“We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.”
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 NLT
It seems that there were some in Corinth who were trying to undermine Paul’s authority. These people accused him of being someone who would be bold when far away and through his writings, but when with them in person, he was timid. Isn’t that an accusation of hypocrisy? How did things come to this? Obviously, sin was rooted in their response, and Paul mentioned their rebellious thoughts. There was also no New Testament as we know it that set out the Gospel and the teaching that we know and love. There was also no formal hierarchical structure, such as the established denominations have today. So, in this cosy corner in Greece, there was a church, established by Paul, but preferring to go its own way, probably into error, but nevertheless wanting to continue without any external input, particularly from Paul. Thankfully, there were still people in the Corinthian church who looked to Paul for guidance, giving him a platform to address their errors.
What was Paul’s goal in this? He wrote that through the use of “God’s mighty weapons”, he would “capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ”. Obedience to Christ was Paul’s goal. It wasn’t a personal thing. It wasn’t motivated by anger because some dared to disobey his instructions. Paul knew that if the Corinthian church followed the rebellious contingent, who were teaching things against the purity of the Gospel, they would soon descend into error and disappear. God will not be in a church that is against Him. We remember that the First Century was full of erroneous teaching, such as that of the Gnostics, and some Jews were trying to reintroduce legalistic practices, such as circumcision, back into the church. When considered across all the churches established at that time, it was almost as though Paul was trying to play a game of “wack-a-mole”, preventing churches from descending into error. It seems that as soon as an error was corrected in one, news of a problem somewhere else reached him. Paul must have had some form of success because there are still Christian churches in Corinth today, although of an Eastern Orthodox persuasion, and there is a cathedral there dedicated to Paul.
Today, we pilgrims are blessed by having a Bible, which, although established many years ago, provides the basis for our faith. In it, we find the teachings of Jesus, written down by His faithful disciples. We find copies of many of Paul’s letters, as well as those of James, Peter, and John, and the books of Hebrews and Revelation. Powerful, Holy-Spirit-inspired and encouraging theology, containing Scriptures that are just as alive today as they were when they were written. Through them, we have the means to demolish the strongholds that caused problems in the Corinthian church.
Paul’s spiritual weapons, however, were powerful and sufficient to “capture [the] rebellious thoughts” present in Corinth. He had prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, the Old Testament, and one or two letters circulating at that time. Paul and his companions were fully equipped to destroy the impressive-sounding arguments of his opponents, who seemed to be preaching a different Gospel. Through his spiritual weapons, Paul wrote that he would capture their “rebellious thoughts”, and in the next verse, Paul said that he was ready to confront those among them who remained disobedient to Christ. What did this mean, because punishment options would have been limited in their scope? Probably, this meant that Paul’s first priority was to see the majority of the Corinthian believers obeying Christ in all things, including Godly direction through Christ’s representative: Paul. He may have been referring to the false teachers among them, but if necessary, punishment would, of course, not involve any form of violence. Instead, it would have followed the model Jesus established in Matthew, where the ultimate sanction was, “If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector” (Matthew 18:17). Effectively this would have meant evicting the rebellious faction from the church. Sadly, as history records, such a person and people, treated in this way, go down the road and establish their own church. In Dunfermline, where I live, there were at some time over the last two hundred years or so, about 14 churches, mostly Presbyterian, in the centre. As soon as there was a falling out, regardless of the cause, many in the congregation followed a rebellious leader and established another church just down the road.
We pilgrims follow Christ in obedience to His Word and with the faith we have learned. There is no other way. At a time when some disciples left Him, Jesus asked the Twelve if they wanted to leave as well. We read, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life” (John 6:68). In John 14:6, Jesus said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. The road to Glory is clear and unequivocal, but even today, some churches and sects still prefer to follow their own ways and whims. But not for us pilgrims. As Joshua said, “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Our faith is as simple as that – we will serve the Lord.
Dear Father God. Thank You for all that You have done for us, and especially for Jesus. We praise and worship You today. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 