Daily Bread 2011 - 2 Corinthians 10
2011 Daily Bread – 2 Corinthians 10
Paul’s Defense of His Ministry
1 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appealface with you, but “bold” when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do no to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to t wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
What Does This Mean?
As we have seen before, part of the purpose behind the 2nd letter to the Corinthians was to dispel some of the lies that some outside the Church brought in concerning the apostle Paul. They were saying that he was soft in person, yet harsh in his letters. His manner and speech were unimpressive. And his “yes” was not “yes”, and his “no” was not “no”! Clearly they were trying to bring in a spirit of divisiveness into this prominent church in the New Testament.
Paul has a spirit of love, so as not to want to have to exercise discipline when he meets them, but will resort to it if necessary. Importantly, these people are using worldly means to diminish Paul’s authority. He points out that, if necessary, he will dismantle all of their arguments using divine power to demolish strongholds. I.e. He will point the clear errors in their futile arguments. Though these are not theological arguments they are making, they are clearly undermining Paul’s authority as a leader. In that way, they were an obstruction to God’s work and the knowledge of God.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Thoughts matter. How we think and the arguments we use reveal our Truth source. This also reminds us that there will always be spiritual battles going on in the Church regarding its spiritual leaders. The easiest way to create dissension in a Church is to pit one leader against another. If leaders are acting in the power of Christ, it is not their personality one should be following anyways, but Christ in them!
Again this reminds us that thinking does matter. It is important for believers to understand what they believe and why. Believers need to understand how to argue using the mind of Christ, and the authority we have in Jesus’ name. For too long the Church has relied on the pastor and or other leaders to dispense knowledge, which creates consumers of religious goods and services. We need disciples of Christ, who know the mind of Christ and use His thought process boldly is dismantling worldly arguments and pretensions.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the knowledge of Christ and the true power it brings in dismantling the strongholds in the world. Help us to think with the mind of Christ before we use worldly arguments in living out our faith for the world to see the Christian worldview. Amen.
Paul’s Defense of His Ministry
1 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appealface with you, but “bold” when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do no to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to t wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
What Does This Mean?
As we have seen before, part of the purpose behind the 2nd letter to the Corinthians was to dispel some of the lies that some outside the Church brought in concerning the apostle Paul. They were saying that he was soft in person, yet harsh in his letters. His manner and speech were unimpressive. And his “yes” was not “yes”, and his “no” was not “no”! Clearly they were trying to bring in a spirit of divisiveness into this prominent church in the New Testament.
Paul has a spirit of love, so as not to want to have to exercise discipline when he meets them, but will resort to it if necessary. Importantly, these people are using worldly means to diminish Paul’s authority. He points out that, if necessary, he will dismantle all of their arguments using divine power to demolish strongholds. I.e. He will point the clear errors in their futile arguments. Though these are not theological arguments they are making, they are clearly undermining Paul’s authority as a leader. In that way, they were an obstruction to God’s work and the knowledge of God.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Thoughts matter. How we think and the arguments we use reveal our Truth source. This also reminds us that there will always be spiritual battles going on in the Church regarding its spiritual leaders. The easiest way to create dissension in a Church is to pit one leader against another. If leaders are acting in the power of Christ, it is not their personality one should be following anyways, but Christ in them!
Again this reminds us that thinking does matter. It is important for believers to understand what they believe and why. Believers need to understand how to argue using the mind of Christ, and the authority we have in Jesus’ name. For too long the Church has relied on the pastor and or other leaders to dispense knowledge, which creates consumers of religious goods and services. We need disciples of Christ, who know the mind of Christ and use His thought process boldly is dismantling worldly arguments and pretensions.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the knowledge of Christ and the true power it brings in dismantling the strongholds in the world. Help us to think with the mind of Christ before we use worldly arguments in living out our faith for the world to see the Christian worldview. Amen.
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