How to Demolish Strongholds According to 2 Corinthians 10
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A new year with new goals can bring excitement, anticipation, and new motivation. However, it can also cause us to have frustration, fear, and doubts. Will I conquer that goal this year? Will I overcome that addiction finally? Will I actually stick with this healthy eating plan?
Whatever is on your mind at the beginning of this calendar flip, one of the best things that we can do is to not lean on our own strength for achieving any goal, but to depend on the Spirit of God within us and to cling to His Word. We can learn how to have a Biblical approach to victory. We can study how to demolish strongholds according to 2 Corinthians 10.
2 Corinthians: A Culture of Immorality
The apostle Paul wrote many inspired letters to various churches which are recorded in the New Testament of the Bible. Bible Project shares, “Paul wrote this letter, 2 Corinthians, to assure them of his love and commitment… And in chapters 10-13, Paul challenges the remaining Corinthians who still reject him.”
When thinking about the cultural context of this letter, the followers of Jesus in Corinth were tempted in many ways to be living immoral lives like those around them. Much like today, it would have been easy for them to develop sinful habits that led to strongholds in their lives.
We do not have to look far to be tempted by things like sexual immorality, greed, gossip, self-hatred, insecurity, and more. The world around us is loud with messages that are the complete opposite of the life of Jesus. What’s worse is that people like to create their own version of Jesus; they may say who He is, even though He is the one who defines Himself saying, I Am (John 8:58). When we have areas of defeat in our lives, we need to redirect our eyes towards our Savior.
Jesus, Our Victory
Before we go any further about how we can demolish strongholds, it’s important for us to turn our eyes toward Jesus. He is greater than our problems and He is stronger than we are or ever will be. He is the victorious one over death and sin.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
“Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:6).
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
Demolition, Not Deconstruction
According to Webster’s dictionary, demolish means, “To tear down, break to pieces, or to destroy.” As I researched deconstruction projects, the major difference between deconstructing and demolishing a structure is that deconstructing salvages pieces or materials, where demolition is a total annihilation. 2 Corinthians 10 is a call to action to all believers to completely eliminate the works of the enemy in our lives.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
The Greek word here for demolition is kathairesin.
We are in a spiritual battle. This does not need to cause us fear, but awareness. Jesus already won the war at His crucifixion and resurrection. We do not battle in the flesh, ultimately, there is a spiritual battle. Our weapons are through the power of God. His Spirit lives in the hearts of every believer.
What Are We Called to Demolish?
1. Strongholds
We as Christ followers have the ability to demolish strongholds. The Greek word for stronghold is ochuróma. It implies a place of refuge and safety, when in actuality, it is a prison. Sometimes we hear people use the phrase, “What is your vice?” Is there an area in your life where you turn to, but it is actually a stronghold?
A stronghold is a military structure that would be taken down. The enemy would be attacked. We as believers, cannot sit by idly as the enemy waves his flag in our lives. We are called to demolish, not just deconstruct, but completely get rid of the places of defeat. Will we always be free from these struggles? That is the hope and goal, but we are all in a process of sanctification. We are however called to fight with the armor of God (Ephesians 6).
2. Arguments
Arguments here in the Greek is logismos. It is “a reasoning: such as is hostile to the Christian faith.” People were speaking words of attack on believers. They wanted to argue against Jesus. It can feel intimidating to use apologetics (defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity) but we are called to always be ready to give an answer about our hope (1 Peter 3:15). Who is attacking you with their words? How can you be confident and bold in your faith? Jesus was always loving, but He stood up for the truth. We can overcome and utterly destroy these arguments with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Bible.
3. Every Proud Thing
Pride creeps up regularly in our lives. We become very self-focused and consumed. Our goal is to humble ourselves before God and lift up the name of Jesus. This is a daily surrender. Paul invites the Corinthian believers (and us today) to get rid of every proud thing.
There is the old saying that pride comes before the fall. Pride leads us to believe that we are “gods.” But anything good about us is because of Jesus. He created us very good, but we sinned. He has given us His Spirit, yet we still choose our fleshly desires. We all have fallen short of His glory, but He has loved us with an everlasting love and reconciled us to Himself.
The thing about pride is that it can go unchecked very easily. We need to be regularly aware of our great need for humility.
Taking Every Thought Captive
The closing statement in verse 5 says, “…And we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” This indicates that in order to demolish strongholds, arguments and every proud thing, we have to take our thoughts captive. I love how in this message of a spiritual battle, we see the military word, captive. Having a captive means that I know this particular enemy has existed in my territory, but I am not allowing him to have a hold on me. I have imprisoned the one who wants to take me down.
Webster’s Dictionary defines captive as, “Taken and held as or as if a prisoner of war… dominated or controlled.” Instead of allowing our thoughts to control us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, according to His Word, we can control and dominate the enemy’s work in our lives.
We have true victory in Jesus. He fought for us, but we are invited into the battle to stand up and celebrate His win. If it is one year or one day of victory, it is worth celebrating. This year, let’s lean into the power and authority that we have in Jesus and remember that we have been set free and have His Spirit in us. May we know that we have the ability to take the thoughts from the enemy captive and to completely demolish the strongholds, arguments, and every proud thing in our lives by the help of Christ.
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