WINNING THE BATTLE OF
"HOW" DO WE RESIST THESE ATTACKS AGAINST OUR MIND? THE APOSTLE PAUL GIVES US THE SURE ANSWER IN 2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-5: (FOR THOUGHT WE WALK IN THE FLESH, WE DO NOT WAR ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. FOR THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL BUT MIGHTY IN GOD FOR PULLING DOWN STRONGHOLDS, 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 " THOUGH WE WALK IN. THE FLESH" {HERE "FLESH" PROBABLY REFERS OUR HUMANITY}, WE ARE AT WAR. PAUL IS AFFIRMING (V3). IN EVERY WAR WEAPONS MUST BE USED. SPIRITUAL WARFARE IS NO DIFFERENT. GOD HAS GIVEN US WEAPONS WITH WHICH WE ENGAGE IN EFFECTIVE BATTLE.SSSSSSS
"OUR WEAPONS DO NOT ARISE OUT OF OUR HUMANITY." PAUL IS DECLARING. "EVEN THE MOST BRILLANT, RESOURCEFUL, AND STRONGEST AMONG US CANNOT OVERCOME THE ENEMY WITH WHOM WE WAR. BUT OUR WEAPONS ARE DIVINE. SINCE THEY COME FROM GOD, THEY ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN ANYTHING THE ENEMY BRINGS AGAINST US. THEY ARE SUFFICIENT TO DESTROY EVERY FORTRESS OF EVIL WE ENCOUNTER," PAUL PROMISES (V.4).
WHAT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN THIS MATTER? PAUL TELLS US IN VERSE 5. IN ONE WORD, WE ARE , BY GOD'S POWER, TO TAKE CONTROL OF OUR MINDS, OUR THOUGHT LIFE. AS WAS TRUE OF EVE IN GENESIS 3 SO IT IS TRUE OF US OUR MIND WHICH INCLUDES OUR HEART, EMOTIONS, AND WILL, REPRESENTS THE REAL BATTLEGROUND BETWEEN THE TWO KINGDOMS WITHIN OUR LIVES AS BELIEVERS. THAT IS THE TESTIMONY OF THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT COFIRMED BY DAILY EXPERIENCE. IF WE WIN THE BATTLE IN OUR MINDS, WE HAVE WON THE WAR.
THAT IS THE BATTLE THAT EVE, AND LATER ADAM, LOST WE ALL SUFFER THE CONSWQUENCES OF THAT DEFEAT TO THIS DAY, BUT THE BATTLE IS REENACTED ALMOST DAILY IN THE MIND AND HEART OF EVERY CHILD OF GOD. THUS THE IMPORTANCE GIVEN IN SCRIPTURE TO THE MIND AND TO ITS ALMOST QUEIVALENT TERM, THE HEART.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN BY "THE MIND OF MAN"? WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN IT REFERS TO " A MAN'S HEART"? THESE QUESTIONS CARRY US INTO THE NEXTARE OF BIBLICAL PSYCHOLOGY. " WARFARE IN THE GARDEN"