2 Corinthians 10:1-18
Monday, 16 November 2020
"We are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ." -2Cor.10:3-5 [NLT]
As Paul writes to the Corinthians, he states his total dependency on God’s power that enables him to preach the gospel and come against the strongholds of the enemy. The Christian wages a warfare against every strongly fortified place of error and of sin which are to be battered down by our spiritual weapons.
The key verses teach us valuable lessons about the war that the Christian needs to wage against the stronghold of the soul of an unbeliever in order to bring him/her to Christ. The human soul is fallen in nature and hence has been under the dominion of sin and satan. This in turn has brought in the rule of the “self.” It is this area of man's soul that has to be brought under subjection, for the rule of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This universal battle for souls is what is referred to in: “For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.” (Col.1:13)
As Jesus came out victorious over Sin, Satan and death- He said, "…I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”(Matt.28:18) He sends out His emissaries to the far ends of the world based on this authority, which he has regained from the control of the devil. Every authority that Satan was holding after the fall of man has been regained on the Cross of Calvary by Jesus. “He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross.”(Colossians 2:15) Therefore the believer is to go forth with the gospel with the authority given to him by the Lord Jesus (Luke 10:19).
As the human soul is under constant attack by the enemy, who does everything in his power to stop a person from hearing the Word of God, we have to throw the light of gospel into it. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. (2 Cor.4:4) The mind of an unsaved person is one battlefield which is guarded like a fortress preventing a person from receiving the true knowledge of God. A servant of God in preparation to share the gospel, comes against the power of darkness and pulling down the strongholds of the mind of that unsaved person, and then the gospel gets entry into that mind. The Holy Spirit helps him/her to be convicted of sin, leading to repentance. It is then a personal responsibility and decision to be taken by every individual to come to Christ.
Can we pray that the light of the gospel penetrate into hearts of the many unsaved we pray for, that their thoughts may be brought to obey Christ.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for delivering us from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light. All power and glory and honor belongs to You forever and ever.