Bible League: Living His Word We are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.In the church at Corinth there were some who were challenging the authority of the Apostle Paul and the message he had preached to them. Our verses for today form part of his response to the challenge. In verse 3 he acknowledges that he is human, but he will not wage war against the challenge with mere human, worldly weapons. That is, he will not use anything that is sinful, devious, and underhanded in the war. He has something more righteous and more potent at hand. He will wage war with God's mighty weapons. What are God's weapons? He does not say specifically. Given the nature of the opposition, however, one weapon is clearly intended---the Word of God. Paul regarded the Word of God as the "Sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). Paul will wage war with the truth of the Word of God. That the Word of God is the primary weapon Paul has in mind here is clear from the fact that the opposition consists of "strongholds of human reasoning" and "false arguments." The challengers, in other words, were trying to undermine Paul and his message with mere human reasons and arguments, rather than with the Word of God. Understandably enough, the best weapon to use in such circumstances is the Word of God itself. Since the weapons of the challengers were not biblically based, they were keeping people, including themselves, from the true knowledge of God. Since they were not biblically based, they were "proud obstacles" to the true knowledge of God. They were formed on the basis of human willfulness and pride, rather than on the basis of a humble submission to God's Word. The kind of thing that happened in Paul's day happens now. People challenge the teachings of those committed to the Word of God with mere human reasoning and false arguments. Like Paul, we must be ready to take up our primary weapon against such incursions. We must be ready to wield the sword of the Spirit. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Samuel 1, 2, 3 2 Samuel 1 -- David Informed, Mourns for Saul and Jonathan NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Samuel 2 -- David Made King over Judah; Ish-Bosheth Rules over Israel NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Samuel 3 -- House of David Strengthened; Joab murders Abner NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 18:1-17 Luke 18 -- Parables of the Persistent Widow, Pharisee and Tax Collector; The Rich Young Ruler; The Healing of a Blind Beggar NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Direct your children onto the right path,and when they are older, they will not leave it. Insight Many parents want to make all the choices for their child, but this hurts him or her in the long run. When parents teach a child how to make decisions, they don't have to watch every step he or she takes. They know their children will remain on the right path because they have made the choice themselves. Challenge Train your children to choose the right way. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Romans 8:34 Who is even at the right hand of God.He who was once despised and rejected of men, now occupies the honorable position of a beloved and honored Son. The right hand of God is the place of majesty and favor. Our Lord Jesus is his people's representative. When he died for them, they had rest; he rose again for them, they had liberty; when he sat down at his Father's right hand, they had favor, and honor, and dignity. The raising and elevation of Christ is the elevation, the acceptance, and enshrinement, the glorifying of all his people, for he is their head and representative. This sitting at the right hand of God, then, is to be viewed as the acceptance of the person of the Surety, the reception of the Representative, and therefore, the acceptance of our souls. O saint, see in this thy sure freedom from condemnation. "Who is he that condemneth?" Who shall condemn the men who are in Jesus at the right hand of God? The right hand is the place of power. Christ at the right hand of God hath all power in heaven and in earth. Who shall fight against the people who have such power vested in their Captain? O my soul, what can destroy thee if Omnipotence be thy helper? If the aegis of the Almighty cover thee, what sword can smite thee? Rest thou secure. If Jesus is thine all-prevailing King, and hath trodden thine enemies beneath his feet; if sin, death, and hell are all vanquished by him, and thou art represented in him, by no possibility canst thou be destroyed. "Jesu's tremendous name Puts all our foes to flight: Jesus, the meek, the angry Lamb, A Lion is in fight. "By all hell's host withstood; We all hell's host o'erthrow; And conquering them, through Jesu's blood We still to conquer go." Daily Light on the Daily Path Genesis 5:22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters.Amos 3:3 Do two men walk together unless they have made an appointment? Colossians 1:20-22 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. • And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, • yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Romans 5:10,11 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. • And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 1 John 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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