Read 2 Corinthians 10:1-5
In today’s passage, Paul defends his apostleship against critics who judged him based on outward appearances and worldly standards. He asserts that his ministry and authority came from God, not from human approval. Paul emphasizes that spiritual warfare requires spiritual weapons, not carnal ones.
We live in a physical, material world in which we communicate through our senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. But there is a spiritual world around us that we can’t see, which is as real, if not more real, than the physical world we live in.
The spiritual world consists of the spirit of good (God) and the spirit of evil (the devil). There is an age-long war going on in the spirit world and this war began when Satan rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven.
In 2 Corinthians 10:3, Paul categorically spells out to us that though we live in a physical, material world, we do not wage war as the world does. Particularly as Christians, we cannot afford to take for granted happenings around us and live carelessly. The spiritual world consists of angelic forces fighting on behalf and for the righteous, those who are saved by grace to implement God’s will on earth and satanic agents, demons who are fighting to instill evil from the devil’s kingdom.
In verse 4, Paul tells us the weapons we fight with in this war are not carnal, physical, they are not machine guns, bombs etc. but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. They have divine power to demolish strongholds (mental, emotional, or spiritual places built on lies and deception that oppose the knowledge of God).
In this war, the enemy hides behind strongholds built on lies and deception, which he feeds humankind, and through which he controls, attacks, and destroys. In Genesis chapter 3 verse 11 when God asked Adam where he was and Adam said he hid because he was naked, God didn’t ask him why he was naked, He asked who told you, you are naked? In other words, the problem was the source of his information about his state.
A personal story: When my husband (of blessed memories) came to ask my parents for my hand in marriage, they were opposed to it for their own reasons. They planned and ganged up to give him a hard time, but we prayed together in the name of Jesus and pulled down all the opposing forces that stood against our coming together as husband and wife and that meeting was peaceful and God had His way. They gave their consent without dispute.
For Reflection:
- Trusting in the Holy Spirit to stand for and with us as we face spiritual battles and temptations can bring us peace. When have you experienced this? How can that experience help you as you move forward in life with God?
by Jacqueline Fiona Ejimofor
