2Cor
10:3-5 (NIV) …though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world
does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments
and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we
take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
The
“strongholds” Paul is writing about are deeply entrenched ways of thinking and
acting that keep people from knowing and obeying God. My meditation today
focuses on a stronghold that didn’t even exist in Paul’s day, but is a powerful
fortress in Satan’s dark kingdom in the 21st century. As the voice
of the world the flesh and the devil comes to me through the secular media, I
often hear it subtly but arrogantly suggesting, “Now that we have science and
technology we don’t need God.” Atheist
Richard Dawkins, who claims to be speaking for science, says that "God" is
nothing but a delusion anyway, we are only highly evolved animals, so forget
all this stuff about being created in God’s image and set apart for His glory.
Contrary to Proverbs 3:5, this voice says, “Lean on your own understanding and
let it be molded by science. There is no spiritual realm anyway. What you see,
touch, etc. is all there is.”
So
how do we demolish this pretension that has set itself up against the knowledge
of God? We do it with the same divinely powerful weapons that Paul had at his
disposal. He tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom 12:2). How do
we do that? By filling our minds with truth to contradict the lie. God’s word is
truth. It is “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the division of soul and spirit … and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb 4:12). When my spirit is in union
with the Holy Spirit and my mind/soul is being renewed by the word of God, I
who am spiritually alive can take captive every thought that enters my mind and
make it obedient to Christ. I can discern between truth and error. I who am
spirit can control my mind/soul, as well as my body, because the love of God
controls me. I know there is a spiritual realm because the unseen God has manifested himself to me.
