Untitled Sermon

2 Corinthians 10:1 ESV

I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—

Paul may have identified himself by name here so his readers would have no doubt that what he proceeded to say indeed came from him. He began by gently asking his readers to respond to his appeal to submit to his apostolic authority. This was important so that when he came he would not have to deal severely with those who opposed him (cf. ). The description of himself in verse 1b is his critics’. Those individuals were saying that Paul was behaving as a carnal Christian (v. 2; cf. 1:12–24). He sent forceful letters to them, especially his “severe letter,” but when he was with them in person he was less aggressive. However his meekness and gentleness were characteristics of Christ rather than signs of personal timidity (v. 1; cf. ; ). Paul did not want to have to be critical when he arrived in Corinth, yet he was ready to be if necessary.

Constable

Christians face the influences of the world and, consequently, adopt a defensive posture. As soon as someone deprives them of any honor, rank, possession, or goods they react vigorously. But this defensive attitude reveals an inner weakness of character and a lack of understanding of the full teachings of Christ.

Kistemaker

Paul is compassionate (v.1)

Paul’s enemies put a negative spin on his compassion, scornfully condemning it as cowardly weakness. They slanderously accused him of being meek when face to face with them, but bold toward them when absent! Tapeinos (meek) is used elsewhere in the New Testament as a positive virtue, but Paul’s opponents meant it in a derogatory sense. When confronted face to face, his adversaries insinuated Paul was a weakling; in today’s terminology, he was a wimp. But put him a safe distance away, they sneered, and he would act as fierce as a lion.

It is true that Paul was humble. In he wrote that he had been “with [them] in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” But the false apostles took Paul’s genuine humility, his lack of confidence in himself apart from God’s power, and twisted it into cringing weakness. They were not completely unlike those in Israel, who expecting the Messiah to come in power and annihilate their enemies, rejected Jesus when He proved to be “gentle and humble in heart” (; cf. ; ).

The allegation that Paul was bold when absent but weak when present was a clever contrivance. Any way Paul answered could be twisted. If he reaffirmed his strength in his letters, or defended his meekness in their presence, he would seemingly confirm one of the false allegations. Therefore, to answer his opponents’ charges, Paul shows in the closing section of this epistle how his life and words weld strength to weakness, proving that one can be a bold warrior for the truth, while at the same time compassionate.  

MacArthur

Paul is the only one of the Bible writers who discarded his Jewish for his Gentile name. It is the transliteration of the Latin paulus (παυλυς) or paulles (παυλλες) meaning “little.” Some think it had reference to his diminutive stature (, ). It was a common practice among the Hebrews to give their children a Gentile name in addition to the Jewish one. The apostle’s Jewish name was Saul. His Gentile name gains the ascendancy on his first missionary journey as he deals with the Roman officer on Cyprus, and thereafter marks him out as the apostle to the Gentiles.

Wuest

Meekness---even-tempered

gentleness---leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice

humble---marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful

bold---to have or be marked by confidence or assurance

Right at the beginning of this passage are two words which set the whole tone which Paul wishes to use. He speaks of the gentleness and the sweet reasonableness of Christ.

Prautes, gentleness, is an interesting word. Aristotle defined it as the correct mean between being too angry and being never angry at all. It is the quality of the man whose anger is so controlled that he is always angry at the right time and never at the wrong time. It describes the man who is never angry at any personal wrong he may receive, but who is capable of righteous anger when he sees others wronged. By using that word Paul is saying at the very beginning of his stern letter that he is not carried away by personal anger, but is speaking with the strong gentleness of Jesus himself.

The other word is even more illuminating. Sweet reasonableness is the Greek word epieikeia. The Greeks themselves defined epieikeia as “that which is just and even better than just.” They described it as that quality which must enter in when justice, just because of its generality, is in danger of becoming unjust. There are times when strict justice can actually result in injustice. Sometimes real justice is not to insist on the letter of the law, but to let a higher quality enter into our decisions. The man who has epieikeia is the man who knows that, in the last analysis, the Christian standard is not justice, but love. By using this word Paul is saying that he is not out for his rights and to insist on the letter of the law; but is going to deal with this situation with that Christlike love which transcends even the purest of human justice. 

Now we have come to a section of the letter which is very hard to understand—and for this reason, that we are hearing only one side of the argument. We are hearing only Paul’s reply. We do not know accurately what the charges were which the Corinthians levelled against him; we have to deduce them from the answer which Paul gives. But we can at least try to make our deductions.

(i) It is clear that the Corinthians had charged Paul with being bold enough when he was not face to face with them but a pretty poor creature when actually there. They are saying that when he is absent he can write things that he has not the courage to say in their presence. Paul’s reply is that he prays that he may not have occasion to deal with them personally as he knows he is quite capable of doing. Letters are dangerous things. A man will often write with a bitterness and peremptoriness which he would never use to another person’s face. Exchange of letters can do a deal of harm which might well have been avoided by a face to face discussion. But Paul’s claim is that he would never write anything which he was not prepared to say.

(ii) It is clear that they charged him with arranging his conduct on human motives. Paul’s answer is that both his conduct and his power come from God. True, he is a man subject to all the limitations of manhood, but God is his guide and God is his strength. What makes this passage difficult to understand is that Paul uses the word flesh (sarx) in two different senses. (a) He uses it in the ordinary sense of the human body, flesh in its physical sense. “We walk,” he says, “in the flesh.” That simply means that he is, like anyone else, a human being. (b) But he also uses it in his own characteristic way for that part of human nature which gives a bridgehead to sin, that essential human weakness of life without God. So, he says, “We do not walk after, or according to, the flesh.” It is as if he said, “I am a human being with a human body, but I never allow myself to be dominated by purely human motives. I never try to live without God.” A man may live in the body and yet be guided by the Spirit of God.

Paul goes on to make two significant points.

(i) He says that he is equipped to deal with and to destroy all the plausible cleverness of human wisdom and human pride. There is a simplicity which is a weightier argument than the most elaborate human cleverness. Once there was a house party at which Huxley, the great Victorian agnostic, was present. On the Sunday morning it was planned to go to church. Huxley said to a member of the party, “Suppose you don’t go to church; suppose you stay at home and tell me why you believe in Jesus.” The man said, “But you, with your cleverness, could demolish anything I might say.” Huxley said, “I don’t want you to argue. I want you just to tell me what this means to you.” So the man, in the simplest terms, told from his heart what Christ meant to him. When he was finished, there were tears in the great agnostic’s eyes. “I would give my right hand,” he said, “if I could only believe that.” It was not argument, but the utter simplicity of heartfelt sincerity which got home. In the last analysis it is not subtle cleverness which is most effective but simple sincerity.

(ii) Paul speaks of bringing every intention into captivity to Christ. Christ has an amazing way of capturing what was pagan and subduing it for his purposes. Max Warren tells of a custom of the natives in New Guinea. At certain times they have ritual songs and dances. They work themselves up into a frenzy and the ritual culminates in what are called “the murder songs,” in which they shout before God the names of the people they wish to kill. When the natives became Christian, they retained these customs and that ritual, but in the murder songs, it was no longer the names of the people they hated, but the names of the sins they hated, that they shouted before God and called on him to destroy. An old pagan custom had been captured for Christ. Jesus never wishes to take from us our own qualities and abilities and characteristics. He wishes to take them and to use them for himself. His invitation is to come to him with just what we have to offer and he will enable us, to make a finer use of ourselves than ever before.  

Barclay

While Paul seeks to defend himself, he does not want to do so in an angry or indignant manner; rather, he seeks to emulate the humility and gentleness shown by Christ (8:9; ; ; see and note).

Paul is probably referring to how some of the Corinthians perceived him (compare ).

FSB

But the Church does not overcome the powers of the enemy with weapons of this world, but with spiritual arms, “which are mighty through God to the destruction of strongholds and the high places of spiritual wickedness.”...The weapons of the Church are faith, the weapons of the Church are prayer, which overcomes the enemy. Ambrose

2.4.1 The Attack on Paul by His Opponents

In order to understand how the saving and judging glory of God is presented in 2 Corinthians, it is necessary to glean what we can about Paul’s opponents. Paul’s comments give us some insight into the situation. Some in Corinth have evidently questioned Paul’s sincerity (), suggesting perhaps that he made plans according to the flesh and then vacillated (1:12, 17). Moreover, the correspondence between how Paul comports himself in person and how he does in his letters has been called into question (1:13; 10:1, 9–11), and apparently some have alleged that Paul has “commended himself” to the Corinthians in an illegitimate manner (3:1; 4:2; 5:12; 6:4; 7:11; 10:12, 18; 12:11). Perhaps those who have made such suggestions have presented letters of recommendation to the Corinthians, letters that, they point out, Paul lacks (3:1). Paul’s opponents may have also suggested that Paul is inferior to Moses, prompting Paul to argue that his new covenant ministry is superior to the ministry of Moses under the old covenant (3:7–13). Paul refers to those who peddle the word of God, doing disgraceful, underhanded things, tampering with God’s word (2:17; 4:2). Perhaps this is how he views his opponents in Corinth. Given the way that Paul interprets the outcome of his ministry as it relates to people rejecting the gospel (2:14–15; 4:3–4), his opponents may have suggested that if Paul would employ different methods, he might have more success. The underhandedness of his opponents also explains why Paul details his own experience of tribulation and—in the world’s eyes—shameful treatment (4:7–12, 16–18; 6:4–10; 11:16–33). Paul uses this as evidence of his own authenticity, but according to the insinuations of his opponents, these facts mount an impressive case that, considered “according to the flesh” (cf. 1:17; 5:12, 16; 10:2–3, 12), Paul is neither an impressive speaker nor a successful evangelist (since so many reject his message). In sum, they argue, he cannot be trusted because he does not come when he says he will. He lacks authenticating documentation from the authorities, letters of recommendation (3:1), and he has been treated so shamefully that anyone who associates with him will be discredited by their identification with such a notorious loser.

2.4.2 Paul’s Response to the Attack

Paul’s basic response to the way he has been attacked in Corinth is a celebration of his own weakness because in it God’s power is displayed. This means that those who follow Paul do so because of God’s power in the gospel, not because Paul is impressive by worldly standards.

This paragraph will summarize Paul’s response to the situation in Corinth, and following paragraphs will move through the letter in more detail. Having blessed God who comforts the afflicted (), Paul defends his sincerity with an explanation of his travel plans and harsh letter (1:12–2:13). From there he describes his ministry in terms of a Christlike triumph in defeat—Paul, Christ’s opponent, was defeated, and is being led as a conquered slave: defeated he conquers (2:14–17). Just as Jesus conquered through what looked like a defeat, so Paul is the aroma of Christ even as he is treated shamefully by the world powers. Paul then explains his new covenant ministry (3:1–7:16). He seems to address the repentant in Corinth with a word on the gospel and giving (8:1–9:15), followed by an appeal to the unrepentant to test themselves to see if they are in the faith (10:1–13:13). Paul closes the letter with the Trinitarian grace (13:14).  

Hamilton

2 Corinthians 10:2 ESV

I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.

The apostle is asking three things: that he need not come to deliver a stern address; that upon his coming he may have the confidence and courage to encounter his slanderers; and that he can show that his conduct has been above reproach.

These false teachers cut Paul at the core of his spiritual existence: his conduct. His adversaries claim that he is seeking self-gratification and is guided by a desire to dominate. They say that Paul conducts himself as an unbeliever; literally, that “he walks according to the flesh.” This particular saying is a phrase Paul himself uses to describe unbelievers.16 The phrase, however, is a reflection on his enemies rather than on the apostle. They themselves exhibit arrogance, egotism, disdain, and self-commendation. Yet they ascribe all this to Paul in a deliberate attempt to discredit his relationship to Jesus Christ, his call to be the apostle to the Gentiles, his ministry in the church, and his faithful preaching of Christ’s gospel. It is no wonder that Paul devotes chapters 10–12 to combatting the pernicious influence of the Judaizers.

Paul’s opponents also accuse him of being an inept leader, one whose timidity makes him an ineffective preacher and one who lacks basic spiritual qualities to edify the Corinthians (v. 10).  

Kistemaker

He is courageous (v.2)

Those who mistook Paul for a weakling were drastically mistaken. When all attempts at compassion were exhausted, Paul would fight fiercely to preserve his integrity for the sake of the truth. The biblical record of his courageous life speaks for itself. He faced hostile mobs, beatings, imprisonments, riots, shipwrecks, and plots on his life (11:23–33). Paul fearlessly proclaimed the gospel before the Jewish Sanhedrin (), Roman governors (; ), King Herod Agrippa (), even the emperor (; ). He also confronted those who proclaimed false doctrine (cf. ). Nor did he shrink even from publicly rebuking Peter, the leader of the Twelve ().

Because of his compassionate desire to spare the rebels, Paul called on them to repent. If they did, when he was present with them he would not need to be bold with the confidence he had in his authority. The aorist infinitive form of tharrheō (bold) is ingressive, meaning, “to become courageous.” The apostle pleaded with them not to force him to display the confrontive courage of which he was capable. Courageous translates a synonym, tolmaō, which has the connotation of being daring, of acting without fear regardless of the threats or consequences. When it came to defending the truth, Paul was absolutely fearless. He would not back away from a fight with those who threatened the church; as he wrote earlier to the Corinthians, “I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power” (). Near the end of this epistle he wrote, “For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down” ().

The apostle would wage his war, if neccessary, against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh. The false teachers and their followers slanderously accused Paul of living according to the flesh, that is, of being controlled by the sinful desires of unredeemed humanness arising in a corrupt heart. He was, according to them, motivated by evil self-interest, the lustful pursuit of money, and illicit desires.

Throughout this epistle, Paul defended himself against those scurrilous charges, which were at the heart of the conspiracy against him. In he wrote, “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.” Unlike the false apostles, Paul handled the Word accurately: “For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God” (2:17). Nor did he have a secret life of sin, having “renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending [himself] to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (4:2). “Make room for us in your hearts,” he begged the Corinthians. “We wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one” (7:2). He had given the rebels fair warning. If they did not repent it would mean war—a war Paul was fully equipped to win.  

MacArthur

suspect---to keep in mind or convey as a conviction or view (perception)

walking---live or behave in a specified manner

flesh---the physical aspect of a person in distinction to the immaterial soul; often understood as the seat of sin and rebellion to God

Some in the church community called Paul’s character into question (compare 2:17). Their reasons may have been the change in his travel plans (1:15–2:4; see note on 1:23) or the perceived mishandling of the financial relief collection (12:16–18).

FSB

2 Corinthians 10:3 ESV

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

cf. :1-5

Paul admitted that he walked in the flesh (was only human) but denied that he worked according to the flesh (as carnal Christians and unbelievers do). He was contrasting living in the world and living as a worldling. Carnal weapons like intimidation, manipulation, trickery, double-talk, rumor, and hypocritical behavior are ineffective in spiritual warfare. Reliance on the working of God, however, results in supernatural victories. The spiritual Christian’s weapons are those that Paul later enumerated in .

Constable

Yet two points are striking about the use of the language in 10:3–6. First, although Paul normally uses military word pictures to make a point about living the Christian life victoriously in the face of spiritual forces, or partnership in Christian ministry, the imagery here is directed pointedly against the apostle’s opponents at Corinth. He portrays himself as in a battle for the hearts and minds of the Corinthians, and the false ministers in Corinth clearly are seen as the enemy. Second, the imagery used in these verses seems to cluster around a specific aspect of battle in the ancient world: siege warfare, by which walls are torn down (Harris 2005: 676).

Guthrie

Greek sages sometimes described their battle against false ideas as a war, in terms similar to those Paul uses here. Like those sages, Paul claims to be doing battle with false ideas. “Arguments” (NIV, NRSV, TEV) or “speculations” (NASB) is a technical term for rhetorical or philosophical reasonings; the prisoners of war in this extended metaphor are human thoughts. Cf. .

Keener

Intent. In an earlier verse Paul appealed to his readers “by the meekness and gentleness of Christ” (v. 1). Because he has the mind of Christ (see ; ), he does not fight the world of sin by applying worldly standards; he fights according to the standards God has set.

God has rules for his kingdom (e.g., the Decalogue), has citizens in his kingdom, and has an army with generals and soldiers to fight the devil and his cohorts. The apostle is a general who serves in the army of the Lord and opposes Satan, the prince of this world. Paul wages a war of liberation by preaching Christ’s gospel that sets people free from the bondage of sin and the fear of death (). Even though the battle is ferocious, Christ’s victory is sure. All enemies shall be placed under his foot; also the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed ().

Satan knows that his time is coming to an end, and so he uses every available weapon to resist defeat. In his arsenal he has the weapons of deceit, lies, subterfuge, guile, intimidation, compulsion, and force.

Followers of Jesus Christ, having been redeemed by Christ and set free from Satan’s bondage, fight the evil that the devil and his followers perpetrate. In opposing the forces of evil, God’s soldiers must use his armaments, not those of Satan. Among God’s armaments are truth, honesty, integrity, justice, holiness, and faithfulness. From his people God requires faithfulness to his precepts, commands, and purposes. Dedication and wholehearted commitment to the Lord are the hallmarks of true believers. The kingdom of God knows only few people who completely trust God, and that is why they are called great.  

Kistemaker

He is competent (v.3-5)

In addition to being compassionate and courageous, the Christian soldier must also be properly armed for the struggle. If any of his adversaries imagined that Paul was not a competent soldier, they were in for a rude awakening. The apostle gave his opponents fair warning that he was armed with the “the weapons of righteousness” (6:7) and ready for battle. His statement, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh is a play on words. In verse 2 the false teachers had accused Paul of walking in the flesh in a moral sense—of being corrupt and immoral, driven by lust, greed, and pride. Playing off his opponents’ moral use of the term, Paul affirmed that he did walk in the flesh in the physical sense; that is, he was a man. He denied the false charge that he was corrupt (cf. 1:12) but acknowledged the reality of his humanity. Though he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, he bore that authority in a frail human body. He was, as he wrote in 4:7, nothing but a clay pot, living in a transitory “earthly tent” (5:1), with an “outer man” that was “decaying” (4:16).

But though Paul walked in the flesh in the physical sense, he did not war according to the flesh. He was a man, but he did not go to battle using human weapons. Strateuomai (war) means “to engage in battle,” or “to serve as a soldier.” All believers are soldiers in the spiritual war against the kingdom of darkness; there are no exemptions or deferrals. They fight for the truth of Scripture, the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the salvation of sinners, and the virtue of the saints. In Paul defined the battle as a “struggle … not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” These demonic powers are behind the evil world system.

A spiritual war, however, cannot be successfully fought with fleshly weapons. Therefore, the weapons in Paul’s arsenal were not those of human ingenuity, human ideology, or human methodology. Human reason, wisdom, plans, strategies, organizations, skill, eloquence, marketing, religious showmanship, philosophical or psychological speculation, ritualism, pragmatism, or mysticism are all ineffective weapons against the forces of the kingdom of darkness, the “powers … world forces of this darkness … [and] spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (). They cannot rescue sinners from the “domain of darkness” () or transform believers into Christ’s likeness. Such weapons gain only superficial, temporary, and deceptive victories at best.

To successfully fight the spiritual war requires weapons from the heavenly arsenal. Only those divinely powerful weapons are suited for the destruction of the enemies’ fortresses. That term would convey to the New Testament reader the thought of a formidable stronghold. Corinth, like most major cities in Greece, had an acropolis. Located on a mountain near the city, the acropolis was a fortified place into which the inhabitants could retreat when attacked. Ochurōma (fortresses) was also used in extrabiblical Greek to refer to a prison. People under siege in a fortress were imprisoned there by the attacking forces. The word was also used to refer to a tomb.

Fleshly weapons cannot successfully assault the formidable strongholds in which sinners have entrenched themselves. Such impotent weapons cannot bring about the destruction of those fortresses, which Paul defined specifically as speculations (logismos), a general word referring to any and all human or demonic thoughts, opinions, reasonings, philosophies, theories, psychologies, perspectives, viewpoints, and religions. The fortresses in view here are not demons, but ideologies. The notion that spiritual warfare involves direct confrontation with demons is foreign to Scripture. Christians who verbally confront demons waste energy and demonstrate ignorance of the real war. We are not called to convert demons, but sinners. The battle is rather with the false ideologies men and demons propagate so that the world believes them. Doomed souls are inside their fortresses of ideas, which become their prisons and eventually their tombs—unless they are delivered from them by belief in the truth.

Paul further defined sinners’ strongholds of ideas as every lofty thing—that is, any unbiblical system of thought exalted as truth—that is raised up against the knowledge of God. There is the key. Spiritual warfare is not a battle with demons. It is a battle for the minds of people who are captive to lies that are exalted in opposition to Scripture. In , he called them the useless reasonings of the worldly wise—all the anti-biblical ideologies, false religions, and pseudo gospels spawned by Satan. Paul knew those fortresses well, having lived his entire life before his conversion in one of them. He was a zealous follower of the Judaism of his day, which had turned from its Old Testament roots and become a ritualistic system of works-righteousness. In he described the stronghold in which his confidence had rested:

Although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

To the Galatians he wrote, “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions” (). That zeal caused him “to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (). Paul “used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it” (; cf. , ; , , ; ; ; ; ). But on the Damascus Road, his vaunted fortress crumbled under God’s power, and he was led captive to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like Paul, before salvation, all unbelievers have a fortress in which they attempt to hide from the true knowledge of God. Those fortresses take endless forms in philosophy, psychology, world religions, cults, apostate forms of Christianity, or evolutionary naturalism—a predominant fortress in Western culture today. Naturalism, as its name implies, is the belief that nature is ultimate reality. James Sire defines it with the following propositions:

1. Matter exists eternally and is all there is. God does not exist.

2. The cosmos exists as a uniformity of natural cause and effect in a closed system.

3. Human beings are complex “machines”; personality is an interrelation of chemical and physical properties we do not yet fully understand.

4. Death is the extinction of personality and individuality.

5. History is a linear stream of events linked by cause and effect but without an overarching purpose.

6. Ethics is related only to human beings.

(See chapter 4, “The Silence of Finite Space: Naturalism,” in The Universe Next Door, second edition [Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity, 1988], 61–83)

Naturalism attempts to fortify itself against God by altogether shutting Him out of public life, social policy, the courts, and eliminating all biblical influence in morality and ethics. This and all the other deceptive and deadly ideologies must be destroyed and the incarcerated sinners rescued.

The objective of our warfare is to change how people think—taking every thought they have and making it no longer captive to a damning ideology, but captive to the obedience of Christ. To do so, the proper weapon is necessary. To assault and throw down the fortresses of false religions, opinions, beliefs, and philosophies, only one weapon will suffice: the truth. That is so obvious that Paul does not mention it. Only one thing exposes and corrects lies—the truth. Thus, the only offensive weapon in the Christian soldier’s armor is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (). Spiritual warfare is an ideological conflict, fought in the mind by assaulting the proud fortresses of ideas that sinners erect against the truth. Aichmalōtizō (taking captive) literally means, “to take captive with a spear.” Using God’s truth, believers smash enemy fortresses to the ground, march the prisoners out, and bring them into subjection (obedience) to the Lord Jesus Christ. They rescue sinners from the domain of darkness, “snatching them out of the fire” (). After being taken prisoner by Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road, Paul immediately asked, “What shall I do, Lord?” (). The rebellion of his sinful, proud heart was ended; the walls of his fortress crashed down in ruin, and the Lord Jesus Christ conquered his heart. Such is the experience of all the redeemed; the term the obedience of Christ is a synonym for salvation (cf. ; ; ; ; ).

The key to being successful in spiritual warfare is becoming proficient at wielding the sword of the Word of God against the lies people believe. It is impossible to fight error without knowing the truth. Just as soldiers train constantly in the use of their weapons, so also must Christian soldiers constantly study the Scriptures. Only the power of God’s truth can smash the lies of satanic false systems; to those “who are being saved it is the power of God” (). The gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (; cf. ; ). Paul exhorted his protégés Timothy and Titus to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.… Speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (; ). Only then would they be able to heed his exhortation, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” ().  

MacArthur

Paul uses spiritual weapons—such as the gospel, faith, truth, and prayer—to wage battle against his opposition (compare 6:6–7; ).

FSB

2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV

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

He seems to be talking about the Gospel (cf. Romans 1:16).

Paul is not contrasting his weapons with spears and missiles but with the conventional weapons of his opponents: ingenuity, rhetoric, showmanship, splashiness, spiritual pretension, personal charisma—the kind of things Paul disavows. And because Paul avoids these things, they think he is inferior and despise him! But no matter—Paul’s weapons nevertheless have “divine power.”

Hughes

Paul’s weapons are effective in doing two things. They can, in the first place, demolish strongholds (v. 4*). Ochyroµma is a military term for a “fortified place” (Heidland 1967b:590; Malherbe 1983:147). The picture is of an army attacking and tearing down the fortified defenses of the enemy. In the ancient world a prosperous city would build not only a stout wall for its security but also, somewhere inside the wall, a fortified tower that could be defended by relatively few soldiers if the walls of the city were breached by an enemy. Once the stronghold was taken, the battle was over (Carson 1984:47). In ancient times this was commonly accomplished through a variety of siege machines, the most common being battering rams, mobile towers, catapults for throwing darts and the ballistae for throwing stones (Stern 1976). The strongholds that Paul’s weapons lay siege to are arguments and every pretension (v. 5). Logismous* are reasonings that take shape in the mind and are then worked out in life as action (Heidland 1967a:286; Malherbe 1983:147). Hypsoµma epairomenon (“raised ramparts”) are human “pretensions” (niv) or “arrogances” (JB, TEV, REB, NEB, RSV, NRSV) that have built fortresses with high towers aimed at repelling attacks by the knowledge of God (v. 5*; Malherbe 1983:147).

Belleville

“[We] have divine power to destroy strongholds.” Sixteenth-century Scottish Reformer John Knox lived by this motto: “With God, man is always in the majority.” And with this majority, Christians indeed can destroy Satan’s strongholds (compare ). These strongholds appear in many forms but are essentially the same; they are the systems, schemes, structures, and strategies that Satan designs to frustrate and obstruct the progress of Christ’s gospel.

Kistemaker

weapons---any instrument or instrumentality used in hunting or fighting; especially used in warfare

of the flesh---characteristic of humanity in distinction to transcendent divinity

power---have the skills and qualifications to do something well

destroy---the act of tearing down (a building) so as to make flat with the ground

strongholds---a strongly fortified defensive or military structure

fortresses This term is intended to refer to people’s standard ways of thinking, especially about Paul and the nature of his apostleship.

FSB

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

cf. Psalm 119:97ff

One prominent atheist, Bertrand Russell, said this, “Most Christians would rather die than think. In fact, most of them do.” What a stinging indictment of the people who have the mind of Jesus Christ in them. I’m convinced that one of the greatest needs in Christianity today is for us to learn to think Christianly—letting the person of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the truth of Christ, and the mission of Christ shape and direct our every thought. (cf. )

Savor the person of Christ...Submit to the Spirit of Christ...Study the truth of Christ...Surrender to the mission of Christ ()

Platt 

As Carson points out, Paul’s language of destruction here is not merely about winning arguments or debates. “He means something far more: his weapons destroy the way people think, demolish their sinful thought patterns, the mental structures by which they live their lives in rebellion against God.” In Paul’s own words, his spiritual weapons tear down “every high thing lifted up against the knowledge of God.” Paul is referencing the citadels of sin in our lives—every high thing, every haughty thought, every action that forms a barrier to the knowledge of the living God.

in ancient warfare when strongholds were captured and towers pulled down, the defenders were taken into captivity. Here Paul extends the military language to thoughts—“and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (v. 5). The word “thought” refers more specifically to the mind as the intellectual center of our being. The idea is that Christ does not simply help people to think holy thoughts, but that “their mental structures, the plans and schemes, are taken over and transformed as they come to a new allegiance” (Carson).

Hughes

As in , Paul described the enemy as impersonal. We wage war against invisible, intangible spiritual forces, though obviously Satan is behind these forces. Satan’s strategy is not only to use demons () but also speculations (theories) and incorrect information that contradicts God’s revealed truth. The propaganda of our enemy consists of ideas that run counter to the truth of God. “Speculations” or “arguments” (v. 4 in NIV) contrast with revelations that God has given, and they contradict those revelations. “Lofty things” or “pretensions” include any human act or attitude that asserts itself as being superior to God’s will or truth. Paul claimed to make it his aim to bring all such thoughts and actions into submission to what God has revealed in His Word. He regarded this as obedience to Christ. He was a bondservant to the truth of God in his thinking. His desire was that everyone would voluntarily submit to such servant status.

Constable

Such efforts, however, are to no avail. For Paul’s weapons not only can demolish strongholds (v. 4) but also can take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (v. 5). The verb aichmalōtizō means “to take a prisoner of war” (Kittel 1964a:195). Paul pictures human thoughts as captured enemy soldiers. Once a city’s defenses had been breached and its fortified places destroyed, conquered soldiers were taken in tow as prisoners of war. In the Roman triumphus, the prisoners were paraded through the streets of Rome (see commentary on 2:14–16). Paul’s objective, however, is not to put human reasonings and pretensions on public display but to take captive every thought for obedience to Christ (v. 5).

Belleville

The present tense of the verb destroy indicates that in this warfare God’s people continually demolish the citadels of their enemies. To do so, they must enter these forts, which the apostle describes with the expression arguments. The intruders in Corinth employ verbal weapons in their onslaughts against the truth. They resort to arguments with which they seek to persuade the members of the church. Paul has to destroy their false doctrine and break down their reasonings. With their theories removed, the gospel is able to advance and flourish and sinners are set free. This is true not only in Corinth, but also at every place where preachers, evangelists, and missionaries proclaim God’s Word.

Translated into the area of philosophy, this figurative speech relates to any human theory raised up against the knowledge of the truth. It is earthly wisdom originating with the devil () and, therefore, must be shattered by the knowledge of God (). This divine knowledge is synonymous with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the knowledge of creation, sin, redemption, restoration, and resurrection. Paul taught and proclaimed the Good News but he also discussed the teachings of the gospel with both the Jews and the Gentiles. He demolished their human arguments to liberate human beings from the clutches of the evil one. His objective was to bring salvation to the people.

Kistemaker

destroy---to refute, conceived of as causing the destruction or undoing of an argument

arguments---a proposition arrived at by consideration or reasoning

lofty---anything that has been raised up; especially lifted up against something as in competion

raised---to be exalted, conceived of being or becoming held upraised or aloft

knowledge---the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered or learned

captive---to assume power to influence, direct, or determine over someone; conceived of as taking someone captive (like a prisoner of war)

thought---the content of what a person is thinking about

obey---the state of submissive conformity to the law, custom, or practice of an authority

captive to the obedience of Christ Implies believers must submit their thoughts to Christ and bring them into conformity with His will.

FSB

2 Corinthians 10:6 ESV

being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Paul will be bold when he comes, he will be ready, and he will not shirk his responsibility. But how much better if he did not have to take such measures because the church had engaged in discipline.

Paul’s message comes down the corridors of time to today’s church as its people live in the not yet. The call is to flee the fleshly versions of Christianity with strutting preachers and splashy displays and prosperity dogmas and esoteric visions and promises of health—that will only come in the not yet.

The message is to embrace the apostolic gospel preached and modeled by Christ and his apostles—to fully enjoy the present blessings of salvation: eternal life, the indwelling of the Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, the fellowship of Christ’s body, and the blessed hope of Jesus’ return—to embrace “the meekness and gentleness of Christ” (v. 1)—to abandon conventional warfare that wages war “according to the flesh” (v. 2)—and to embrace our weakness as the ground and occasion for his power.  

Hughes

Paul was ready to come to Corinth and punish all disobedience to God’s will and his own apostolic authority. However, he wanted to do that only after the whole church had made a clean break with the rebels in its midst. If the church would not stand with him in disciplining his unrepentant opponents, his discipline would not be effective. Unless any church as a whole is willing to support the discipline of its member or members, the discipline that its leaders seek to impose will be ineffective.

Constable

He is calculating (v.6)

The competent soldier understands the crucial importance of timing. Rather than fire blindly and risk killing friendly troops, he waits until the enemy is clearly in sight. Paul had the courage and the competence to punish all disobedience at Corinth. He would not allow the purveyors of error to destroy the church. But he also had the discipline to wait until the church’s obedience was complete. Paul would not unleash his formidable apostolic power on anyone until each had taken his stand. That way, it would be clear who accepted the truth and who rejected it. Paul would be compassionate to the former, but the latter would find him to be a courageous and highly competent opponent.

It is not a question of whether Christians will fight the spiritual war for the truth against lies; the battle is unavoidable. But those who are successful in the conflict will imitate Paul’s compassion, courage, competence, and caution.  

MacArthur

Another scriptural designation for sin is inattention. In classical Greek the word παρακοή (parakoē) has the meaning “to hear amiss or incorrectly.” In several New Testament passages it refers to disobedience as a result of inattention (; ). The clearest case is , where the context indicates the meaning that we are suggesting: “For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience [παρακοή] received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.”

Similarly, the verb παρακούω (parakouō) means “refuse to listen” () or “ignore” (). Thus the sin of παρακοή (parakoē) is either failure to listen and heed when God is speaking, or disobedience following upon failure to hear aright.  

Erickson

punish---to punish someone according to what is due or just in another’s behalf

disobedience---the state of failure to submit to the law, custom, or practice of an authority

complete---to be or become satisfied concerning the requirements or expectations of a contract or promise; understood as if being or becoming completely full

Refers to opposition to Paul’s apostolic authority. Compare .

FSB