Casting down arguments 2 Cor.10:5

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J

joaniemarie

Senior Member
#1
Jan 4, 2017
3,198
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#1
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,2 Corinthians 10:5


- JULY 4 -
BE MINDFUL OF CHRIST’S OBEDIENCE AT THE CROSS

Have you ever felt condemned because of the bad thoughts you have had? You could be in the middle of a prayer meeting when suddenly a dirty thought enters your mind. Actually, it is the devil who puts such thoughts in your mind. Then, he steps back, looks at you and knocks you on your head, saying, “How can you call yourself a Christian and still think such thoughts?”


I used to be in bondage over the bad thoughts I had because I felt that I had to confess every one of them and seek God’s forgiveness. But that is not what God’s Word exhorts us to do. You see, God wants us to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. Now, whose obedience are we to focus on? Christ’s obedience and not our own obedience!


But what is “the obedience of Christ”? It is His obedience at the cross, where “by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous”. (Romans 5:19) Jesus shed His blood for us at the cross. This means that when our thoughts condemn us, we are to focus our thoughts on Jesus’ obedience at the cross.


My friend, the devil can only make inroads into our minds when he gets us to focus on our obedience instead of Christ’s obedience. His strategy is to point us to our obedience or the lack of it to determine our standing before God. But just as our position as sinners is not based on what we do, but what the first Adam did, in the same way, we are forever righteous today not because of what we do, but because of what Christ, the last Adam, did on the cross.


So the next time your thoughts seem to condemn you, say, “I am righteous whether I have good or bad thoughts. My righteousness has nothing to do with my obedience. Jesus’ obedience at the cross made me righteous.” Then, go ahead and pray, knowing that you have access to God and His favor, and that He hears the prayer of the righteous. (Proverbs 15:29)

Destined To Reign Devotional J.Prince.
 
Nehemiah6

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
#2
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,778
113
#2
joaniemarie said:
quoting Joseph Prince: “I am righteous whether I have good or bad thoughts. My righteousness has nothing to do with my obedience. Jesus’ obedience at the cross made me righteous.”
Click to expand...
More unbiblical baloney from the prince of false theology.

Joaniemarie, when will you ever learn to discern Bible truth from humanistic nonsense?
 
OneFaith

OneFaith

Senior Member
#3
Sep 5, 2016
2,270
369
83
#3
joaniemarie said:
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,2 Corinthians 10:5


- JULY 4 -
BE MINDFUL OF CHRIST’S OBEDIENCE AT THE CROSS

Have you ever felt condemned because of the bad thoughts you have had? You could be in the middle of a prayer meeting when suddenly a dirty thought enters your mind. Actually, it is the devil who puts such thoughts in your mind. Then, he steps back, looks at you and knocks you on your head, saying, “How can you call yourself a Christian and still think such thoughts?”


I used to be in bondage over the bad thoughts I had because I felt that I had to confess every one of them and seek God’s forgiveness. But that is not what God’s Word exhorts us to do. You see, God wants us to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. Now, whose obedience are we to focus on? Christ’s obedience and not our own obedience!


But what is “the obedience of Christ”? It is His obedience at the cross, where “by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous”. (Romans 5:19) Jesus shed His blood for us at the cross. This means that when our thoughts condemn us, we are to focus our thoughts on Jesus’ obedience at the cross.


My friend, the devil can only make inroads into our minds when he gets us to focus on our obedience instead of Christ’s obedience. His strategy is to point us to our obedience or the lack of it to determine our standing before God. But just as our position as sinners is not based on what we do, but what the first Adam did, in the same way, we are forever righteous today not because of what we do, but because of what Christ, the last Adam, did on the cross.


So the next time your thoughts seem to condemn you, say, “I am righteous whether I have good or bad thoughts. My righteousness has nothing to do with my obedience. Jesus’ obedience at the cross made me righteous.” Then, go ahead and pray, knowing that you have access to God and His favor, and that He hears the prayer of the righteous. (Proverbs 15:29)

Destined To Reign Devotional J.Prince.
Click to expand...
It is not sin to be tempted- Jesus was tempted, yet was without sin. I too used to feel guilty for having such thoughts until I realised they are not my thoughts unless I adopt them, make them my own, and continue to expand on those thoughts. The thought is Satan's, not mine. And so I pray "Lord, please take this thought from me. I did not invite it, nor do I want it. I will not own it, it is not of me but of the evil one."

Don't assume that all your thoughts are yours. God allows satan to put thoughts in our heads to tempt and test us, we must kick them out immediately, and by doing so it is our obedience. How so? We choose to have our will match God's Will, so when our thoughts are held captive to Christ it is because we choose them to be, on purpose.

For example, I have tried and tried to make tender, fall off the bone, bbq ribs. But i could not achieve it on my own. So i looked to an online master chef. I conformed to follow the recipe step by step his way, not my way. And lo and behold I achieved the perfect fall off the bone bbq ribs. What I lacked was squeezing lemon juice over the meat first- the acid caused the meat to tenderise.

Now, it was the chef who had it right- their recipe, their methods. But their recipe would have no effect on my life unless I chose to conform to it. In the same way it is Christ's obedience, but if I do not choose to conform to it, it will not make a difference in my life. But by choosing to conform- that is my obedience. If I purposely hold all thoughts (mine and satans) captive to Christ then the bad thoughts are filtered out, and the good thoughts remain.
 
7

7seasrekeyed

Guest
#4
#4
um.......no

here is my response to the topic of the op regarding what DP is saying

bringing every thought into captivity does not mean in some vacuous fashion that we transcend and translate into Jesus obedience

it is the obedience of Jesus that makes it possible for us to have renewed minds...renewed by the word of God

Christians should not be focusing on their obedience/disobedience anyway since none of it makes us less worthy or more worthy

only one thing makes us worthy in God's eyes and that is nothing we have done. It is Christ's obedience

But what is “the obedience of Christ”? It is His obedience at the cross, where “by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous”. (Romans 5:19) Jesus shed His blood for us at the cross. This means that when our thoughts condemn us, we are to focus our thoughts on Jesus’ obedience at the cross.
Click to expand...
no not at all

it means you turn to the word of God and use it the same way Jesus did

if you want to start imagining Jesus obedience you are basically using a technique employed by sport coaches, life coaches etc

you rebuke the devil like Jesus did...you did say the bad thoughts come from the devil, right? (that's a discussion for another thread though because that is an over simplification and sounds more like 'the devil made me do it') then you use the word and if you don't know the word then start to study the word and pretty soon, because we have the Holy Spirit to help us, we will know what to say and how to deal and we won't have to imagine anything

I listened to DP the other day...not all of it because it's kind of unbearable...but enough to wonder if he is not getting worse
 
Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy

Well-known member
#5
Jun 11, 2018
3,344
3,720
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#5
joaniemarie said:
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, 2 Corinthians 10:5

Have you ever felt condemned because of the bad thoughts you have had?
Click to expand...
Hi JoanieMarie, haven't we all, to one degree or another anyway? The "prince of this world" is powerful (and he hates us because of the One to whom we belong).

When I became a Christian (almost 32 years ago now, PTL), God saved me from a very sinful life. Unfortunately, the memory of that life remained, and my "thought-life" was both horrible and (quite frankly) painful too. While "capturing" those horrible thoughts and giving them to Christ to deal with certainly helped, I wanted them (what oft times seemed an endless flow of horrible/painful thoughts) to stop, once and for all, if possible. For me, the answer to that was found in "treasuring" God's word in my heart (IOW, by memorizing key verses and passages from the Bible). That way, whenever Satan tries to tempt me into believing something (that is a lie or a partial truth), the HS immediately brings multiple verses to the forefront of my mind that remind me what the truth actually is/why the things Satan is saying to me are lies (and why I shouldn't continue with the train of thought he started and possibly end up sinning as a result).

Scripture memory work is hard work, especially at first, but I can think of no other Christian discipline that results in greater/more useful/longer lasting spiritual benefits (both for yourself, as well as for others :)).

If anyone is interested, there are many available memorization systems out there, but I believe one of the best, proven systems is the Topical Memory System by the Navigators, which can be found here (the Navigators have been preparing their missionaries for the field with it for about 80 years now). We used business card sized flash cards, but it's available as both an inexpensive iPhone/iPad or Android app now, which is certainly advantageous IMHO.

So if you struggle with a horrible thought-life like I had, memorizing Scripture will end up emptying your mind of all the rotten garbage you have stored up there and fill it with something FAR better :) If fact, the pastor who convinced me to give Scripture memory work a try promised that, not only would the smelly garbage be pushed to the back and then out of my mind, it would fill it in such a way that the bad stuff could never return (and I have found this to be true over the years, PTL).

~Deut

..........Psalm 119:9, 11
..........How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.
..........Thy word I have 'treasured' in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.



Topical Memory System (by the Navigators, iPhone, iPad, Android apps are also available at your App Store)
Scripture Typer
.
 
J

joaniemarie

Senior Member
#6
Jan 4, 2017
3,198
303
83
#6
Oh brother the same old crabby people found me. If you guys and gals don't like the devotional and don't find it up lifting and encouraging or helpful to you., go find the ones that are for you. Or better yet start your own or share something you find helpful that blessed you like I did.
 
J

joaniemarie

Senior Member
#7
Jan 4, 2017
3,198
303
83
#7
Deuteronomy said:
Hi JoanieMarie, haven't we all, to one degree or another anyway? The "prince of this world" is powerful (and he hates us because of the One to whom we belong).

When I became a Christian (almost 32 years ago now, PTL), God saved me from a very sinful life. Unfortunately, the memory of that life remained, and my "thought-life" was both horrible and (quite frankly) painful too. While "capturing" those horrible thoughts and giving them to Christ to deal with certainly helped, I wanted them (what oft times seemed an endless flow of horrible/painful thoughts) to stop, once and for all, if possible. For me, the answer to that was found in "treasuring" God's word in my heart (IOW, by memorizing key verses and passages from the Bible). That way, whenever Satan tries to tempt me into believing something (that is a lie or a partial truth), the HS immediately brings multiple verses to the forefront of my mind that remind me what the truth actually is/why the things Satan is saying to me are lies (and why I shouldn't continue with the train of thought he started and possibly end up sinning as a result).

Scripture memory work is hard work, especially at first, but I can think of no other Christian discipline that results in greater/more useful/longer lasting spiritual benefits (both for yourself, as well as for others :)).

If anyone is interested, there are many available memorization systems out there, but I believe one of the best, proven systems is the Topical Memory System by the Navigators, which can be found here (the Navigators have been preparing their missionaries for the field with it for about 80 years now). We used business card sized flash cards, but it's available as both an inexpensive iPhone/iPad or Android app now, which is certainly advantageous IMHO.

So if you struggle with a horrible thought-life like I had, memorizing Scripture will end up emptying your mind of all the rotten garbage you have stored up there and fill it with something FAR better :) If fact, the pastor who convinced me to give Scripture memory work a try promised that, not only would the smelly garbage be pushed to the back and then out of my mind, it would fill it in such a way that the bad stuff could never return (and I have found this to be true over the years, PTL).

~Deut

..........Psalm 119:9, 11
..........How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.
..........Thy word I have 'treasured' in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.



Topical Memory System (by the Navigators, iPhone, iPad, Android apps are also available at your App Store)
Scripture Typer
.
Click to expand...
I agree Deuteronomy we need to have the Word in our hearts and memorizing is so important. And then our minds are daily being transformed into Jesus image more and more. It's so important to know who we are in Christ. We are born again., a new creation.
Claiming that truth and living it out is walking by faith. Actually its major to being able to do His will I've found. He has caused us to be righteous by His power and His ability. Now we walk out the truth.

I have grown by looking at Jesus and not me. The focus has to be on Him in order to change. Claiming our true identity in Christ is major to knowing how to walk. As the author of the devotional said., the only way the enemy can get inroads into our life is by getting us to look at ourselves and not Jesus. Jesus is our life., He is our right standing. He is our righteousness. All due to Him we are able to stand. Not due to our own abilities but by His.

Looking to Jesus... the Author and Finisher of our faith. AMEN THANK YOU JESUS.
 
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