For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3-5)

Fundamental to any understanding of this verse, or any others having to do with flesh vs. Spirit, is the Truth that we are dealing with two entirely different realms. Jesus clearly stated, "That which is born of flesh IS flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit IS spirit." (Jn. 3:6) The old creation is NOT the new, and the new man in Christ is not the old man in Adam. Unless we see that there is a separation between these two realms – that of death and resurrection – we aren’t going to get far.

Christianity is not a religion we adopt. It is Christ in us. It is a new birth as a new creation. Failure to see this will ill-define everything else, because we won’t have a correct foundation.

There is another way to state the distinction between flesh and Spirit: Christ in us is -- NOT US. Get that: Christ dwells IN US. We are one with Him, but we are not Him. He is distinct from us. That might sound funny, but it is vital to see. When Christ comes to dwell in us through the Holy Spirit, HE is separate from our flesh and natural. Again – that which is born of flesh IS flesh. That which is born of Spirit IS Spirit.

Why is this essential to see? Because so many Christians still think that Christianity is a matter of God making you better, or of God giving you some THING that will make you right with Him, or that God gives us a, "thing," or a, "power," that will help us obey Him. No. God doesn’t give us any THING – He gives us Christ. Indeed, Christianity is NOT even a matter of us becoming LIKE Jesus. Rather, Christianity is CHRIST IN US. The Christian life is Christ living through us. Again – failure to see this causes much confusion.

Paul described Christ in us as Treasure in an earthen vessel. We are NOT the treasure. We don’t become LIKE the treasure. No. The Treasure is IN US – and if the earthen vessel is properly broken, the Treasure will shine through. This is the Christian life. Christ is in us, and wants to live through us. Much of what is necessary for this to happen is the work of the Cross – to crucify the flesh that would otherwise hinder Christ shining through.

So the first thing we must see is that the natural realm is separate from the spiritual. God never makes anything that is natural to be spiritual. Instead, He delivers us OUT of the natural INTO the spiritual. Thus, despite the fact that Christ dwells in us through the Spirit, there continues to exist a complete distinction between the flesh and the Spirit.

One reason it is vital to see the utter separation and distinction between natural and spiritual is because doing so defines the territory of the enemy: The natural, carnal, and flesh realm. On the other hand, Christ is seated above all in the heavenly, or spiritual places.

Again, we see two distinct realms. There is the earthly, or natural. But then there is the spiritual or heavenly realm. There is the old birth IN ADAM. But then there is the NEW birth in Christ. There is the old man. But there is the new man. There is the entire old creation. But there is the new creation in Christ Jesus. There is what the Bible calls, "the flesh." But there is the Spirit. Each of these distinctions are really the SAME example – there is everything IN Christ, and there is everything OUTSIDE of Him. There is no overlap. Indeed, the two are actually opposed to one another.

Another example given to us is that of a KINGDOM. There is the kingdom of darkness, governed by the enemy – and this kingdom reigns over all that is natural, carnal, and of the flesh – because when Adam sinned, everything of that realm of the natural came under His kingdom. This included the very nature of man, and really, all that man WAS. But through Jesus Christ, we are birthed anew OUT of that kingdom and are become new creations. At that point we are no longer OF this natural realm. We are born again from ABOVE.

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Col 1:13)

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Rom 8:9-10)

Again – we see a complete separation of these two realms. But not only that, we see the total setting aside into death all of the old creation. In other words, Christ did not come to FIX or REHABILITATE the old creation – He certainly did not come to do that to man as a creature. No. Rather, He came to birth us OUT of that old creation INTO A NEW ONE. Thus, we see that the OLD and the NEW are completely separate from one another, and that the old is doomed to death. The new is eternal.

Before Adam sinned, there were NOT two realms. Why? Because everything was in complete harmony under God. Adam, too, was ONE – because he was one with God. There was a complete union between Adam and God, a union now restored by Christ in those who believe. Even the physical aspects of Adam could be called spiritual, in the sense that they were centered in God, and had not seen any kind of corruption.

When Adam sinned, there did not occur a separation between natural and spiritual. No. Rather, ALL OF ADAM became natural and carnal. Why? Because he walked away from the life of God. Thus, every part of Adam that had been spiritual was gone. What remained was a hollow shell of flesh – void of life and light and Truth.

Now, unfortunately, things were actually much worse than that. For Adam did not simply lose his spiritual life and light, but he fell into bondage to the realm of death and darkness. That is why, as we saw earlier, that we need delivered from the kingdom of darkness – it is where we START. Thus, not only did Adam lose spiritual life, but what remained – the natural and flesh – was now under the governing control of the enemy.

The natural realm is the territory of the enemy. Adam was responsible for that. But don’t just think of this as the earth. Think of it as ADAM HIMSELF – as man himself. When Adam lost his spiritual oneness with God, he did indeed remain as a hollow shell – a creature made of flesh and the natural. And that meant he was under the government of the enemy.

Now, of course, God did make man with a human spirit. This was the place where Adam had been ONE with God – in his spirit. And as long as he was one with God in his spirit, every other component of his makeup was under the government of God – as long as Adam obeyed. But when Adam rejected God, then his human spirit DIED – Adam died spiritually. And because there was no LIFE, the flesh and the natural then governed even his dead human spirit.

Get that: When God is one with our spirit, then it is possible for our spirit, UNDER GOD, to bring the flesh and natural under God’s kingdom. But if God is not one with our spirit, our spirit is dead, and therefore the flesh and natural will reign – but behind it will be the enemy, whose territory is that same flesh and natural realm.

This is how every one of us is born into this world – with no life in us and no light in us. Our spirit is dead. Thus, we are controlled by the flesh. Because we are born of the flesh, we can be only BE FLESH. This is the entire nature of man in Adam, and he can never be anything else, if left to himself.

Now here is what is important to see if we want to understand II Corinthians 10: We are naturally born into this world with nothing of God in us. God is not in our spirits, and so there can be no impact or knowledge of God in our mind. But once we are born again, we are reunited with Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit becomes one with OUR human spirit. That is the seat of our salvation. At that point, it is possible for there to be an impact upon our mind – we can come to know God. But this cannot happen in a moment. Our minds need to be renewed according to the Truth. II Corinthians 10 is describing that need and process.

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Eph 4:22-24)

It is here that we need to understand the nature of salvation. When the Bible says that we are a, "new creation in Christ Jesus," it is not talking at all about the natural or fleshly man. Rather, the new creation in Christ is the sum total of Christ in union with our human spirit -- through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All that is WITHIN that union with Christ is the NEW creation. All that is OUTSIDE of it is the OLD creation.

So rather than obliterate the flesh and natural, and rather than make it new in Christ, what we see is that God has united us with Christ spiritually – birthing us a NEW creation who is completely apart from the flesh and natural. Thus, God never makes the natural man brand new. He never fixes it. Rather, He unites our spirits with Christ, and in doing so, resurrects us OUT of the control of that old creation. In other words, in this life we are delivered through His resurrection from the POWER of the old. But we are not delivered from the possibility or presence of the old. We are saved in our spirit in Christ. But we continue to have this outer, natural nature to contend with.

If there is one thing that we MUST SEE about this, it is that our spirit in union with Jesus Christ is the new creation – the new man in Christ – this is the new birth. Everything else about us is the OLD creation. There is a separation and distinction here – the different being ETERNAL through death and resurrection. However, while we cannot escape the presence or possibility of the old in this life, there is to be a relationship between the old and new. That relationship is this: Every part of us that is of the OLD is supposed to be brought under the government of the NEW. Christ in us is to be LORD of us, and under Him, we are to obey – to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

So if you are saved, you are a brand new creation spiritually – you are ONE with Jesus in your spirit. But the rest of you does remain natural and carnal. And until something changes you, you will continue to be governed by the natural and carnal – simply because YOU DON’T KNOW any better.

Now, it is important to realize that the natural and carnal can be very religious. It can even mimic the spiritual. A human being, governed by the realm of darkness, can have psychic experiences, spiritual experiences, and emotional experiences – and can attribute these all to God, and mistake them for Holy Spirit. But this can be total deception.

It takes time to have our natural minds renewed with the Truth, and time to learn how to come under Jesus as Lord. It takes time to even learn what the difference is between flesh and the Spirit IN US. In our passage from I Corinthians, Paul is telling us about the task at hand. He is describing it as a WARFARE.

As mentioned earlier, Jesus Christ has already won every victory there is to win, and is seated as Lord with all authority above all. He is seated at the right hand of God. But note: God has birthed us OUT of the realm of darkness, into His kingdom. (Col. 1:13) We ARE, right now, seated in Christ in heavenly places ABOVE all that HE is above. Thus, rather than try to win a victory, we are supposed to operate FROM the finished victory.

In one sense of the Word, there are phases of the Christian life where we TAKE GROUND from the enemy. But this too is warfare FROM victory, because the victory is already given us, and our taking of that ground is done by faith and obedience. In another sense of the Word, the Christian warfare is a HOLDING of ground. This aspect is after we have taken the ground Jesus has won. But either way you look at it, the basis for all spiritual warfare is a STAND in the finished victory of Jesus by FAITH. Spiritual warfare has FAITH at its basis. Everything else stems from that, and nothing can proceed without it.

Now, these Truths are the basis for Paul’s words to the Corinthians. He speaks of, "the weapons of our warfare," NOT being carnal, but mighty through God. Can we see that he is describing a warfare that we are to wage, not upon natural grounds, or with natural might, but through the Spirit of God – based in FAITH in a completely finished victory? Can we now see that we are to operate from our spiritual union with Christ – in His completed victory – rather than from a defeated position trying to win a victory? Unless we get this straight, we aren’t going to experience the victory He has for us.

Now, someone is going to say, "I believe Jesus has won the victory. But the problem is ME. I will fail HIM!" This misses the point. Do we actually think that God has not thought of this? That He never accounted for the possibility of our weaknesses? Silly. Part of what it means to walk in faith and victory is to realize that if we continue to stand by faith in what CHRIST ALONE HAS DONE, that He will do whatever it takes to bring us into conformity with His victory. In other words, instead of thinking YOU will be the cause of failure, give YOURSELF to Christ.

Note that Christ must get victory over US or we cannot share in His victory over anything. We cannot reign with Christ in His throne unless we are under Him as Lord. So instead of being downcast because we think we are a failure, realize that we are part of what Christ has conquered.

If you read Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians, you will see that he is talking about the inward faith life of a believer. Well, if that is the case, doesn’t that mean the victory is going to be experienced by US? Sure. If it isn’t experienced in us, it is worthless. Christ did not come to redeem THINGS, or set THINGS free by the Truth. He came to redeem US. So this is not something that is secondary in God’s plan, but primary.

The fact that the victory is primarily to be IN US becomes plain, as mentioned, if we read the passage once again. Note the nature of the warfare Paul describes. What are we to WAR AGAINST? Imaginations, strongholds, and every high thing that exalts itself about WHAT? The knowledge of God – i.e., the Truth. Those are things that are not only IN US, but they are things generated by the natural and flesh, augmented by the enemy. These oppose the Truth, and must be brought down.

Now note: This is a battle of Truth against error – in us. Can we see that? We are to cast down all that would oppose the Truth IN US. We are to stand by faith in the Truth. That is the battle.

Do we realize that most Christians, and certainly unbelievers, don’t even know that there are imaginations and strongholds in them that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God? Of course not. Until some TRUTH is injected into the situation, everything will seem NORMAL. But once Light comes, all that is NOT of God gets exposed for what it is. And a WARFARE ignites. I have always said that if you do not have warfare going on in you – sometimes more than others, but it will be there – if you do not have a warfare going on in you over the Truth – it is then that I would worry. The NT says that warfare is business as usual and MUST BE because of the nature of flesh vs. the Spirit of God. Knowing that things are supposed to be this way ought to be a comfort.

Therefore, we have the stage set by Paul: On the one side, we have the flesh and natural mind of man, tied to this natural world, and thoroughly trained to try to possess our lives for ourselves. This is all affirmed and promoted by the enemy of our souls. On the other hand, we have the new creation in Jesus Christ, born of the Spirit, seeking to bring us to the point where we will lose our lives into God’s hands. On the negative side, we have all the lies of the enemy. On the positive side, we have the Truth. The two are opposed. The work of the Spirit of God is to bring us to where we see the Truth and begin to cast down all of the lies.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3-5)

Paul is describing a situation where a Christian who has received some Truth from God encounters -- in himself; in his own mind -- contradiction and opposition to that Truth. Note that this is all WITHIN a person – it is an inward warfare. That is why Paul uses terms such as, "imaginations," and, "the knowledge of God." Those things are not, "out here." They are IN US before they are anywhere else.

The opposition and contradiction to the Truth is described using several terms. The first term used is IMAGINATIONS. This term is translated from a Greek word that means, "a thought or reasoning." But again – the context here is spiritual warfare. The context is that these, "imaginations," are exalting themselves above the Truth. Or, to put it another way, these imaginations are being presented AS the Truth – in place of the real Truth in Jesus Christ. And all of this is happening in US – in our minds.

Can we see that these, "imaginations," are coming from the FLESH?  They are not of the Spirit of Truth, but made possible by our ignorance, unbelief, and perhaps by our deception?  We may be born again.  But our mind might not yet be renewed by the Truth.  And if it isn't, then the natural, which is the enemy's territory, is going to govern.  There will be lies.

Of course none of this has much to do with THEOLOGY. No. This is about our personal knowledge of Jesus Christ – our walk in faith and Truth. It all needs to be interpreted through theology and Bible doctrine, because God always works according to scripture, and never in any way that is outside of it. But I am here NOT talking about struggling over this or that doctrine. Paul says, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God." If you think this is about study or doctrines, you are missing the whole point. It is about a battle for spiritual Truth, with YOU as the battleground.

Paul is describing the possibility, if not the normalcy, of the natural mind producing reasoning that is contrary to the Truth in Christ. But then the question becomes: What gives these thoughts power to affect us? Why – if they are lies – are they being produced by us? More importantly, why are they often able to upset us; cast doubt upon the Truth?  What causes this?

There is only one answer: WE DO. Sure. There are areas in us where we are not really walking in the Spirit. We still governed by the flesh – even though we don’t need to be. The problem is that we have not seen the Truth – and so we have not been set free. Something in us is NOT settled on that particular issue. Therefore, since we are operating from, and being governed by, the natural and carnal in an area of our thinking, we are on the enemies territory. Lies can reign and rule. And we won’t even realize what is happening to us.

If you will remember, Jesus said, "You shall KNOW the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free." The Truth sets no one free unless they know it. This shows the absolute essential that we KNOW the Truth, and certainly, this would eventually demand that we understand it, to some degree, in our minds.

You cannot choose, and live by faith, if you don’t KNOW Truth. How could you? Indeed, even if you don’t understand many things, or even what is presently happening to you, you can still trust God – but you have to KNOW TO DO THAT ! Even THAT – the need to believe when you don’t understand – requires a certain amount of knowing God, and of knowing that this is what we are supposed to do.

So we have to KNOW the Truth. There are many aspects to knowing. Intellectual knowing will eventually be included, but we really KNOW the Truth by spiritual fellowship and revelation. I put it this way: You cannot drag down revelation from heaven with brains. You cannot intrude into spiritual Truth with intellect. But once God does reveal Himself to us, this will eventually need to be understood and communicated – and doing so will involve our brains and intellect. Sure. That is why we have doctrine. Doctrine explains spiritual Truth. But it isn’t spiritual Truth – but merely the true explanation of it.

So as long as there is natural thinking in our lives, and as long as we live and function on a natural basis, then the enemy will have material to work with. We need not do this out of rebellion or sin. It may be simply ignorance.

Incidentally, there is a reason why God allows all of this. God will allow the enemy access to us where we are weak and not free. He will allow it because doing so will call attention to those areas as those that we need to turn to God. Thus, the enemy’s work becomes a signal as to where we need freedom. And if we turn to God, then those very areas where we were blind and weak will be brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God evens uses the enemy as He chooses.

So these, "imaginations," can only become hindrances IF WE OPERATE ON NATURAL GROUND. Indeed, because we are on natural ground, natural imaginations and reasoning will SEEM NORMAL and RIGHT. But if we would see the TRUTH – from the spiritual – then would not only see the lies, but we would be able to cast down those imaginations.

What we need to see at this point is that we will never be able to discern that an imagination or reasoning is a LIE unless we have some knowledge of the Truth. Indeed, it is the TRUTH – the Light of the world – that exposes all lies for what they are.

The reason that a lie is able to find a home in us is because we don’t see the Truth – or to say it better – is because we have not been MADE TRUE. A lie is at home in us only if we think it is the Truth, and we will only think it is the Truth if there is something about us that agrees with that lie. There is something in our heart that gives place – perhaps even fear. In short, if we are not true to God, we will accept lies. But if we are made true to God, the lies will have no place in us.

One place this is taught is in the epistle of James:

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:13-15)

James is stating the obvious: That in order to be drawn away by temptation, there must first be IN US a LUST that is susceptible to that temptation. I will not believe a lie unless there is something in me that is susceptible to believing it. Therefore, the solution is not brains. The solution is to take care of the place in me that might give place to a lie. In other words, I must BE MADE TRUE to God, and if I am, I will know the Truth, and not believe the lie.

Again -- this isn't about brains.  Deception is not caused by a lack of brains, anymore than knowing the Truth is more possible for smart people.  The issue here is whether we are right with God -- whether God has possession of an area of our lives.  If He does NOT -- then that area will not only be a possible point of temptation into sin.  But it will be a point whereby we can be deceived.  The solution to this is surrender to God.

There are times when we must surrender to God on specific matters to be sure.  But in the end, God wants all of us -- even before we fully realize what that covers, or what it means.  God wants us to say, "Take me, Lord, and do whatever it takes to bring me into the Truth."  That is surrender.  And if we do that, we will still have to work out that surrender when tests come.  But if we really meant it, we won't be open to deception.  We will be under God's government, not the government of the enemy

Now, all of this is just a fancy way of saying that if I lose myself into the hands of Jesus Christ, for whatever it takes to achieve His purpose in me, that I will be in fellowship with Him – I will be in the Light. And if that is so, then by virtue of that fellowship, I will see HIM, and thus be able to discern all that is not of Him. In short, if I know JESUS, I know the Truth – and I will be able to spot the false imaginations.

In this we see that the key to revelation is NOT intellect. It is relationship with Christ. Give yourself to the Truth Himself and you will come to know the Truth. But stand aloof from Him, and you will be on natural ground. And then it won’t matter how much brainpower you have -- you WILL be deceived by your own heart. Because you are on natural ground, you will be on the enemy’s territory, and the result will be deception.

Paul says, "The weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal, but mighty through God." In other words, there is absolutely NOTHING that is of the flesh and blood realm that can provide for us any victory in Christ. It is futile to try to fight flesh with the same flesh. No. The only solution to the imaginations of the flesh are of the Spirit. Or, to make it practical – if you want to cast down the lying imaginations of the carnal mind, you can do it only with the TRUTH. You must be rightly related to Christ by faith, and you must stand in the Truth at all cost.

The weapons of OUR warfare are mighty THROUGH God. This statement gets back to the key to spiritual authority. It is only as we are under the authority of Jesus as our personal Lord that the authority and power of Christ can flow INTO us and then THROUGH us. It is all HIS power and authority. But we must be UNDER Him to, first, experience it, and then secondly, be able to appropriate it for spiritual warfare. In short, the authority of Christ is possible ONLY for the will of Christ, and fundamental to this is the TRUTH. If you want the power of God to become the weapon of your warfare, understand that this means the goal will be God’s will to His glory. Certainly, as it pertains to the casting down of lying imaginations, you have no help from God unless you are absolutely committed to only the TRUTH.

If we want to cast down LIES, we must do it with the TRUTH. You cannot cast down lies WITH lies any more than you can fight flesh with flesh. Thus, the question becomes, "Do we really want to know the Truth? Regardless of what it might mean?" If we do, then we must commit ourselves to Jesus as Lord. THAT commitment to come under Jesus as Lord will release to us what is necessary to cast down imaginations – the first thing being a knowledge of the Truth.

Now, all of this is really just another way of saying that in order to cast down lies, you have to know the Truth – and in order to know the Truth, you have to unconditionally yield to HIM. Or, to put it another way, you cannot know the Truth unless you are willing to BE MADE TRUE to Him. You have to open yourself up to Christ and let Him do whatever it takes to MAKE YOU TRUE to Him. Then you can know the Truth. We will never know the Truth as long as we are UNTRUE to God.

Now, all of this begins to make sense. The lying imaginations that exalt themselves above the true knowledge of God are to be cast down, first, by submission to Christ – which will eventually result in us having the true knowledge of God. But why or how does this happen? Because when we yield to the Cross in this way, there comes a DEATH to our natural and flesh in a practical way, and since the natural and flesh are the grounds upon which the lies of the enemy work, the very ground in us that gives place to these lies will be removed. As mentioned, lies have to have an appeal to have impact. Come to the Cross and all ground of appeal IN YOU will be removed. The lies will then be exposed to you AS lies. And you can then know the Truth. In this we see that the Cross is one of the primary weapons of our warfare.

As I have stated, you cannot cast down lying thoughts with more natural thoughts. No. You have to get on another basis. The problem with you is that there is a place in you that gives the lying thoughts a home – a consideration. The only way to deal with this is to come to the Cross – to yield to Christ. THAT submission will remove the ground upon which imaginations can build their strongholds. You will then be on resurrection ground and you will know the Truth – because you have come to the Truth Himself. The imaginations will then topple and the Truth will take over.

Many Christians don’t seem to grasp this. The key to revelation and Truth is not brains. It is relationship with Christ, which starts by coming to the Cross regarding whatever issue God has before you. Practically speaking, this mean I lose my control and say-so over my life into His hands and leave it to Him to resurrect me. If I do that, then the LIGHT comes on all these matters. I see what is a lie, and I see what is the Truth – because I see JESUS HIMSELF.

All the LIGHT of God is in Christ. Or, to put it another way, all the LIGHT of God is in the LIFE of Christ. But in order to walk in LIFE, I have to see DEATH come to the natural. If I will do that by coming to the Cross, then through the death to my natural, life will be enlarged in my spirit, and LIGHT will come with the package. All lies will then be cast down.

Get that: If the power of the enemy lies in the natural, then to break the power of the enemy, my natural TIES and my natural THINKING and my natural GOALS must come under the Cross.

This is nothing more than making an application of what Jesus said to His disciples: You must LOSE your life – your natural life – in order to find spiritual life. As long as we live for the temporal, live for SELF, and continue to try to possess our lives OUR WAY for ourselves – we are on the enemy’s ground. This will give power and credence to imaginations and all else that exalts above God. But if we will lose all of that, everything else will fall. We will have the Truth.

So what we see here is that the key to seeing the Truth – the key to casting down all that would deny or question is – is not brains. It is losing my life into the hands of Christ. If I will do that, then I will find HIS LIFE. And in HIS LIFE will be an ongoing revelation of Him – the LIGHT I need is in His life. It is nowhere else.

This is all progressive. I am saved all at once. Christ becomes one with my spirit. But that is the BEGINNING. From that point, God wants the Holy Spirit to be sovereign over all of me – which will absolutely necessitate that I know Him, and that the natural be governed by the spiritual. The flesh, however, won’t go quietly. There will be warfare. But if we stand in Christ, there is NO WAY TO LOSE, because the victory is ALREADY WON.

Paul says that we are supposed to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. A look at the Greek words used proves that he is talking about more than just controlling thoughts. The word for, "thought," means, "a purpose or device of the mind." This is talking about moral intent. It is talking about the reasons for which we live. BRING THAT into obedience to Christ.

Well, it is not possible to do that in part. Thus, we are brought right back to the need to LOSE our entire selves into His hands, that we might FIND true life in Christ. THAT is what it really means to bring every thought and intent into obedience – it means we no longer own ourselves. He does.

These things are not mechanical formulas or religious hoops to jump through. This is talking about our relationship and accountability to God. If we lost our lives into His hands – relinquish all ownership – and ask God to do whatever it takes to make that real, then we will find His life. And in His life there will be light – a knowing of Him. We will then be equipped to BEGIN the war. We can stand by faith and cast down all that exalts above the Truth, because we will KNOW THE TRUTH.

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