2 Corinthians 10:1-6 Study Guide: Take Every thought captive
Community Group Study Guide — Take Every Thought Captive
2 Corinthians 10:1-6
Study Information:
Were there any things you believed as a kid that you later found out to be untrue? Some things that come to mind were thinking that it was illegal to turn on the internal dome light in the car while driving, or that if you swallowed gum it took 7 years to digest or that people just automatically lived to be 100 years old. Yes, you could say that I believed some wacky things as a 7 year old and it wasn’t until years later that I found out these things were not true. We don’t know how some of these things get into the culture but you likely share a similar list or maybe an equally weird one. More than that, our culture is really good at telling stories and trying to give meaning to life. There are many “false stories” in our world trying to answer the question about what brings our life value or how we should. When we have one of these “false stories” playing in the background of our minds it impacts what we do. Some of these false stories in our world today are things like individualism which teaches us that you are the center of it all and you should be true to yourself. Another story is consumerism that can lead us to believe a meaningful life is found in buying, consuming and maintaining a certain standard of living. Or maybe the false story of romanticism, you are what you feel.
Where do these false stories come from and how do we fight against them? In our scripture passage, Paul shifted away from his teaching on giving and went back to his discussion on the false teachers in Corinth who influenced the church towards ungodly belief which kept them stuck in sin. We learn that a key element of his ministry was destroying these worldviews so that ungodly thoughts could be taken captive to obey Christ.
The Savior’s Humility
2 Corinthians 10:1-2
Is meekness weakness? Some of us think so and certainly the Corinthians were tempted to believe it. The false story the Corinthians bought into was one that viewed power and success as a sign of God’s movement. A group in the church recognized Paul’s authority but there was another group that questioned Paul’s motives and how gentle he was when he was present with them in person compared to when he wrote them his “severe letter.” This group claimed he used worldly strategies to try and manipulate or influence them rather than being genuine. Paul’s defense was to point to Jesus! Paul modeled his ministry off the ministry of Christ who called himself “gentle and lowly in heart.” For those struggling in sin and hardship, Jesus was gentle and would not break the “bruised reed,” and at the same time Jesus saved his harshest rebukes for those who were hypocritical or spiritually abusive.
The Corinthians thought this was just a “strategy” or what Paul referred to as being accused of walking according to the flesh (2 Cor 10:2). Paul corrected this assumption and contrasted himself with the false teachers by telling them that he was not just using worldly methods to address spiritual problems. This group of dissenters had bought into a false story, or a false gospel and to fight that fight Paul would need to rely on spiritual weapons.
Spiritual Strongholds
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
How did Paul fight this battle for the minds of the Corinthians? With spiritual weapons. Notice all the warfare language in this text and how Paul painted a picture of one’s mind as a city that was entrenched in a siege war. A siege is where an enemy army surrounds a city to try and starve out the city so they can conquer it with greater ease. We are likely to picture ourselves as the entrenched city holding out against invaders but Paul used the opposite image. In his view, there were false beliefs that were the city walls or ramparts and these ungodly thoughts were the inhabitants of that city. Paul thought of himself and his associates as the invaders, with the goal of destroying or literally in the greek “pulling down” the ramparts (arguments) so they could capture the thoughts that were keeping people from following and obeying Christ fully. The logic here is that some of the sin problems we experience in our lives happens because we have believed false stories or lies and those lies are propped up by ungodly worldviews, so the solution to sin is not just greater disciplines or better habits, but rather a changed mind (Romans 12:2).
This language of the battle not being against flesh and blood is reminiscent of Ephesians 6:12 where Paul taught that the actual battle was against spiritual powers at work in the world. Likewise, in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 Paul clearly connected the false apostles with the work of Satan. We should not view these false stories and this teaching that was going through Corinth as natural, it was a form of spiritual warfare and to fight against that Paul taught that we needed spiritual weapons. How do we combat lies? By knowing the truth. Romans 1:25 taught that people exchanged the truth for a lie, and today we need to exchange the lie for the truth. We can only do this in so much as we are in the word of God and applying the truth to our lives and the specific false thinking we have playing in the background. How do we do that? Paul described it as “taking every thought captive.”
Take Every Thought Captive to Obey Christ
2 Corinthians 10:5-6
The idea of battling intrusive thoughts is a popular concept in modern psychology and cognitive behavioral therapy and has a helpful place but the idea of “taking every thought captive” is different and more nuanced than that in an important way. This is more than thinking positively or reframing thoughts in a more hopeful way, if you look at 2 Corinthians 10:5 we read that Paul and his associates were the ones taking the thoughts captive, not the Corinthians or individual believers . What does that mean?! Notice, the arguments and lofty opinions were destroyed and the thoughts were then captured, once the worldview was defeated the individual ungodly thoughts were rounded up SO THAT Christ could be obeyed. How do we take thoughts captive? By submitting our minds to the truth of God’s word. Paul and his fellow ministers who were serving in Corinth brought the truth of God’s word to confront the false lies of the world that they had placed their hope in. It appears that Paul taught that as we learned and obeyed God’s word we would be able to have our thoughts captured to obey Christ, basically that our minds and hearts would be formed to God’s word.
What does this look like in real life? First, we identify the false stories and lies we are believing. This could be a lie of hopelessness that acts like there is no God at work in this world, consumerism that values money and wealth, individualism that teaches that we are at the center of the world, or naturalism that leads us to believe that this world is all their is or another narrative that you’re allowing to dominate your thought life. These false stories can lead us towards sinful thoughts like “God can never love a person like me,” or “I need to work and pay God back,” or “sexual immorality isn’t a big deal because everyone is doing it.” Second, once we identify the false story we’re tempted to believe, we bring the truth of God’s word to that area of our lives. This is the idea of preaching the gospel to yourself and it is a way to displace the lie we believe with God’s truth so that we can take that thought captive and obey Christ. Find specific verses that relate to where you’re struggling and mediate on them. Maybe you do not know the whole story of the Bible well, this is a chance to learn it. Join a bible study or find a book that teaches you the big theme of the scripture and allow it to form and shape your heart.
God promises to use his word to renew our mind, let’s apply spiritual practices to wage warfare against the lies of this world that keep us trapped in sin.
At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.
How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week?
Discussion Questions:
2 Corinthians 10:1-6
What are some reasons that Paul began this section with reminding the church about the humility and meekness of Jesus?
How is waging warfare with weapons of the flesh different than spiritual weapons? How do we know that this specific issue of what one beliefs or thinks is a “spiritual issue?”
Paul talked about destroying arguments and lofty opinions to take thoughts captive to obey Christ. How does one’s thought life influence their actions? Look at Romans 1:24 and Romans 12:2.
What cultural lies (or to use Paul’s word “arguments”) exist in our part of the world right now? Which ones have you been tempted to believe and how do you bring the truth of God’s word to your life?
