The context of this verse is important in its application (as is every verse in the Bible). This entire book is an incredibly personal letter. We are able to read Paul’s words of love and exhortation while witnessing his commitment to the truth of God’s Word as well as him defending his authority as a genuine apostle while simultaneously pointing out the deceptive influence of the false apostles (10:1 – 13:10).
John Piper summarizes this passage wonderfully:
“it’s as if Paul is saying, ‘I am visiting these rascals in Corinth who are so boastful in their philosophical prowess that I am going to demolish them – not by counter philosophy, but by divine power. I am going to show them power, and they are going to collapse in their thinking. And then I am going to take their thoughts captive so that they now obey Christ.'”
We are plagued by a society that is consumed with the “strongholds” or “fortresses” of false teaching, false religions, cults, existentialism, and secular philosophy that we see in verse 5. And it’s this obsession that has created a societal thinking that has imprisoned the minds of millions. We could discuss how specific false teachings go against the Word of God, and what following a secular philosophy leads to, and we’ll cover all of that eventually, but today I want to explain it simply: any idea, opinion, or worldview that asserts that Christ is unnecessary is a direct reflection of Satan’s pride. It’s these thoughts that must be taken captive and made obedient to Christ.
If you only take away one things from this today, let it be this: Paul isn’t telling us here that we are to take our own thoughts captive. “When Paul says first that he is destroying arguments and arrogant opinions against God and second that he is taking thoughts or minds captive, we need to realize that it is the minds and thoughts of others. He is not talking about his own thoughts. It is the thoughts of others.” (Piper, 2015)
We are the warriors, and the enemies are those whose minds and arguments are filled with pride and lifted up against God. Yet we do not rely on ourselves, manmade plans, or human ingenuity for victory, for the flesh is powerless against the schemes of the devil (2 Corinthians 10:3).
So how do we do this? We should listen to what Paul is saying here, and submit all of our thoughts and feelings about God and about our life to what Scripture says for scrutiny. If anything is out of sync, we should let the Holy Spirit destroy it. Again, like we’ve mentioned before, this is far easier said than done. It’s not easy, nor is it in our nature to want to submit all of our ideas, worldviews, and viewpoints to God saying, “let your word destroy what’s necessary.” And this isn’t to say that we won’t keep sinning, we will. But we should be striving and seeking for the Holy Spirit to be conforming us to Christ.
It’s through doing this that we ask the Holy Spirit to work, because, again, Paul teaches us that we don’t fight with mere human arguments. Every single one of us has a ministry, and our ministry has power: “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power” (2 Corinthians 10:4). As we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), we engage the battle against pretense and arrogant philosophy in the world. “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience” (Romans 15:18). This is the...
