For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
– 2 Corinthians 10:3–5
Wow, there’s a lot there. A couple of takeaways that I want to encourage us with today, challenge us with. And let them lead us into prayer according to these verses.
2 Corinthians 10:3–5 Reminds Us of the Reality of the Spiritual Battle for Our Souls
One, be reminded that you are in spiritual battle today. There’s a spiritual war raging around you, for you and your life and the lives of people around you. There is an adversary, the devil and demons, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6 describes them as, those who are actively working to destroy your life and the lives of those around you. They want to pull you away from God, distract you, deceive you, discourage you.
We are in a spiritual battle all the time. The devil, demons, do not take days off or moments off. We are walking in the flesh, but there are spiritual battles raging around us all the time. This means the weapons of our warfare, 2 Corinthians 10:4, are not of the flesh but of the Spirit. So you fight spiritual war with spiritual weapons. We could dive into Ephesians 6 and the weapons in our warfare, but notice what 2 Corinthians 10 is saying. Our weapons have divine power to destroy strongholds. And then verse five elaborates on what we destroy.
Here’s what Paul equates with strongholds, arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. And then he goes on and says, we take every thought captive to obey Christ. Again, tons we could talk about here. But at the most foundational level, there is a battle in our minds over knowledge and thoughts.
2 Corinthians 10:3–5 Encourages Us to Engage in the Battle by Faith
I want to encourage you today to fight that battle in your mind. The devil and his demons want to put thoughts in your minds that would lead you to disobey Christ. And to put thoughts in your mind that go against the true knowledge of God and knowledge of yourself and knowledge of the world around you.
There’s an adversary, the devil and his demons want to deceive you today to get you to believe lies about who God is, about who you are, about the world around you, about what’s good for your life, and ways that lead you to disobey Christ. Make sure to fight this spiritual battle with spiritual weapons.
At the forefront of those spiritual weapons is the sword of the Spirit, which we know is the Word of God that gives us true knowledge of God and true knowledge about ourselves and true knowledge about the world around us, and that leads us to obey Christ. So fight spiritual war today with spiritual weapons. Namely the Word of God and the Spirit of God. And guard your mind from any thought that would lead you away from God, the truth of who he is, what the Bible says about who you are and other people around you, and what’s most important and how to live.
This Verse Reminds Us that in Christ We Are Victorious
God, we pray you would help us today. I pray for every single one of us. Help us to be victorious by your grace, by the sword of your Spirit, your Word in us to be victorious in spiritual battle. God, we pray that you would guard all of our minds from lies about who you are, about who we are, about the world around us, about what’s most important, about how to act all day long in every situation we face. God, we pray that you would help us to take every thought captive to obey you.
Just like 2 Corinthians 10:5 says. Help us to destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of you. We pray that you would help us to fight this spiritual battle with the spiritual weapons you’ve given us that have divine supernatural power to destroy strongholds. Help us in all of this, not to wage for according to our flesh, but according to your Spirit.
Help us to be cognizant of the spiritual battle around us, of the spiritual weapons you’ve given us. And help us by your power. Greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. Help us by the power of Jesus to be victorious in spiritual battle today.
Prayer for the Hakka People
God, we pray today for the Hakka people of East Asia, 44 million of them, most of whom have little to no knowledge of the gospel. We know that spiritual battle raging for the Hakka people, for the minds and hearts of Hakka people.
Lord, we praise you for the small number of believers among the Hakka, for the churches that have been planted there, God strengthen and then help them as they fight spiritual warfare today. We pray for victory for the spread of the gospel among the Hakka. God, we’re asking for that. We’re fighting spiritual battle right now in our prayers, God coming before you, please, oh God, show your power among the Hakka.
Bring more Hakka, men and women and children to salvation in you. Bless your church. Strengthen your church there, that the 44 million people among the Hakka might be reached with the good news of your love. God, may it be so. We pray all this according to your Word in 2 Corinthians 10:3–5. In Jesus’ name we pray. In the name of the one who has conquered Satan and sin and death, we pray all this in his name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
