Question description

2 Corinthian 10:5 "...bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ"

When I was a young believer, I was taught that it was my responsibility to bring my every thought into obedience to Christ. I tried and struggled with that for years and ended up with more mental oppression, stress, and guilt than I had started with. I am in my mid-thirties, and I am still struggling with how to comply with this statement. I am not sure if the lack of understanding of this statement on my part is leading me to even sin more, because it seems to me like this is a self-effort kind of exercise.

Could you please enlighten me on what "bringing every thought into the captivity of the obedience of Christ" means?

Answer description

Thank you for your question. From your description, it seems you have been trying to use this verse as a moral compass. Basing your successes or failures in the Christian life on how well you could bring every thought into captivity for Christ." I agree that there is an aspect of this in the verse, but Paul's original intent was slightly different from this thinking. So let's look at the history leading up to this verse being spoken by the Apostle.

The church in Corinth had many problems and in I Corinthians Paul uses some rather harsh and critical language to try to bring the church back to focusing on Christ rather than petty, unimportant issues. Consequently there arose some rather vocal critics in the church, questioning Paul's teaching and his authority to speak as he had done. So as we reach II Corinthians 10, Paul takes the opportunity to answer these critics. He does not defend himself, but instead, points out that church members were amid spiritual warfare. The battle was not over things of the flesh (II Corinthians 10:3). Not things that were said or done but was the false teaching that was being spoken to them, spiritual warfare.

So when we get to verse 5, Paul urges the believers to reject (destroy) every argument and opinion that contradicted the knowledge of God that had been taught to them. And then the plea for them "to take every thought captive" (judge by the power of the Spirit) to see if it was in obedience to Christ. The whole passage is a rejection of false teachers and our responsibility to use the wisdom we have gained from our study of the Word to see if ideas or claims are in obedience with what is taught in the Bible. In this day and age when so much evil surrounds us, it is a large task to remain alert to judge what is presented to us against Biblical wisdom. But that remains the judgment Paul asks us to make.

You are not alone in using this verse to keep your thought life clean and pure. However, this too is part of the spiritual warfare Paul is describing. The enemy works hard to put as much evil and temptation as he can into our minds. We cannot win that battle against him with our commitment or strength. And as Paul taught us previously, only spiritual forces can defeat spiritual forces. We have the Holy Spirit sent to guide and protect us. And His power is unleashed by claiming promises from the Word. Here are a few verses of God's promised protection: (Psalm 32:7) (Psalm 34:7)(Isaiah 41:10)(II Thessalonica 3:3). There are also many more that can be used to call on God's power in your time of mental spiritual attacks. I hope that this will help you to find your way to better "bring every thought into captivity of the obedience of Christ,"

Scripture references

Supporting resources

• The Avodah Life

• Do Everything in Jesus’ Name

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