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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
December 8
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Today's Pathway:
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II Corinthians 10:5-11
- Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
- And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
- Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.
- For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:
- That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.
- For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.
- Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.
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Yesterday we saw that the spiritual weapons that God has given to us are mighty, and that they will impact the enemy's fortresses by changing the way people think. We also pointed out that the carnal weaponry that so many believers try to use only impacts the opponents of truth externally, but the power of the Word of God and prayer coupled with a Biblical lifestyle can impact them internally. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:4 that believers need to be "speaking the truth in love", and this is the only thing that will change the hearts, heads, and actions of the ungodly. Paul told Timothy in I Timothy 1:18-19 that he would "war a good warfare" by "holding faith, and a good conscience". According to the end of verse 5, the final result of a proper warfare will be to bring people to a place where they are in obedience to Christ, not only in what they do, but in what they think as well. They will not simply conform to some external regulations, but will be convinced in their heart and mind of their responsibility to follow and trust the Lord.
In verse 6 Paul writes that once the true believers in Corinth have chosen to do what he has instructed, then he will come and deal with those who are still in rebellion against the truth. It is interesting to note that Paul is taking his teaching concerning pulling down the devil's strongholds and applying it to the false teachers and rebels in the Corinthian church. It is clear that Satan is not only at work in society at large, but he is also actively trying to cause havoc within churches. Paul is giving his readers an opportunity to choose which side they are on. Once that choice has become obvious, he is going to step in personally. As an apostle, he had the authority to do that. John MacArthur wrote,
"Paul would not unleash his formidable apostolic power on anyone until each had taken his stand. That way, it would be clear who accepted the truth and who rejected it. Paul would be compassionate to the former, but the latter would find him to be a courageous and highly competent opponent."
Starting in verse 7 Paul validates his apostolic authority. He opens by challenging the Corinthians to not only look at the outward appearance, but to discern what is going on in a man's heart. In John 7:24 Jesus said,
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
The Corinthians needed to truly examine what people, particularly the false teachers, were saying and doing, and they also needed to examine Paul. Upon examination, those in the church who were saying that they belonged to Christ needed to acknowledge that Paul also belonged to Christ. Paul then says in verse 8 that although he does not like to "boast" about it, he has the God-given authority to deal with wayward church members. He writes that his desire was to build up the church members and not destroy them. However, it is going to become clear in the following verses that Paul will do whatever he needs to do to "purify" the church. In verses 9-11 he indicates that his opponents were implying that he was trying to scare the church through the letters that he wrote, but that if he did come to Corinth he would not be firm with them at all. They claimed that his appearance was weak and sickly, and his speaking ability worthless ("contemptible"), so he would be unable or unwilling to deal with the issues in the church. Basically their accusation was that Paul was "all talk (or epistle) and no action". Paul admits in II Corinthians 11:6 that he was "rude" (plain, unlearned) in his speaking ability, but he was not rude in knowledge. Therefore, he tells them in verse 11 that they need to understand that when he comes to Corinth he will put into practice the things that he has written to them about. He will not spare them (II Corinthians 13:2), so they had better get right with God.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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