Message

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Make Captive Every Thought Obedient to Christ

2 Corinthians 10:1-18

Key Verse: 10:5 “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.”

In the two previous chapters 8 & 9 Paul urges the Corinthian Church to complete their contribution which they had promised. There were two main reasons why Paul asked them to do: First, Paul wanted to help the suffering brothers and sisters in Jerusalem Church. Second, Paul wanted unity between the Jerusalem Church and the Gentile churches through the contribution. Now in the next two chapters 10 &11 Paul defends his ministry from false teachers, especially from the Judaizers. We divide chapter 10 into three parts: First Paul’s defense for the way of his ministry. Second, Paul’s defense for his apostolic credential (personal ability and character). Third, his defense for the fruit of his ministry.

First, make captive every thought obedient to Christ (1-6) In these verses Paul first defends the way of his ministry from those who accused him of ‘being authoritative and pretensive’. Paul had sent his third letter to the church through Titus before he wrote 2 Corinthians. His third letter was full of Paul’s anguish and compassion for the church. His letter must have hurt them because of Paul’s strong and straightforward message of rebuke. His letter became a big issue among them, and there appeared those who attacked Paul’s leadership. They accused Paul that he was not different from the people of the world who lived by the standards of this world. People of this world blame each other and argue to win over their opponents. They use their authority to tear down others rather than build up others. Paul’s enemies in the church accused Paul of being authoritative like other people in the world. They also accused him of being pretensive. They told the church people that Paul was strong in absence in his letter, but fearful at present in person.

How did Paul defend himself and his ministry? Look at verses 1-3. “By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 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. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.” Paul did not defend his apostolic authority or the uniqueness of his character but taught them the way to see this world. Paul saw his ministry as a spiritual warfare against evil power. In his letter to the Ephesians Paul said the same, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:12) To the eyes of Paul, preaching the gospel, protecting the church, and living as Christians were spiritual battles against the power of evil and darkness of this world. So, he urged the Ephesians to put on the full armor of God. (Eph 6:13) Paul taught the same to the Corinthians.

In verse 3 he said, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.” He continues in verse 4. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. What are the weapons of this world? How do people of this world fight? Paul answers in 4:2 which says, “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” The weapon of this world is deception. Deception was the weapon which Satan had used to tempt a woman in the beginning. Satan deceived the woman to disobey the truth of God. People in this world deceive and are deceived. The false teachers in the church deceived the believers to stand against Paul and his ministry. They deceived that Paul was authoritative and pretensive. They deceived them by saying that Paul was not a real apostle. But Paul did not use the same weapon of the world which they used, but he used the weapons of God which are the truth of God and obedience to Christ. Look at verses 5-6. “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. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” People like to argue with believers to justify their unbelief. They make many excuses for their unbelief. Some pretend to believe but reject the truth of God from their hearts. They know that there is God and that they must believe in God. But they do not want to admit God’s existence. They justify their unbelief with worldly logic and elementary knowledge. According to Paul in the book of Romans, although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Ro 1:21) They intentionally suppress the truth of God and follow the sinful desires of their hearts. (Ro 1:18. 24)

Why do people do such foolish things? Why do people not want to admit the truth of God and come to the light? This is because they inherited the blood of Adam’s disobedience. As long as the blood of disobedient Adam is circulated in their body, they become disobedient and foolish. But we Christians became a new humanity, new creation because of Jesus. We received the blood of obedient Jesus and we became a new creation. As a result, those who belong to Christ take captive every thought to be obedient to Christ Jesus. We always say ‘Yes’ in Jesus because we are governed by the law of the Spirit, not by the law of sin and death. The moment we take captive our thoughts to make it obedient to Christ, our heart begins to be governed by the Holy Spirit. Roman 8:6 says that the heart which is governed by the Spirit is life and peace. Amen!

It was not easy for me to restore my spirit to prepare for the worship service and write this message right after coming back from the trip to Korea. Not only from the fatigue, but also from spiritual numbness I had to struggle to clear my conscience. There was one thing which bothered my conscience from the trip. It was my bowing down before the picture of my mother. I bowed down as an expression of my respect and gratitude toward my mother. Still, Satan accused me of idolatry regardless of my intention. While struggling with this matter, I heard one life-testimony of a woman of faith. She testified how Jesus set her free from sins of ignorance and idolatry. She talked about the cross of Jesus who set her free from guilt and shame. The moment I heard about the word of the cross, all the burden which bothered my conscience was gone. My burden was nothing before the cross of Jesus. Jesus died for all my sins. Joy and peace were restored in my heart, and I began to start writing this message. Praise Jesus who gave me life and peace! Likewise, we must make captive all our thoughts to be obedient to Christ Jesus. As Hebrews 3:1 says, let us fix our thoughts on Jesus and find answer in his words, have solution in the message of the cross. Amen! There is no solution in the way of this world. The more we try to get out, the more we are entangled. Let us make every thought to be obedient to Christ, then we will win our spiritual battle! Amen!

Second, use authority to build up others (7-11) It is very difficult for us to control our feeling when our pride is hurt. When someone says to a student, ‘you are dummy’, ‘you cannot pass the class.’, he or she will become very difficult because their pride was hurt. If some patients talk to their doctors, “You are not a good doctor, so I can’t trust in you.” This is the same when people criticize the sermon of their pastor or diss the achievement of the ministry. If it becomes a personal attack against the ability and personality of their pastor, the damage of the pastor becomes huge. In the Corinthian church Paul received the same attack from his opponents. They criticized Paul’s message and his character. They said that Paul was not special, but the same as others like themselves. They judged even Paul’s outward appearance. According to the Acts of Paul and Thecla the description of Paul’s outward appearance is as follows: "A man small in size, bald-headed, bandy-legged, well-built, with eyebrows meeting, rather long-nosed, full of grace. For sometimes he seemed like a man, and sometimes he had the countenance of an angel.” Paul was not a good-looking man. Now look at verses 7-11. “You are judging by appearance. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ Jesus as much as they do. So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.” Not only did they attack Paul’s outward appearance, but also, they attacked Paul’s message. They said that Paul’s message was not as impressive as his letters. Some might have been disappointed with Paul after they saw Paul in person. Paul did not mind what they said about his appearance or message. He said that he used his apostolic authority only to build up others. Paul was wise as a shepherd of the church. He was not involved in emotional turmoil from their attack his personal matters. This became possible because he made every thought to be obedient to Christ Jesus. Whatever they said bad about his looking or character, he focused on Jesus and thought about his church. In this Paul became a true winner in the spiritual battle.

Third, boast in the Lord (12-18) People of this world like to boast about what they have and what they did. They boast about themselves to lord over others. There are not many who boast to build up others, but only themselves. Those who opposed Paul did the same. They boasted about themselves to diss Paul and to discredit his leadership and his ministry. In verse 12 Paul said that they were not wise because they commend themselves. Their boasting was for self-glory. But Paul’s boasting was different. His boasting did not go beyond limits. His boasting was in the Lord and for the sake of the gospel. His boasting had a clear purpose which he mentioned in verses 15-18. “Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” Paul’s boasting was to encourage the church to grow in their faith so that the gospel might be expanded beyond their region. Paul boasted his sufferings and weakness to the church so that they might be encouraged by Paul’s endurance and his gospel faith. Paul boasted about his life in the church so that they might follow Paul’s example as a shepherd. Paul’s purpose and intention were for Christ’s sake and for the gospel ministry. This became possible because Paul put every thought to be obedient to Christ Jesus, not to himself or to this world.

In conclusion we learned from Paul how he denied himself to make himself to be obedient to Christ Jesus as a servant of Christ. For the sake of the gospel and for the purpose of the church, Paul made himself nothing. He was not easily involved or swayed by emotional conflict caused from the accusation of his enemies. He did not defend himself for his pride, but for the church of God. He got an answer and found a solution in and through the cross of Jesus. This is why Paul became a true winner and a shepherd of God’s church. May God bless each of us to focus all our thoughts on Jesus and obey his word, especially the world mission command. Amen!

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• 2 Co10-01-18-message -5th draft.docx

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