Winning the Spiritual War
10: 1-6
DIG: What is the basic argument or conflict taking place in Corinth? Paul asserts that beneath the surface, the enemy (the Adversary) has a foothold in the church at Corinth. What does this mean? How could such a thing happen? Critics had evidently claimed that Paul was bold in his writings but meek and uncertain when he was with the Corinthians in person. How did Paul refute that charge? How does Paul advocate dealing with wrong thinking and wrong behavior in the Church? Paul was not eager to confront those Corinthians who continued to oppose his God-given authority, but he was willing to do whatever was necessary to preserve the church. Why is this kind of bold leadership important even today?
REFLECT: How should you be warned by this incident, in which believable suggestions were being made by seemingly spiritual people using lots of religious language? How would it change your life if you consistently developed this discipline of arresting and examining every thought? What can you learn here in this passage about the character and resolve of the enemy? Why were Paul’s ideas about how and what to think more valid than the ideas of the false apostles in Corinth? What concrete steps can you take to submit every thought to the authority of Messiah (see Acts 17:10-12)? Can you think of a time when wrong thinking resulted in wrong choices in your life? How about when right thinking led to wise choices?
There is a war taking place, and the primary battleground is in our minds.
As the word now (10:1) indicates, this passage begins a new section of Paul’s letter (to see link click Br – Paul Defends His Apostolic Authority). Even though he had acknowledged the repentance in the church at Corinth (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter), the apostle was wise enough to know that his rivals (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) were still a force to be reckoned with. The general repentance of the congregation had likely only driven their poisonous revolt underground. There, some bided their time, hoping to rekindle the rebellion against Paul. In the meantime, they surely conducted more subtle warfare against him. To stamp out the last traces of rebellion, Paul launched a search-and-destroy mission to root out the remaining pockets of resistance at Corinth. His attack was two pronged. The preliminary bombardment, as it were, came in the last four chapters of this letter; the final assault would come when the apostle visited Corinth a couple of months later (12:14 and 13:1). This last section of Paul’s letter, then, was addressed to the disobedient minority; namely, the false apostles and their remaining deluded followers. As the battle continued against the forces of evil at Corinth, Paul appeared in his soldier’s uniform to set an example for all to follow. He reveals four traits of a soldier who can triumph in the spiritual war.
He is compassionate, courageous, competent and calculating.
He is compassionate (10:1): Before beginning his assault of the false apostles and their followers, the apostle expressed his unwillingness to engage in combat. Good soldiers take no pleasure in using deadly force and do so only with great reluctance. A noble warrior’s power is constrained by his compassion and exercised only when there is no other option. This is the spirit in which Paul fought his spiritual war. That did not mean, of course, that Paul doubted the authority delegated to him by Yeshua Messiah. In fact, he boldly asserted: Now it is I myself, Paul, making an appeal to you. Unlike the false apostles, Paul did not depend on any human source for his authority (3:1). His words revealed divine authority, and so would his power, if necessary, when he visited Corinth (see Cg – A Fond Farwell). Instead of seeking personal vengeance on his enemies, Paul showed them the same patience that the Lord had shown him (First Timothy 1:16).
But before wielding his apostolic might, Paul first displayed his compassion. He appealed to the rebellious minority with the meekness (Greek: prautes, meaning a humble and gentle attitude that results in patient endurance of offenses) and gentleness (Greek: epieikeia, is translated kindness in its only other appearance) that can only come from Messiah, to end their attack on him and be reconciled to the truth. However, Paul’s enemies put a negative spin on his compassion, scornfully condemning it as cowardly weakness. They accused him of being timid when face-to-face with them but intimidating from a distance (see 10:10).205
How ignorant the Corinthians were, even after all that Paul had taught them. They failed to realize that the true spiritual power is meekness and gentleness, not in “throwing his spiritual weight around.” Paul’s very attitude in these opening verses disarmed his opponents. In fact, the use of his own name is significant, for Paul means little. If he was a spiritual weakling, then so was Messiah, for Yeshua demonstrated meekness and gentleness when He said: Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29).206
He is courageous (10:2): Those who mistook Paul for a weakling were drastically mistaken. When all attempts at compassion were exhausted, he would not shrink from using his authority as Messiah’s apostle. It would not be good for those enemies when Paul comes and gives them a dose of his courage face-to-face, the courage of which they were mocking. He certainly intended to demolish them completely. He literally begged the Corinthians not to become involved with the rebels, not to listen to them or associate with them so that, when he comes and makes short work of his enemies, he will not have to also deal with any of them.207
If necessary, Paul was going to deal directly with those who were slandering him, saying: I beg you not to force me to be intimidating when I am with you, and a new element enters the tone of his letter. From here on, he makes use of irony, even sarcasm, as he ridicules his opponents, especially the false apostles (11:5 and 12:11), and he indicates with increasing sharpness that he will not spare those who continue to sin. He has shown how gentle he can be; but now he shows another side of himself, as he does his utmost to turn the divisive troublemakers into faithful followers of Messiah and His appointed apostle (1:1).208
Paul would wage his war toward some who regard us as living in a worldly way. The false apostles and their duped followers slandered Paul by accusing him of walking according his old sin nature (see the commentary on Romans Cd – The Reason for the Inner Conflict). According to them, he was motivated by evil self-interest, the lustful pursuit of money, and illicit desires. This was the height of projection.
Throughout his letter, Paul courageously defended himself against those outrageous charges, which were at the heart of the conspiracy against him. In 1:12 he wrote: For we take pride in this: that our conscience assures us that in our dealings with the world, and especially with you, we have conducted ourselves with frankness and godly pureness of motive – not by worldly wisdom but by God-given grace. Unlike the false apostles, Paul handled the Word accurately: For we are not like a lot of folks who go around huckstering God’s message for a fee; on the contrary, we speak out of a sincere heart, as people sent by God, standing in His presence, living in union with the Messiah (3:17). Nor did he have a secret life of sin, having renounced the hidden things because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending [myself] to every man’s conscience in the sight of God (4:2 NASB). “Make room for us in your hearts,” he begged the Corinthians, “we haven’t wronged anyone, we haven’t corrupted anyone, and we haven’t exploited anyone” (7:2). Paul had given the rebels fair warning. If they did not repent, it would mean spiritual war – the kind of war that the apostle was fully equipped to win.209
He is competent (10:3-5): In addition to being compassionate and courageous, the believer in Messiah’s spiritual army must also be properly armed for the battle. 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 weapons of righteousness (6:7b). Here, once more, is an expression of the power-in-weakness paradox of apostolic ministry. While acknowledging that he walks in the flesh (Greek: sarx, meaning original sin nature), Paul denies that he wages war according to the flesh (10:3). Like all other human beings who walk in the flesh, Paul is a mere jar of clay (4:7), who was outwardly wasting away (4:16), a thorn-afflicted man (12:7). Yet, even in the midst of such weakness, he was an effective bearer of the Word (2:17, 3:2-3, 4:1-6, 5:11-12, 11:2, 12:19, 13:3-4). But because he was a fallen human being in the flesh it was only by the Word of God, the treasure itself (4:7), along with the aid of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, not its frail, ever debilitating, human bearer, that was powerful enough to achieve the purposes of ADONAI.210
And that was exactly where the false apostles and their followers made their mistake. They regarded Paul as being only a man like themselves, and thus thought that in a fight they would be more than a match for the apostle and his little crew. Those opponents imagined that they could outdistance Paul in trickery and underhanded work. To this point, their heavy artillery had been lies and slander. They were sure they would win the battle with that kind of bombardment. However, He told the Corinthians not to get involved in that fight because Paul, the great general and his lieutenants, operated with surprisingly different armament.211
To successfully fight the spiritual war, it requires weapons from the heavenly arsenal (10:4a). Continuing with the siege metaphor, Paul declares that the weapons we use to wage war are not fleshly; on the contrary, they have God’s power for the destruction of fortresses, meaning false biblical teachings and false ideas that oppose the gospel (see the commentary on First Corinthians An – The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom). Paul liked to use word pictures drawn from the image of a soldier (Romans 13:12; First Corinthians 9:7; Philippians 2:25; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; First Timothy 1:18 and 6:12; 2 Timothy 2:3-4 and 4:7; Philemon 2), and with Roman soldiers ever present in the Mediterranean world, use of such language would have been very effective with Paul’s audience.212 Paul suggests a variety of both offensive and defensive weapons (see the commentary on Ephesians Cb – The Armor of God).
Get the picture that’s in Paul’s mind with all its crushing irony. We demolish arguments and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of God (10:4b). He paints his opponents as a handful of hostiles who, by harassing the Corinthians, imagine that they can defeat ADONAI Elohei-Tzva’ot, the LORD God of heaven’s angelic armies, and whole great campaign of God which had been entrusted to Paul. Psalm 2:4 shows how ridiculous that is: He who sits in heaven laughs; ADONAI looks at them with contempt. Paul wants his Corinthians to see all of it in that light; then none of them would ever listen to those foolish opponents again. This war could not lead to anything but victory.213
Spiritually, your mind is your most vulnerable organ. To reduce temptation, keep your mind occupied with God’s Word and other good thoughts. You defeat bad thoughts by thinking of something better. This is the principle of replacement. You overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). The Adversary can’t get your attention when your mind is preoccupied with something else. That’s why the Bible repeatedly tells us to keep our thoughts on Yeshua (Hebrews 3:1 NIV), always think about Yeshua (Second Timothy 2:8 GWT), and fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honorable (Philippians 4:8 TEV).
If you’re serious about defeating temptation you must manage your mind and monitor your media intake. The wisest man who ever lived warned: Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts (Proverbs 4:23 TEV). Don’t allow trash into your mind indiscriminately. Be selective. Choose carefully what you think about. Follow Paul’s model: We take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah (10:5). This takes a lifetime of practice, but with the help of the Spirit of God you can reprogram the way you think.214
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your great military mind power! Though we have built fortresses around bad thoughts, You can destroy those fortresses as we open the gates of our mind to Your cleansing. No habit or repeated thought is ever too powerful for You. Your cleansing of our thoughts is like a load of bricks taken off our backs. What a joy it is to take every thought captive as we think on Your great mercy and power. It is such a comfort to meditate on the stories in the Bible and your many wonderful characteristics. It brings peace to go to sleep thinking: Praise you God! You are Holy, Almighty, All Powerful, All Wise, Forgiving Savior and Loving Father! Thank you for being such a wonderful Heavenly Father! In Yeshua’s Holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
He is calculating (10:6): 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 false apostles to destroy the church. But he also had the discipline to wait until the church’s obedience was complete (10:6 NASB). Paul would not unleash his formidable apostolic power on anyone until each had taken their stand. That way, it would be clear who accepted the truth and who had rejected it. Paul would be compassionate to the former, but the latter would find him to be a courageous and highly competent opponent.215
The universe is not a neutral place. There is a war going on, and the primary battleground is in our minds. All day, every day, we are bombarded with words, ideas, images, and suggestions. From advertisements to blogs, from scientists to internet preachers, we face continual exposure to various perspectives and values. Not all of the information to which we are exposed is true. Much of it is unhealthy and opposed to what ADONAI says. And since ideas always have consequences, and what we believe ultimately does determine how we will behave, we must take radical action. What can we do? Wake up. Put on God’s armor. Pray for wisdom. Think critically. Practice discernment. Renew our minds daily.216
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