Demolishing Arguments
2 Corinthians 10:5
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Today we continue a thought we started 3 weeks ago… “Winning the Battle Within”… from Romans 7
So far… We talked about two ways to do that
Put on the Full armor of God
Pulling Down Strongholds
Today we come to the third… Demolishing Arguments
I studied many teachers who taught on this subject and it seems that most combine or confuse “demolishing arguments” with “taking every thought captive.”
I do understand the verse says, We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought
The word “and” can be used to combine or to separate
Bacon and eggs… combine, as one
Ups and Downs… separate, different
In fact “and” is used to combine when it says “arguments and every pretension.”
They are seen as one
But here, “and” is used to separate two thoughts…. Demolishing and “taking control of”
I think the two are totally separate. I will cover “taking every thought captive” next week.
I believe “demolishing arguments” is an issue so big and so important that it mandates its own sermon.
What did Paul mean when he spoke of “demolishing arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God…”?
In our world, Christianity has… for too long… surrendered authority to human arguments and things that have set themselves up against the Word of God.
That should NEVER be because we have THE Autority… THE BIBLE!
Some of the most obvious things that have set themselves up against the wisdom of God are:
science, the courts and public opinion.
They have come up with “evidence” which they have used like a club to batter Christians and the bible into silence.
We have the Word of God… THE AUTHORITY on ALL things.
They have scientific theories, studies, philosophies and they hold these things to be superior to the bible, because are “SCIENTIFIC” and that trumps faith, which they consider to be “superstition” and therefore inferior to scientific.
Science says the THEORY of evolution is superior to the REVELATION of creation.
They say creation is “made up, fairy tale”
What is evolution? A CONCOCTION!!!
But the court weighs in and says science can be proven and the bible is faith, so science wins and the bible is tossed out.
Public opinion (pooled ignorance) throws its two cents on the side of science and BOOM… the bible is no more than a fairy tale. God is on the same level as the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.
So Science is what Paul was talking about, the courts are what he meant, and public opinion is what he had in mind when he said, “arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.”
It is understandable that the world has accepted the arguments and thrown out the bible… but the sad thing is… MOST CHRISTIANS HAVE ALSO FALLEN FOR THE ARGUMENTS of the superiority of science and have allowed it to set itself up against the knowledge… the wisdom… of God…the BIBLE.
Paul teaches us that if we are going to win the battle within… we must TAKE BACK the territory which has been surrendered.. and tear down the strongholds… like SCIENCE
Our biblical example comes from Joshua 9. Joshua and the Israelites have just steamrolled through the mightiest fortified city in the land, Jericho, and crushed a small hamlet, Ai. All of the kings of Canaan realize that no one army can stop this juggernaut, so they form an alliance and plan to fight as one super army.
One nation, Gibeon, realizes Israel’s God is too powerful and there is no chance of winning a battle. So they decide to take another tack… subterfuge! They devise an elaborate ruse that they have come from far, far away… not in the Promised land. They have old worn out camels that look like they have traveled a thousand miles. They find old, dried up wine skins that are years old and say, “They were brand new when we left home, see how far we have traveled.” Clothes, dust, fake accents… the make-up and acting were worthy of an Oscar.
Israel fell for the ruse and signed an alliance with them before they found of the truth. Then it was too late… They had a foothold in the promised land and the Israelites had sinned against God. The Gibeonites were a thorn in the side of Israel for hundreds of years.
Here is the key point: The people of God, surrendered land, because they fell for the argument.
Modern day Christians have done the same thing with SCIENCE… and COURTS… and PUBLIC OPINION.
It is time that we heed the words of Paul and demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
Paul also said in 1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you.
And 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Paul is telling us that we have to be able to offer an argument FOR the gospel, the bible… that will TEAR DOWN the arguments of man.
IT CAN BE DONE!!!!
If you are standing on the Word… you have the greatest authority in the universe.
Today, I have time for only one example.
Let’s start with one of the biggest RUSES of our time… HOMOSEXUALITY!!
Let me tell you, that one has set itself up against the wisdom of God.
They say anyone who believes in the bible and teaches anti-homosexuality… is guilty of ignorance and hate crime.
Those who champion the lie say WE HAVE SCIENCE…WE HAVE THE COURTS… WE HAVE PUBLIC OPINION… WE HAVE THE PRESIDENT…WE HAVE THE SCHOOLS
They think they have the death nail for scripture.
But WE have the WORD of Almighty God, the ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY in all things… including Homosexuality.
And the Word of God says… in 1 Corinthians 6:9
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals… will inherit the kingdom of God.
Science says Homosexuals were born that way, gay is as normal as straight.
The courts say gays have the same rights and the same protections as everyone else. Actually more protection… they are protected by Hate Crime Laws.
But we need to demolish their arguments… because they have set themselves up against the wisdom of God
and we can.
First of all, the Word of God is THE authority, not science.
The Bible teaches… no… proves that people are not born gay.
We have the evidence.
There is not one single time when the Word calls anything a sin where the person does not have a choice.
SIN IS ALWAYS A CHOICE
Where there is no choice… NO SIN.
God says those who practice homosexuality commit sin.
Philosophy/math/science (Transitive Property)
A=homosexuality B=sin C=choice
Given: A=B and B=C then A=C
homosexuality = sin sin = choice homosexuality = choice
But let me tell you something…
God is the one who will decides who gets into His heaven.
He does not need science, the courts or the public to agree.
One day every scientist will bow before Jesus Christ, and proclaim… YOU ALONE are God, YOUR WORD is truth,
Every judge will bow down and proclaim your ways are just and your judgments are perfect.
The public will bow and say you were right, we were wrong.
