A few weeks ago, I made a statement about the spiritual strongholds in our community. Today I’d like to continue to address these spiritual strongholds and how we can tear them down.
1. Strongholds will not be torn down by worldly means.
2 Corinthians 10:3
3We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.
Paul makes it clear that these spiritual strongholds will not be torn down by any worldly means. That means politicians can’t tear them down, no policy will be able to tear them down, or no program will be able to tear them down. This is not a worldly battle we are fighting here. We need something much more powerful.
2. Strongholds can only be torn down by Godly means.
2 Corinthians 10:4
4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
Paul wants to make it clear that it’s God’s mighty weapon and God’s mighty weapon alone that can tear these strongholds down. He wants to make this clear because he had some false apostles who were trying to influence the church by telling the church that Paul is only bold when he writes, but when he shows up in person he’s timid. They were trying to get the people to believe that the power was in the way you spoke, but Paul is trying to reassure them that the power comes from God and not from man. That’s why this weapon is from God himself and not from the boldness or smooth talking of any human. To find out what this weapon is exactly we need to look at his letter to the Ephesians when he lays out the full armor of God in chapter 6. Almost everything he describes there are defensive weapons given by God alone. There is only one single offensive weapon mentioned and that is the Sword of the Spirit - AKA the Word of God. It shouldn’t be a surprise to any of us that our weapon against spiritual strongholds is God’s Word. It’s the only thing God gave Adam and Eve when He knew they were about to be tempted by the serpent. He said, “You can eat of any tree of the garden except for that one.” His word was enough. It’s also the only thing Jesus used when He was tempted in the wilderness by Satan. Three times He was tempted and three times He quoted scripture to back Satan down. We don’t fight with worldly weapons, but rather with the Word of God wielded by the power of the Spirit.
3. Strongholds are located in the mind.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5
4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
In Paul’s day, everyone knew where the strongholds were. They were blatantly obvious because they stood out. When it comes to spiritual strongholds we can know they are there, but it might be a little harder to pinpoint their exact location. Paul clears that up by showing us they are all in the mind and they show up as false arguments, pride, and rebellion. All the spiritual strongholds we will ever face in life fall into one of these categories. It will be arguments that might make sense to us, but God says otherwise. It’s when worldly practices and ideas do not line up with scriptural truths. Strongholds can be made from pride that becomes an obstacle that prevents us growing in Christ. We all struggle with it in some form, and we can all testify that pride left unchecked will always cause us to stumble. Scripture says, “Pride comes before the fall.” Then you have rebellion, which is any other blatant sin. These are strongholds built by thinking our way are better than God’s way. They are built and strengthened when we pursue the things of the heart rather than the things of God. All three of these types of spiritual strongholds must be fought with the Word of God. We must have faith in God to begin the task of tearing down these strongholds. We must be obedient to the Word in order to tear down these strongholds. We must be persistent because most likely these strongholds will not fall overnight, but they will fall when we are faithfully pulling them down every chance we get.
I guess the next question is, “What strongholds do we start with?” The answer is easy. We must start with the strongholds within us.
When we think of spiritual strongholds we usually think of blatant false teaching around us, or sins that are easy to judge and are seen everywhere in society, or we look at the sin struggles of others. Paul here is addressing the church and the church alone. Is telling them they need to tear down these strongholds that have been set up in their own hearts and minds, to take the thoughts that are rebellious and bring them into submission under the Lord, and to use God’s Word and it’s power to do it all. Because once the church gets its strongholds torn down, then the power of God’s Word will be on display and others will see their strongholds begin to fall as well. It starts first with us.
