-Gentleness

-The word has a related meaning to meekness, but it carries with it the idea of leniency

-not harsh…not bringing judgement to bare

This is a charge against him by the false teachers.

-meek…humble..when face to face but bold when he’s aay

-insult…calling him a coward and weak

-Meakness is often mistaken for weakness or cowardice

-its not the same thing

-cowardice is fearful of being bold. Meakness is the choice to restrain ones boldness

II. SLOWNESS WITH BOLDNESS vs 2

I beg of you - this plea for them to repent that it would not be necessary for him to show his boldness

-BUt there are some the he will demonstrait his boldness on.

-unrepeant false teachers who have accused Paul of living accoding to the flesh.

-THis is a character attack

-BUT boldness is not pauls first resourt…he would love nothing more than to see true repentance

III. The Christian Arsenal Vs 3-6

Paul is using a play on words here.

In vs 2 his enemies leveed the charge against him that he was walking according to the flesh.

-Flesh there meaning sinful living.

Vs 3 he uses the phrase “Walk in the flesh” to refer to that which is physical vs that which is spiritual.

-In other words, he is saying I am a physical man

-BUT Even as a physical being, Paul says that we are not waging ware according to the flesh

-War - liteally means “to go to or engage in war” or to “to be a soilder”

-EVERY BELIEVER…not just Paul or the apostles…but every believer is a soldier in the Kingdom

-We wage war, not against flesh and blood, but against spiriual forces.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

-That is the reality of the situation we are in the midst of war, but the war we fight is not physical, it spiriual.

-It is not against people, but demonic forces.

-We do not fight the way the world fights.

If all of this is true, which do so many believers fight with anger and vabrado instead of prayer and supplication.

-Why had we rather go to the boxing ring than the prayer closest

-Why do we argue more than we pray?

-Why do we lean on our human ingenuity rather than the sovereign hand of God?

You see…verse 4

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

-Our arsenal is fueled with divine power

-What is a stronghold?

-So I feel like there has been some bad teaching on this passage.

-Every fortified city had strongholds.

-Strongholds could be translated fortresses (like in the NASB)

-Corinth had an acropolis.

-An acropolis is a fortified place where the citizens would go for protection when an attack was immenit

-It was built up and fortified so that it would be impenetrable and the weapons of that day would be virtually useless.

-So what does paul mean by using the world here?

-The context should point the way.

-Normally, when I hear this verse discussed or taught it is with the concept that a “stronghold” is some sin in a persons life

-Or some habitual sinful act they cannot seem to break free from…

-And the idea is the spiritual and divine weapons can break those sinful acts, harmful thought patterns, and habitual sins

-Listen…I do not have any argument with that true....however the fact of the matter is that tht is NOT what this passage teaches.

-How do I know?

-Because that is foreign to the context

-A stronghold as Paul uses it in this text is the central arguments of the enemy that fortifies the enemies message with seemly impenetrable argumentation.

-Arguments in verse 5

-one theologian said referese to any and all human or demonic thoughts, opinions, reasonings, philosophies, theories, psychologies, perspectives, viewpoints, and religions.

any and all human or demonic thoughts, opinions, reasonings, philosophies, theories, psychologies, perspectives, viewpoints, and religions.

-It is not just a sin in a persons life that the Gospel conquers.

-It is power to conquer habitual sinful act they cannot seem to break free from…

-Then it adds .’And we take every thought captive to obey Christ”

-This is not just thinking possitive thoughts.

-Or thinking holy thoughts.

-This is the idea that a persons entire mental structure, their plans, their schemes, their way of thinking can be totally transformed as the come into the Kingdom of God by the Gospel of Christ.