What does 2 Corinthians 10:5 - "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”- men?

Pretty long.

The entire Bible is like a perfect embroidery with no loose ends, all the books, chapters and verses inter-connected, making sense and giving life as a whole to all who believe and only through God’s Wisdom for all who believe - Grace Himself: Jesus Christ.

See 2 Corinthians 10:5 in its context:

“3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

Bear in mind that “according to the flesh” means “by human effort.” We see this in the account of the births of Ishmael and Isaac in Galatians 4:23–

“23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic.”

The NLT version says: “The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of His promise.”

Abraham and Hagar had some human strength in them when they brought forth Ishmael but with Isaac, it was all “by grace (Sarah) through faith (Abraham.)”

To “...walk in the flesh” is simply to do things by “by human effort.” Some bible teachers interpret "walk in the flesh" as committing (usually greed and lust-related) sins with reckless abandon. Not so. It simply means trying to achieve godly results by using the arm of flesh (human effort) that will fail. The religious Pharisees who did their best to be godly by obeying God's law but were anti-Christ are perfect examples of “flesh-walkers.”

Back to 2 Corinthians 10: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

This passage is all about spiritual warfare. The battleground where we wrestle against “spiritual wickedness in high places” is not some mountain top, in a coven or with some “flesh and blood" colleague in the work place. The battleground is the mind. Notice the things that we are up against in this warfare:

strongholds, arguments, everything that exalts itself against God's knowledge andthoughts.

Strong's Concordance defines “strongholds" as used in 2 Corinthians 10:4 thus:

“of the arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavors to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent.”

The wrestling and bringing down of all of these things take place in the mind. In this court of Law that is the mind, Satan the accuser accuses mankind of sins, mistakes, imperfections and shortcomings. This is where our mental gymnastics (thoughts and reasonings) kick in, leading us to determine whether we are "guilty" or "not guilty" before God the Righteous Judge and based on what we believe when Satan throws accusations at us (many times from behind pulpits.) Our "guilty" or "not guilty" verdict is determined by us based on what we believe about Jesus Christ - whether we believe that we have been made righteous by the obedience of Christ, or not. See Romans 5:19-

"By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."

Recall: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

Our victory is found in the obedience of Christ alone- our right-standing with God the Righteous Judge through the blood of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 10 is about spiritual warfare: a legal battle for the mind. It is the process by which Satan the accuser and our adversary ensnares and devours his prey. Judas experienced it. He sinned, was accused, struggled with guilt, wrestled with carnal weapons (human effort at righting himself with God,) failed, got accused some more, became depressed and suicidal, and killed himself. Peter too was full of remorse after he committed a similar sin of betraying Jesus. He boasted in his resolve to stick with Christ all the way, and failed. But he did not turn to his useless arm of flesh (human effort) that had already failed him for salvation. Christ saved him.

Satan is not called “the accuser” for nothing; HaSatan is literally prosecutor at law in Hebrew. Prosecuting attorneys in Israel today are referred to as HaSatan.

Like any earthly prosecuting attorney, Satan's weapon to accuse is the Law that condemns the best of those who try to be righteous/godly by keeping it or have any business with it. Believer, for we who are in Christ (under Grace,) Satan the accuser has been disarmed of the weapon that he uses to accuse, heap blame upon, condemn and subsequently devour. His weapon is the Law. See Colossians 2:

"13 At one time you were dead in your sins. Your desires controlled by sin were not circumcised. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. 14 He wiped out what the law said that we owed. The law stood against us. It judged us. But He has taken it away and nailed it to the cross. 15 He took away the weapons of the powers and authorities. He made a public show of them. He won the battle over them by dying on the cross."

For any who might be concerned about our “future sins:" The wages of sin is death. One death for our entire lifetime of sins. Christ died that death once for all. He died the death that the Law demanded of us, fulfilling every single demand that the Law made of us. Hebrews 9 tells us:

"27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. ..."

Believer, Jesus is not going to come and die again or demand payment for sins that you might commit in the future. All of our lifetime of sins have been fully paid by Him. This is Grace- undeserved, unearned unmerited favour. This is the Wisdom of God. It is illogical to many: 1 Corinthians 1:18-

“For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.”

Antichrist pastors prey on man's desire to see human logic in Christ's message. Such preach dependence on human effort at attaining righteousness/ godliness (be like God,) just as Satan did with Eve. Such exalt themselves against the knowledge of God and derisively describe the truth in God's written word as “hypergrace.” Such raise false arguments and sow thoughts of doubt from behind pulpits, leading many churchgoers to think that God’s abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ will make people go on sinning sprees. But His word says differently in Romans 5:16–17:

“16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

Spiritual warfare is the believer resisting Satan the accuser's attempts at making him believe that his sins are still hanging unpaid somewhere and that he has to obey the law in order to be godly (be like God.) It is resisting Satan's fiery darts of accusations aimed at making us think that we are no longer righteous (godly) because we sinned, getting us to bear the guilt of our sins and getting us to start doing things by human effort in order to become godly (be like God) so that condemnation and judgment can follow. The same warfare strategy was used on Adam and Eve and death was the result. Sickness, lack, etc are death begun.

The battleground for our warfare is the mind. It is akin to a court of law where people are adjudged “guilty” or “not guilty.” Godly or ungodly. The wages of sin is death- the same death process that Adam died. The guilty are condemned and face captivity on prison deathrow and then death. The righteous or “not guilty" get to be free indeed and live as children of the Righteous Judge.

But Romans 3:10 says “There is none righteous; no, not one…” Romans 3:20 says“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.”

In this court of law that is our minds, anyone who stands in his own good works or law-keeping prowess even just a tiny bit is doomed. Anyone who thinks: “Yes we are saved by grace but we still have to obey the law" for whatever reason is doomed. Here:

God is the Righteous Judge who will punish every sin to the uttermost. His righteousness and justice demand it.

Christ is the Bearer of sins and Advocate of all who truly believe. Romans 4:25 says of Him:

"who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous."

See the The Passion Translation: "Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!"

The Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) bears Witness to the Truth for all who truly believe. We see His testimony in Hebrews 10:15-17:

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them

after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more.”

18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”

Satan is the Accuser aka opposing counsel. He accuses the sinner of his sinseven legally, tries to to make him reject Christ as his Bearer of sins and Advocate and pushes for a guilty verdict so that condemnation and judgment can follow. Nothing like a plea bargain or human restitution in this court. The wages of sin is death; only death will suffice. The Law is not concerned about backstories or the ethical reasons for sins.

Stand before God the Righteous Judge in your own righteousnesses from obeying the law, doing good things, doing restitution or promising to do better next time and experience the full wrath of the law. Isaiah 64:6 tells us what our obedience to the law and the good things we do to be godly amount to in His sight:

“We are all like one who is unclean,

all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight…”

But stand before Him in that gift of righteousness that proceeds from the obedience of Christ and be completely free from sins, guilt, condemnation and judgment. We are saved from God's wrath not by human effort at obeying the law but by standing before Him in His gift of righteousness that He gave His own Son for us to have. See Romans 5:9-

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us. For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God.”

Satan tries to get many to reject Christ as their Advocate and Bearer of sins and to stand as their own defense counsel and bearer of sins when they come under trial/face accusations in their mind. Satan tries to get believers to ignore the witness of Holy Spirit to us. These are all judicial terms. See the witness of the Spirit of Truth to all who believe in Jesus Christ in Hebrews 10:17 based on Christ's finished work as outlined in Hebrews 10:12-14-

“12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.”

Spiritual warfare is a legal battle where having perfect righteousness before God (not man) is the only Way to overcome. The Holy Spirit cannot bear witness to the lie that God remembers the sins of His children in Christ. Churchgoers who believe that their sins are still hanging unpaid somewhere until they do something about it have believed a lie.

No one can stand by himself or what he can do by his own will-power as he stands accused in this trial. David prayed to the Lord in Psalm 143:2-

"Don’t bring your servant to trial, since in Your sight no one alive would be considered righteous."

Not even the best of us can stand by our will-power. Only the righteousness that proceeds from Christ's sacrifice suffices for God the Righteous Judge. We all need God's saving Grace to stand. It is sad to see churchgoers who are honestly doing their best to be good suffering under Satan's accusations and oppression and being devoured alive because they choose to attain righteousness before God through their own obedience and not utterly through Christ's. The worst part is that their pastor might even be the one feeding them these lies of Satan that one can be godly (be like God) by human striving at obedience (law-keeping.) Even though some might mean well, putting any confidence whatsoever in human effort at right living is pride. The end is death.

Satan tries to reduce the finished work of Christ in making all who believe in Jesus Christ godly/righteous in God's sight into a footnote and tries to replace same with human striving at attaining godliness aka what man can do to “be like God” aka law-keeping. The same warfare strategy was used to deceive Eve in Eden. But the Law condemns all who try to keep it. As it was with the rich, young ruler who boasted to Christ about keeping the Ten Commandments from his youth, there will always be “one thing you lack" that will lead to condemnation in this court of law that is the mind. Condemnation is the outcome of accepting guilt for Satan's accusations instead of seeing that same mistake, the ensuing guilt and its penalty settled at the cross when Christ died for us. Judgment follows after condemnation. Wrong believing is why many churchgoers still suffer symptoms of the curse of the Law that Christ hung on the cross to redeem us from. It is why many churchgoers are still held captive by sins:

“For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under Law but under Grace.” Romans 6:14.

But many have this verse backwards. The Law condemns the best of us but Grace (Christ Himself) saves the worst of us.

Judas condemned himself when Satan accused him. Unike Peter who trusted in Christ to restore him after he committed a similar sin of betraying Jesus, Judas owned his sin, stood as his own advocate and tried to rectify his wrong by his will-power aka the arm of flesh. He failed, condemned himself, became depressed and suicidal and killed himself.

Beloved of God, in spite of all your sins and mistakes that Satan the accuser is accusing you of and is trying to get you into Judas’ suicide mode for, this is how God sees you who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ- Romans 5:9-

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

And see the benefit of being Christ's in Roman 8:33-

"Who then would dare to accuse those whom God has chosen in love to be His? God Himself is the judge who has issued His final verdict over them—“Not guilty!”"

God's gift of righteousness and His “not guilty" verdict that we who believe have through Christ is apart from the good or bad things we do. When this is your foundation - when your righteousness is from the Lord Himself and not from your puny efforts at obeying the Law - no weapon or accusation that is fired against you can prosper. Only those whose righteousness is from the Lord can resist Satan's condemnation-seeking weapon of fiery darts of accusation based on the Law and tongues that rise against mankind to condemn as we see in Isaiah 54:17-

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.”

See the HCSB version: "No weapon formed against you will succeed, and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court. This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants, and their righteousness is from Me.” This is the Lord’s declaration."

And God does not just leave us to wallow in sins as antichrist pastors love to imply. Those sins or mistakes that such false teachers guilt-trip you into trying to save yourself from by using your own will-power, Christ came to save us from them all. See Matthew 1:21-

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Being in Christ without living a godly life is as impossible as jumping into the sea naked without getting wet. Christ says in Him, we His branches will bear “much fruit.” See John 15:5. But pride in the arm of flesh (human effort) that will fail thinks that this cannot happen except through some forceful effort using the arm of flesh that will fail.

Satan and his antichrist preachers try to get churchgoers to believe that they can be righteous/godly (be like God) if they just strive harder to obey the Law and be sinless. But this is an effort in futility- “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the Law commands. The Law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:20.

No matter how hard you try, of yourself, there will always be something to blame/condemn yourself for if you are your own advocate and bearer of sins. Those who depend on their own will-power to be blameless and regard their seeming lack of sins and mistakes as a sign of godliness are living in a bubble of pride like the self-righteous Pharisees. Like pre-denial Peter, the reason why many of us feel that some sins or errors are beneath us is because God did not allow us to get tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:12-13.)

So what do we do when those accusing thoughts that try to get us under condemnation ourselves arise? The same thing we would do in an earthly court setting: look to Jesus Christ our Advocate and Bearer of sins alone for salvation. How?

By confessing with our mouth God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ that we believe in our heart.

See this practical application in Romans 10:9-10-

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

See the NIRV- “9 Say with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord.” Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. Then you will be saved. 10 With your heart you believe and are made right with God. With your mouth you say what you believe. And so you are saved.”

"Saved" in this passage is not just being saved to go to heaven; it is also deliverance from the molestation of enemies and redemption from all earthly ills - worry, anxiety, oppression, depression, lack, sickness, whatever it is that bugs you. It encompasses being saved from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin. The word used in the original Greek text of the New Testament is Swthria(pronounced soteria) and it encompasses deliverance from all these things. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is Salvation. (Yeshua is Salvation in Hebrew.)

Because He so loved us, God the Righteous Judge Himself gave us His own Son to make us righteous in His sight; Satan has no right to bring a charge against us who have Christ as our Righteousness.

Guilt for sins is the root of condemnation of which there is none for all who are Christ's (Romans 8:1.) Condemnation is the evidence that one has become the bearer of his own guilt and rejected God's gift of righteousness to all who believe in Jesus Christ. Notice that Christ who took all of our wrong to make us 100% right with God has been removed from the equation. The spirit of the antichrist is not anti-God. It is anti-Christ, like the God-serving and religious Pharisees whose lives were all about obeying God's law.

Many wrongly believe that they are "not that bad" or could have "done better" by their own will-power (arm of flesh that will fail) when there is absolutely no good in man of himself. David wrote in Psalm 16:2-

"I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good beside or beyond You."

Just as it is in any earthly court of law, condemnation is followed by judgment- a judgment that Christ bore for all mankind and which we freely receive by believing in Him.

It is pride to try to pay for your sins that Christ died to save you from or to feel smug because you seem to be doing a good job of obeying the Law- no one can. All who try reject Christ as their righteousness and so are already condemned. After Pride comes destruction. Proverbs 21:4 says:

“Arrogance, superiority, and pride are the fruits of wickedness and the true definition of sin.”

Some churchgoers today might think that they would never descend to Peter's level of denying Christ or commit some heinous sins, all of this by their will-power aka arm of flesh. That's some level of arrogance! God has not permitted Satan to sift them like wheat as he did Peter…, as he is doing to all who are right now blaming and condemning themselves for their sins and imperfections and are sinking into depression/having suicidal thoughts as Judas did; so many churchgoers are still living in their bubble of self-righteousness, like pre-denial Peter. Believer, Christ has won it all. Satan has no legal basis to accuse anyone who has Christ as his righteousness.

As believers in Christ, we get to take Peter's approach to dealing with our sins and errors that we hate with passion when Satan comes a-sifting with his accusations. Churchgoing hypocrites act like they are the only ones that loathe sin and that all sinners just want to continue to wallow in their sins. To think that all sinners enjoy their sins and don't want to give them up is akin to thinking that Peter enjoyed denying Jesus and could not wait for another opportunity to deny Jesus. Or that Judas was somewhere having a great time with his blood money when in reality, he was depressed and suicidal because of his action.

What do we think is the major cause of depression and suicide even among unbelievers? It is guilt for sins, fear, anxiety, hopelessness and sorrow in the heart for sins aka not measuring up to particular standards - no different from what happened to Judas who was full of remorse and condemed himself for his sin. Condemnation kills.

Whenever we make mistakes, mess things up and always too, like Peter who also messed things up with his three-time denial of Christ, what we do is humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God who will exalt us in due time. Judas didn't. Humbling ourselves under God's mighty hand entails putting zero confidence in what we can do to save ourselves and casting all our care upon Jesus for He cares for ur. Here, our adversary the devil cannot devour. This helps us see 1 Peter 5- “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…” - in a new light. Peter was writing from experience. He was saved but Judas was devoured for his pride. By God's Grace, we live our entire lives utterly dependent on Christ. Don't try to help yourself. Let Christ our Shepherd help you, save you from your sins, clean you up and transform you. Then you will be strong and do exploits.

Paul described righteousness as a weapon in 2 Corinthians 6:7 - “in [speaking] the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand [like holding the sword to attack] and for the left [like holding the shield to defend],”.

Truly, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God! Believers, the battle for our mind is fought with the weapon of righteousness which we have as a gift from our Heavenly Father through Christ. This is our shield (of faith) to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one aka accusations of the Accuser.

The Lord Jesus as our Righteousness is our only defense against the devil's weapons a.k.a accusations. His Strength is our power over every weakness, even acts of sin, as Isaiah prophesied-

“Only in the Lord shall one say, I have righteousness (salvation and victory) and strength [to achieve]. To Him shall all come who were incensed against Him, and they shall be ashamed.” Isaiah 45:24.

Christ paid in full for all of our sins – past, present and future. But many of us often forget that in Christ, nobody can bring a charge against us, according to Romans 8:33 –“Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself].”

See Romans 4:5- "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,"

God justifies the ungodly - those who have no good in them; who, by His grace, see their need for a Saviour and have Christ as their good.

When those accusations of guilt and shortcomings come knocking, that is warfare. By grace, we remember Whose and who we are in Christ – the righteousness of God in Christ. In Christ, we do not continue to live in sin because the path of the righteous (by faith) does not grow darker and more sinful-

"But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day." Proverbs 4:18