Lesson #33

2CORINTHIANS 10
Lesson #33
THE BELIEVER’S SPIRITUAL BATTLE AND WEAPONS

• Memory Verse: 2Cor 10:7
• In chapter 10 Paul begins a new theme. He had discussed Christian living, then Christian giving, and now he will talk about Christian warfare. Why does this book contain these drastic changes in themes?
• You will remember that the Corinthian church had many baby Christians living a carnal life and many divisions inside the church.
• The first 9 chapters of this book deal with the final resolution of these issues.
• At the beginning of 2 Corinthians we became aware that Paul’s enemy had come to Corinth.
• The group called the Judaizers that followed Paul wherever he went in the book of Acts had arrived to discredit Paul’s ministry and cast doubt on Paul himself.
• This last section of the book deals with guarding the gospel against the enemy, the Judaizers. In this section, he is speaking to his enemies and to the Christians.
• Read 2Cor 10:1-6
• The attack of the enemy:
• Evidently when Titus told Paul that the Judaizers had arrived in Corinth, he also told Paul what they were saying. We can see Paul’s counterattack in verse 1.
• The Judaizers said:
• …that Paul was a hypocrite.
• He promised to come to visit them and then he did not come.
• His words were weak when he was present but like a bold lion in his letters.
• He did not possess the full gospel.
• He did not take money from the offerings for himself because he was not a true apostle.
• Paul’s answer: (1-2)
• When Paul countered an attack of criticism, he did not defend himself personally. He defended his position and calling that came from God.
• This is a very important concept.
• When we defend ourselves, our defense is weak because we are weak sinners.
• When we defend God’s calling and God’s message, our defense is strong and based in God who supports His calling.
• Paul’s model was Christ that came to this earth as an average insignificant person, but He had the position and authority of God.
• Paul went to Corinth as a common working man, a tent maker, but under the authority of God.
• What is the message?
• Don’t let appearance fool you!
• Paul had mentioned this important admonition before in 1Corinthians when the Christians were judging each other, as it is evidence of carnality.
• Evidently Paul was not that impressive to look at. It is believed that he was short and unattractive. However, he had the power and authority of God behind him. Spiritually speaking he was a giant. When he visited them, he did not want to have to exercise his authority in a severe manner.
• “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.”

(3)

• The Greek word for “flesh” (sarx) has three different meanings.
• =1= the physical body.
• =2= psychological weakness.
• =3= the spiritually corrupt, fallen nature of man after Adam’s first sin. (Rom 7:18)
• It is this third meaning that Paul uses this word most frequently.
• However, in verse 3 he is referring to psychological weakness.
• When believers try to serve Christ in their own strength rather than in the power of the Holy Spirit, they fight a losing battle. The battle is a spiritual battle.
• Read Eph 6:12
• The spiritual weapons for spiritual warfare:
• Paul does not list in this passage the spiritual weapons that the believer has to use, but from New Testament scriptures we can list them here:
• =1= The Word of God
• When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness before he began His public ministry, He used the Word of God against the temptations of the enemy. (Mat 4:4, 7, 10)
• Eph 6 calls the Word of God the sword of the Spirit. (Eph 6:17)
• By faith the believer needs to have confidence in the Word of God as a weapon against the enemy.
• As a spiritual weapon, the Word of God is truth. (Eph 6:14)
• =2= The Presence of the Holy Spirit
• The Holy Spirit that dwells inside of the believer gives the believer power to do the will of God and to fight the necessary spiritual battles. (Act 1:8)
• As a spiritual weapon, the Holy Spirit gives the believer righteousness (Eph 6:14)
• =3= Prayer
• The believer has constant and instant access to God through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. (Mar 15:38 Luk 11:9-10 Eph 6:17-18)
• =4= The Name of Jesus Christ
• God has given the use of the Name of Jesus Christ to the true believers. (Luk 10:17 Phi 2:9)
• As a spiritual weapon, the believer has salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. (Rom 10:13)
• =5= The blood of Jesus Christ
• The power in the blood of Christ that purchased a new covenant with God for the believer. (Heb 13:20-21 Rev 12:11)
• As a spiritual weapon, the believer has the gospel of peace in the new covenant. (Eph 6:15)
• =6= Faith
• The believer receives a measure of faith when he is born again in Jesus Christ. (Rom 12:3) He is to use that faith to trust God for victories in his life.
• The universal spiritual battle:

• “…to the pulling down of strong holds;”

(4)

• What does Paul mean by the phrase, “the pulling down of strongholds”? (4)
• Behind the world scene, there are spiritual battles that occur in heaven. These are spiritual battles that involve the angels.
• We can see this type of battle in the book of Job where Satan accuses Job before God.
• We can see this type of battle in the book of Daniel where the answer to Daniel’s prayer was delayed by one of these battles for 21 days. (Dan 10:13)
• Rev 12:10 tells us that Satan accuses believers before God day and night.
• The localized spiritual warfare initially occurs in the mind.

• “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God…”

(5)

• What does Paul mean by the phrase, “casting down imaginations”? (5)
• When a thought occurs to the believer that is contrary to the truth of the Word of God, the believer should cast it down in the same way that Jesus countered the temptations of the enemy in the wilderness by using the truth of the Word of God.
• For example, the enemy will try to tell the believer that he is not forgiven of his sins, that he is weak, that he is a hypocrite, etc.
• “…bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

(5)

• How does the believer take into captivity every thought? (5)
• When the believer reminds himself and the enemy that God’s Word is truth and authority, he is bringing into captivity the lies of the enemy and placing those lies under the feet of Jesus Christ who is above every other power and name.
• When the believer takes authority over the battle in the mind, he is exercising his obedience to Christ. (6)
• Read 2Cor 10:7-11
• In the same way as the believer cannot see the spiritual battles, the believer must not look at life in the same way as the non-believer.
• He must have a spiritual perspective.
• He must see things as God sees them.
• He must allow the Holy Spirit to guide him into truth.
• Paul recognizes that the baby believers in the Corinthian church accepted the Judaizers as authorities over true believers.
• They were judging by outward appearance. (7)
• The Judaizers thought they were true believers. They claimed to be Christians.
• Paul tells us they were not true believers because they were trusting in themselves and not in God (7). The Judaizers should examine the truth of the gospel of salvation so that they, too, could be saved in the same way as Paul.
• Paul was a true believer. He was not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. (Rom 1:16)
• Paul could have boasted more of his apostolic authority by exercising the greater power of God. But Paul did not visit Corinth to destroy the church in Corinth. His desire was to cause them to grow up by means of his bold letters of correction. (10) If they had not corrected the things he spoke about in 1Corinthians, he would have gone to Corinth with boldness of speech.

• Read 2Cor 10:12-18
• The Downward Nature of Spiritual Blindness: (12)
• Those people that do not want to see the spiritual truth congregate with others that do not want spiritual truth. They rationalize their beliefs by comparing themselves with others.
• Self-comparison results in the lowest common level of spirituality in the group.
• By this means, man will never rise above his own sinful self to become anything better than his sinful companions.
• The end result is spiritual blindness.
• The Upward Nature to Spiritual Enlightenment: (13)
• Jesus Christ is the measure by which the believer is supposed to judge himself.
• We must examine our maturity in Christ and see how we can become more and more like Christ.
• By this method, we reach to a higher level of spiritual maturity and spiritual light.
• The Christian aspect of stretching faith: (14)
• When the believer keeps his spiritual eyes focused on Jesus Christ, he is challenged to grow spiritually. That challenge presents the believer with an opportunity to reach outside of his own strength to serve Christ in areas and opportunities he would not normally go.
• This is the stretch of faith.
• The normal non-believer will not stretch to do God’s will outside of his comfort zone. He will not sacrifice himself for others.
• Paul was the one that stretched his faith and sacrificed his life to travel to Corinth to preach the gospel to the people in Corinth. The Judaizers did not do that.
• Paul did not build on another man’s work. He was a missionary of the gospel always breaking new ground. The Judaizers did not break new ground to build faith. They only followed Paul to destroy the work. (16)
• Paul’s ministry would abound when the Corinthian Christian’s faith matured. Then Paul would move on to other areas.
• The final victory:
• Who receives the glory?
• Through the Judaizers, they received the glory of men.
• Through Paul’s ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ received the glory.
• This is as it should be for a true believer following the direction of the Holy Spirit and serving Christ where God calls him.
• Summary and Application:
• What do we learn about Paul from this chapter that applies to the Christian life?
• Paul has given us a good illustration of the Christian life in this chapter through his own life.
• The believer, walking in the Spirit, will soon discover that he is in a spiritual war.
• Like Paul, the Christian needs to learn how to fight this battle, not in his own strength, but with the spiritual weapons that God supplies to the believer.
• The believer walking in the Spirit will recognize the enemy behind the actions of people.
• Like Paul, the enemy behind the Judaizers was the true enemy, Satan and his demons.
• The maturing believer will stretch his faith as he serves God.
• Like Paul, he will make sure that God gets the glory for every victory in the Christian life.
• We also learn from Paul how to fight against those people that criticize us.

• “I..beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ,”

(1)

• Paul uses the words, “meekness” and “gentleness” to confront his enemies.
• Meekness = This word means justice that is softened by circumstances and under the control of the Holy Spirit.
• This tells us that this person having kindness pursues justice tempered with love and peace. He is guided and moving under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
• Gentleness = This word refers to someone that is between too angry and not angry at all.
• This tells us that this person having gentleness is under continual control of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit tells him when to be angry and for the right reasons.

HOMEWORK
2CORINTHIANS 11
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of 2Cor 10
• In which of the following areas of the Christian life mentioned in this chapter speak to your life at the moment?
• = criticism from the enemy because you follow God.
• = recognizing and understanding the nature of the enemy.
• = doing spiritual warfare.
• = fighting the mental battle.
• = stretching your faith to serve Christ.
• What have you learned in this chapter that encourages you?

• Preparation for 2Cor 11
• Read 2Cor 11:1-33
• From this chapter, how did Paul deal with severe criticism?

Memory Verse: 2Corinthians 11:13