Destroying Arguments Against God

2 Corinthians 10:1-6 ESV

“I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”

All of us who are followers of Jesus Christ are to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It should be our lifestyle, our practice, to be sharing with others the message of the gospel as taught by Jesus and by the New Testament apostles. And as followers of Christ we are all part of the body of Christ, and so we are all to be ministering to one another, according to the Scriptures, in encouraging, exhorting, urging, provoking, and instructing one another in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord.

And even though we are not all in positions of authority over others within the gatherings of the church, this doesn’t mean we are any less responsible for the spiritual growth of our fellow believers, not that we have any control over what they do, but that we are to be encouraging them away from following after the sinful cravings of the flesh and toward walks of holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord. In other words, we are to look out for one another to help one another to maturity in Jesus Christ.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

Nonetheless, we live in a day and time and in a Christian culture, at least here in America we do, when these biblical instructions to us are largely being ignored and shunned and regarded as taboo. And we are being taught to “stay in your own lane” and to not offend anyone with the truth of the gospel, and to only say to people what they regard as positive and to not talk about sin, repentance, obedience, and judgment, for those are all considered “negative.” For they want the “feel-good” messages, instead.

But actually, this is nothing new, for the prophets of old faced this where the people were telling them to stop telling them what they did not want to hear, and when the people told them, instead, to say pleasant things to them. And the apostle Paul faced some similar criticism as that, too. And we will, as well, if we take these instructions to us in the Scriptures seriously, and if we literally are putting those instructions into practice. And that is because following these biblical instructions to us is not socially acceptable.

Thus, if we are true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, like Paul was, and if we follow these biblical instructions to us (in the verses listed above), we are likely to come under some of the same criticism as Paul faced, and as Jesus faced, and as the prophets before them faced. And we may have to come to our own defense, too, at times, when we are being falsely accused of things we did not do or say. For that is what Paul was doing here, as recorded for us in this passage of Scripture.

And, in our day and time, we will have to defend ourselves against the lies because so many people are believing the lies, and not the truth, and so they are convinced that we are in the wrong, and that they are in the right, even if the Scriptures themselves say otherwise. And I am not claiming that any of us are perfect people here, okay? I am just saying that, if we are genuinely teaching the truth of the Scriptures, we are going to come under criticism such as what Paul and Jesus and the prophets of old faced.

And then look at what he said here. He said that he, and the other apostles, I presume, were in the practice of destroying arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and they took every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. And this should be what describes us, too. But, again, our Christian culture speaks ill of people who make this their practice and who exhort other believers to walk in holiness and in obedience to the Lord. So, if we do this, we should expect to be persecuted for it.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263