2nd Corinthians 10:3-6, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 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.”
I love this passage of Scripture. There are some powerful truths in here to
help the Christian believer live right. The main truth that I want to teach
you from this Scripture passage is to develop a spirit of “revenge” toward
your personal sins (and that's the word God uses, that is, “revenge”). The
apostle Paul said that he was ready at all times to take revenge against his
personal sins by forcing every thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ. This is not mind-control; but rather, being led by the Spirit of God
Who lives in the body of every believer. Romans 8:9, “But ye are not in
the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of his.”
Everyone sins! 1st John 1:8-10 calls a person a
liar and unsaved who denies their sinnership. Don't judge others because
they sin differently than you. Everyone sins horribly! All sin is as black
as darkness in God's sight. Humans categorize sins, thinking of not helping
the needy, pride and idleness of purpose as trifle matters, but God hates
those sins as much as adultery and murder; for these were some of the very
sins which compelled God to destroy Sodom with fire and brimstone.
Ezekiel 16:49, “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride,
fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters,
neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” And of
course, homosexuality was a major sin in Sodom (Genesis 19:1-11).
Even The Best Christians Still Commit Sin
When we sin as Christians, there ought to be frustration. Paul was frustrated, evidenced by his thought process in Romans 7:14-25. Paul, just as every Christian believer, struggled between the flesh and the Spirit...
Romans 7:15 and 24, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. ... O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
When Paul sinned, he was upset with himself. Why did I do that? What was I thinking? I'm so mad at myself! These are proper and desirable feelings for a Christian to have because of sin. The Bible teaches in 2nd Corinthians 10:6 to have a ready (prepared) mind to take revenge (retaliation) on our own sins, by purposing in our heart not to do it again. We accomplish this by bringing (forcing) EVERY THOUGHT into submission to obedience to Jesus Christ. For example: If a man has a lustful thought, you immediately arrest that thought, stopping the sinful thought in its tracks... No, I will not allow that thought to remain in my mind... I will not dwell upon this evil thought... I want to please God by living holy... I will not think this way, not today, not on my watch. This is a proper Christian attitude.
In sharp contrast, the wicked world desires sinful thoughts. The unsaved person chooses to deliberately think, commit and live in sin. This is why they WON'T come to the light to be saved (John 3:20). Love for sin hinders people from coming to the light of the Gospel to be saved (2nd Corinthians 4:4). Sin blinds men to truth! The heathen world is DEAD in trespasses and sins and always has been (Ephesians 2:1-3). The best Christians feel like the worst Christians, because they are continually reexamining their life and are upset over their sinful choices, perpetuating mistakes and lingering faults. No one is a shining example to the rest of us of God's holiness. A man can live above reproach, but NO ONE can live above sin.
Listen to the caution in the Scriptures against
condemning others who sin... 1st Timothy 5:24, “Some men's sins are open
beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.”
Everyone's darkest secrets and sins will be made manifest on judgment
day. Nothing is hid from the eyes of God. Hebrews 4:13, “Neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
Those who condemn others for their sins will be exposed themselves in
eternity as woefully wicked sinners! Romans 3:19 teaches that God's law
silences all men... THAT EVERY MOUTH MAY BE STOPPED, AND ALL THE WORLD MAY
BECOME WICKED BEFORE GOD!!! You are a dirt, rotten, filthy, sinner (and so
am I and everyone else).
The Filthy And Wicked World
The world has become such a filthy place! Everywhere in the world, in every culture, filthiness abounds. America and Europe are cesspools of iniquity, saturated with the depths of filth and wickedness. People's minds are garbage pails these days. From a very young age, Americans have filthy minds because of filthy American television, filthy movies, filthy music and filthy public school curriculum. The united states is a very filthy, immoral and sickening culture of perversion, violence and dishonesty. It is possible to live right for God in the year 2013, but only by bringing every thought into captivity unto obedience to Jesus Christ as 2nd Corinthians 10:5 teaches. This is not mind-control.
God loves righteousness. Psalms 11:7, “For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.” Motley Crew are a degenerate sexually perverted heavy-metal Rock band. Their concerts feature lewd, sensual and promiscuous women gyrating naked above the stage hanging from chains during concert. Motley Crew's bass player has a message on his guitar that reads, “Jesus loves you!” It is blasphemy against God. God hates Rock music. It is common for wicked entertainers to wear crosses (like Anna Nicole Smith), adorn tattoos of Jesus (like Katy Perry has on her wrist) or claim to be Christians like Alice Cooper.
I watched an interview where Alice Cooper was asked what the Gospel means to him and all he could do is say that he believes the story of Jonah and the whale is true. Alice Cooper is unsaved, hellbound and a liar! The Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1st Corinthians 15:1-4), nothing else. If you desire to go to heaven, then receive the Gospel as full-payment for your sins. Alice Cooper didn't even mention faith, Jesus Christ or repentance toward God.
Psalms 14:3 and 53:3, “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ... Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
The big $64,000 question is... Have your sins been cleansed in the precious redeeming blood of Jesus Christ? 1st Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”
Revenge All Personal Disobedience
Against God
The Bible teaches that our spiritual weapons of warfare are mighty through God, enabling us to pull down evil strongholds which destroy our lives. Anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (the Bible) is our enemy. 2nd Corinthians 10:5 instructs us as believers to BRING INTO CAPTIVITY EVERY THOUGHT THAT EXALTETH ITSELF AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
Literally, you need to settle the matter once and for all in your heart and mind as a born-again Christian that the Bible is your Final Authority! I disagree with anything that disagrees with the Bible. I am as narrow-minded as the Bible! And that's the way it ought to be! Amen! Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”
2nd Corinthians 11:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 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.”
The apostle Paul taught (speaking under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit) that we should revenge all disobedience. When I sin as a Christians, I get mad at myself. I feel embarrassed that I failed to do right, again. You're the same way if you're honest. Anyone who attempts to diminish their own personal sins, while magnify someone else's sins is self-righteousness, which is sin in itself. Matthew 7:1-5 warns that by the same standard we judge others, by that same standard we will be judged by God in eternity. That ought to frighten self-righteous hypocrites who condemn every Christian who goes into sin. Human nature is complex, sinful and above all else deceitful. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
The world brags about their sins, planning to go commit more sin, relishing in their disobedience to God. In sharp contrast as born-again believers, we have repented of our sins (that is, changed our mind about them) and acknowledge our transgressions. Although a person doesn't have to cease from sinful bad habits to be saved (because eternal life is a gift), we do have to admit that we are sinful and need the Savior's sacrifice as payment for our sins. To be saved, you simply need to receive the Gospel (Christ's death, burial and resurrection) as full-payment for your sins. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Amen and amen!
May we all have the Biblical attitude of taking revenge against our sins, by determining to live right with God's help even more and more. God is so wonderful. The Lord doesn't just tell us to do something, but He also tell us exactly how to do it. The Lord teaches us in 2nd Corinthians 10:5 to 2nd Corinthians 10:5, “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.” Hollywood exalts itself against the knowledge of God in the Scriptures. The U.S. Supreme Court flaunts itself against the Word of God. State universities exalt their human wisdom against the wisdom of God in the Bible. Mankind has always exalted himself against the Lord.
As God's children we are commanded by God to CAST DOWN IMAGINATIONS that exalt themselves against the Lord!!! Abortion exalts itself against the Lord's commandment in Exodus 20:13 not to kill the innocent. Public nudity exalts itself against God's commandment for women to dress in modest apparel in 1st Timothy 2:9. I could list a hundred different things. Women pursuing careers at the expense of motherhood exalts itself against God's command for young women to marry, bear children, guide the house and stay out of trouble (1st Timothy6 5:14-15). Hardly anyone cares about what God thinks anymore. The world is filled with fools who are searching for God in all the wrong places, because God is found in His preserved, holy, inspired and inerrant Words in the King James Bible, but wicked men and women have rejected it.
My friend, God has spoken to us in these last
days BY HIS SON Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). If you reject Jesus as the
Christ, Who came as God in the flesh 2,000 years ago to pay for our sins,
then you have fallen from grace and missed the only bus going to Heaven.
That's what the Bible means, exactly, when it speaks of falling from grace.
Galatians 5:4, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you
are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Jesus is the ONLY
way to Heaven!!!
Closing Remarks
In closing, if you get frustrated and upset with yourself when you sin, that is a healthy attitude to have. As long as we are in this fleshly body we will struggle to live right, because the flesh opposes the Spirit and the Spirit (of God) opposes the flesh. 1st Peter 2:11 teaches that fleshly lusts WAR AGAINST THE SOUL. Yet, evil women strip their clothes off and gyrate unholy all over the stage, on television and in their filthy music videos. The unsaved world sees no harm in that form of wickedness; but the Bible DOES!!!
Lust is a horrible sin. Lust is normal for the carnal flesh; but as Christians God commands us not to be normal. Rather, we are commanded to walk in the Spirit, so that we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Most professed Christians are walking in the sinful flesh. That doesn't mean that they're not saved as Paul Washer and Ray Comfort teach. Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” This is a wonderful Scripture, plainly showing the difference between having the Holy Spirit in us as a born-again child of God, verses walking in that same Spirit by bringing every thought to obedience to Christ in His Word. You can live in the Spirit and yet fail to walk in the Spirit, which means that you're either immature or backslidden as a believer. To “walk in the Spirit” means to empty our life of “self” and yield our will to the Holy Spirit as He leads us with the precious Word of God.
And when we sin, we ought to get mad at our self and purpose in our heart that it won't happen again. Every Christian has been away from the Lord at times when we choose to live in sin, which is horrible. Every believer is guilty of this. The unsaved live in sin all the time. The very fact that they don't have Christ as their Savior means that God's wrath abides upon them continually (Psalms 7:11; John 3:36; Romans 5:9). If we desire to please the Lord as Christians, then we need to realize that we CANNOT live right in our own strength.
Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Simply stop any wrong thoughts in its tracks. Stop any hateful, dishonest or lustful thought by thinking about a Scripture, and repressing that unholy thought by choosing rather to obey Jesus Christ so as to please Him, our wonderful Savior and God. We won't always succeed, but it's better to try and fail than to fail to try. Amen! All God expects of us is that we yield to Him by faith, and He will live the Christian life through us.
