How Do I Take My Thoughts Captive?
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful discussion, Pastor John Piper addresses Sara's question about 2 Corinthians 10:5, exploring the meaning of 'taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.' He clarifies that the verse is not a command for individuals but a description of Paul's actions against the proud minds of his opponents. Piper encourages Christians to submit their thoughts to apostolic teaching and seek the Holy Spirit's power to dismantle and rebuild their minds in conformity with Christ.
Takeaways
- π The scripture reference is 2nd Corinthians 10:4-5, which discusses the divine power to destroy strongholds and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
- π‘οΈ Paul's weapons are not of the flesh but have divine power, indicating a spiritual battle against human wisdom and proud opinions.
- π° The text describes a two-step process: first, destroying arguments and proud opinions against God, and second, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.
- π€ Sara's question is about applying this scripture to personal obedience to Christ and dealing with incorrect or sinful thoughts.
- π₯ It's clarified that Paul is addressing the minds and thoughts of others, particularly the Corinthians, who are boastful in their philosophical prowess.
- π The correct application for individuals is to see themselves as part of the group whose thoughts Paul is trying to demolish, not to take their own thoughts captive.
- π Christians are encouraged to submit their thoughts and ideas to Paul's teaching for scrutiny and to let go of anything that doesn't align with it.
- π The Holy Spirit's power is essential in the battle against deeply rooted errors of the mind, not just intellectual effort.
- ποΈ The goal is to have one's mind and thoughts brought into conformity with Christ, aligning with the obedience mentioned in the scripture.
- π The podcast invites listeners to submit questions to Pastor John and mentions the availability of resources like podcasts and a searchable database.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the discussion in the provided transcript?
-The main theme of the discussion is the interpretation and application of 2 Corinthians 10:5, which speaks about taking every thought captive to obey Christ.
Who is the speaker in the transcript?
-The speaker in the transcript is Pastor John Piper, who is responding to a question from Sara about the meaning of taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
What does Pastor John Piper suggest is the correct way to interpret 2 Corinthians 10:5?
-Pastor John Piper suggests that 2 Corinthians 10:5 is not a command for individuals to take their own thoughts captive, but rather a description of what Paul is doing to his opponents by demolishing their proud and arrogant thoughts against God.
How does Pastor John Piper relate the concept of taking captive thoughts to the listener?
-Pastor John Piper encourages the listener to submit their thoughts and ideas to the Apostle Paul's teaching for scrutiny and to ask the Holy Spirit to work in their lives to dismantle any thoughts that are out of sync with God's teachings.
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the process of taking captive thoughts according to Pastor John Piper?
-Pastor John Piper emphasizes that the Holy Spirit has a divine power that goes beyond mere human intellect, and believers should expose themselves to this power to have their thoughts and minds conformed to Christ.
What does Pastor John Piper suggest as the first step for a Christian to apply the concept of taking captive thoughts?
-The first step Pastor John Piper suggests is for Christians to listen to Paul's teachings and submit all their thoughts and ideas about God and life for scrutiny against the apostolic teaching.
What is the significance of the weapons of warfare mentioned in 2 Corinthians 10:4 according to Pastor John Piper?
-The significance of the weapons of warfare mentioned in 2 Corinthians 10:4 is that they have divine power to destroy strongholds of arguments and proud opinions against the knowledge of God, which is not a mere human effort but a divine intervention.
How does Pastor John Piper describe the process of having one's thoughts taken captive?
-Pastor John Piper describes the process as a two-step action: first, demolishing arguments and proud opinions against God, and second, taking every thought captive to obey Christ, which involves the believer's submission to the teachings of Paul and the work of the Holy Spirit.
What does Pastor John Piper suggest is the role of the individual in the process of taking captive thoughts?
-Pastor John Piper suggests that the individual should actively submit to the teachings of Paul and the work of the Holy Spirit, allowing their thoughts to be dismantled and reformed to align with Christ.
What is the ultimate goal of taking captive thoughts according to the discussion in the transcript?
-The ultimate goal of taking captive thoughts, as discussed in the transcript, is to bring one's thoughts into obedience to Christ, resulting in a mind that is conformed to Christ's teachings and will.
Outlines
π Understanding 'Taking Captive Every Thought'
In this segment, Sara poses a question to Pastor John about the interpretation of 2 Corinthians 10:5, which speaks about taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. Pastor John clarifies that the verse is not a command for individuals to take their own thoughts captive, but rather a description of Paul's actions against the proud and arrogant philosophies opposing God. He explains that Paul's use of divine power, not mere human wisdom, is meant to dismantle and capture the minds of those who are boastful in their intellectual prowess. The application for individuals, like Sara, is to submit their thoughts to Paul's teachings and allow the Holy Spirit to work in dismantling any proud or erroneous ideas they may hold about God.
π Submitting to Divine Power for Spiritual Growth
Pastor John continues by emphasizing the importance of submitting one's thoughts and ideas to the teachings of the Apostle Paul and the scrutiny of God's Word. He shares personal experiences of the painful yet necessary process of having one's intellectual structures dismantled by divine intervention. He encourages believers to not only engage in intellectual study but also to seek the Holy Spirit's power to uproot deeply entrenched errors in their thinking. The goal is to align one's mind with Christ's teachings, fostering a mindset of obedience to Christ. The segment concludes with an invitation for listeners to submit questions to Pastor John and to explore the resources available on the Desiring God website and podcast.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Captive
π‘2nd Corinthians 10:5
π‘Divine Power
π‘Thoughts
π‘Christ
π‘Submission
π‘Apostolic Teaching
π‘Holy Spirit
π‘Philosophical Prowess
π‘Mind of Christ
Highlights
Sara asks Pastor John about the meaning of taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ, referencing 2nd Corinthians 10:5.
Pastor John explains that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
The text in 2nd Corinthians 10:5 is about demolishing arguments and proud opinions against God, not about taking one's own thoughts captive.
Pastor John clarifies that Paul is not talking about taking his own thoughts captive but those of others who are proud and against God.
The process involves taking captive the defeated thoughts of opponents for them to obey Christ.
Sara's question is recontextualized by Pastor John to apply the verse to oneself by considering one's own thoughts as part of the opponents' minds that need to be taken captive.
Submission of one's thoughts and ideas to Paul's teaching and God's word is the first step in applying this verse.
Pastor John shares his personal experience of weeping over the dismantling of his own thought structures in alignment with Apostolic teaching.
The second step is to ask the Holy Spirit to work within us to dismantle deeply rooted errors of the mind.
Exposing oneself to the power of the Holy Spirit through the words of Apostle Paul is essential for thought transformation.
Pastor John encourages listeners to lay themselves open to the risen Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit for mind and thought renewal.
The podcast provides a platform for submitting questions to Pastor John about perplexing Bible passages.
Desiring God's website and resources are available due to the support of generous financial donors.
The website is continually improved for user-friendliness and intuitive navigation.
Pastor John Piper will discuss why God made humans to seek after the greatest and most permanent joys in a future episode.
Transcripts
[Music]
Sara writes and asked this pastor John
what does it mean to take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ
2nd Corinthians 10:5 how can I take this
commandment and apply it to my incorrect
or sinful thoughts that I may obey
Christ and have join him well here's the
text let's read it and and then we'll
see if we can figure this out 2nd
Corinthians 10 and 2 verses 4 and 5 for
the weapons of our warfare are not of
the flesh that is they're not merely
human this is not a mere battle building
one philosopher with some human wisdom
against another philosopher with a human
wisdom but the weapons of our warfare
have divine power to destroy strongholds
and then he defines this powerful
stronghold destroying activity in two
steps verse 5 first we destroy arguments
and every lofty or proud opinion raised
against the knowledge of God and second
we then take every thought captive so
like you you move in a battle and you
destroy the fortress and you take
captives we take every thought captive
to obey Christ
so Sara asks how can she take verse 5
taking every thought captive and apply
it to herself to be more obedient to
Christ in her thought life the first
thing I think that needs to be said that
when we apply this to ourselves we have
to make sure we're in the right place in
the text when when Paul says first he's
destroying arguments and arrogant
opinions against God and second that he
is taking thoughts or Minds captive we
need to realize it's the minds on
thoughts of others he's not talking
about taking his own thoughts captive
it's the thoughts of others I'm I'm
moving
into these rascals in Corinth who are so
boastful in their philosophical prowess
that I am going to demolish them not by
counter philosophy but by divine power
I'm going to show power and there
they're going to collapse in their
thinking and then I'm going to take
their thoughts captive so that they now
obey Christ
so he's the warrior and the enemy is
these people whose minds and arguments
are proud and lifted up against God and
when Paul defeats those minds and
arguments in the power of the Holy
Spirit their thoughts and their minds
are taken captive and they become people
with the mind of Christ or obedient to
Christ so I think Sara might be miss
reading just slightly I'm going to come
around and say she's she's on the right
track but just might be miss reading the
verse when she says how can I take this
command and apply it to my incorrect
sinful thoughts it's it's not a command
it's it's a statement about what Paul is
doing to his opponents he's demolishing
their worldview and then taking their
defeated thoughts captive for Christ so
that they become thinkers rightly
they're obedient in the way they think
about Christ so verse 5 is not a command
to do this ourselves but Sarah's
question is still a very good question
there is a way to apply this to
ourselves we just have to get ourselves
in the right place and the place we
belong in is the group whose opinions
and thoughts Paul is trying to demolish
that's where we belong we destroy
arguments in every lofty opinion raised
against the knowledge of God and we take
every thought captive so when John Piper
reads that or when Sarah reads it I
should say or she should say okay Paul
Here I am do you're demolishing work on
me do your captive taking work on me
destroy in my mind any faults or proud
thoughts that I have about God which
means really two things I think that
Sarah and I anybody else any Christian
should
do 1 we should listen to Paul and submit
all our thoughts and ideas and feelings
about God and a life submit them to
Paul's teaching God's apostle for
scrutiny and and if any thing is out of
sync with Paul's teaching we should let
it be destroyed now I have experienced
this very painfully I mean if you put
your mind and thoughts really at the
disposal of the Apostolic teaching and
say anything in my thinking that needs
to be destroyed destroyed it can utterly
undo you there have been seasons in my
life where I have wept over the
dismantling of what felt like really
important structures in my brain so I
think that's the first thing we do we
listen to Paul we submit everything we
think all of our ideas all our worldview
all our viewpoints to God and we say
Paul let your word dismantle me if
necessary the second thing we should do
is we should ask the Holy Spirit to work
because Paul said we don't we don't
fight with mere human fleshly arguments
our ministry has power so we should
expose ourselves to that power verse 4
says the weapons of our warfare are not
of the flesh but have divine power in
other words he's tearing down arguments
and God belittling ideas but he's not
doing it merely by argument so when I
come to the Bible there's a lot of study
I do and I love to study and I love to
assess arguments and figure them out but
I should also be crying out Oh God
I know that mere intellect will not
dismantle the deeply rooted errors of my
mind so I avail myself I open myself to
the Holy Spirit and I seek your face
Paul said in Romans 1518 for I will not
venture to speak of anything except what
Christ has accomplished through me to
bring the Gentiles to obedience now I
think that's the same obedience as in
2nd Corinthians 10 4 and 5 when he
brings our thoughts into obedience to
Christ and here he says I won't speak of
anything except what Christ has
accomplished so that's what I'm getting
at when I say expose yourself lay
yourself open to the risen Christ by the
power of the Holy Spirit through the
words of the Apostle Paul so that
everything can be dismantled and then
your brain your mind your thoughts can
be taken captive and everything brought
into conformity to Christ excellent
thank you Pastor John and thank you for
the thoughtful question Sara if you have
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thank you well God made you to seek
after the greatest joys imaginable and
to seek after the most permanent
pleasures in the universe have you ever
stopped to wonder why tomorrow Pastor
John Piper will explain I'm your host
Tony ranky thanks for listening to the
podcast
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