Mighty spiritual weapons for pulling down strongholds (II Corinthians 10:3-4). Is Paul speaking of spiritual weaponry available to only an elite group of believers? Certainly not! It is God’s desire that all believers be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1:16). Moreover, He has provided believers with all the spiritual weaponry necessary to make this happen. The key is knowing how to access these mighty spiritual weapons.
A WAR BETWEEN THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT
At conversion, the genuinely born-again believer would have all memories of his yielding to the flesh forever removed. But there are no magic erase buttons. The old man, with all his pre-conversion baggage, remains. And he will not go quietly. Thus begins, in every believer, to varying degrees, a war between the flesh and the Spirit (Galatians 5:17).
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish (Galatians 5:17).
MIGHTY SPIRITUAL WEAPONRY FOR PULLING DOWN STRONGHOLDS
The born-again believer must still walk in the flesh. But he is not to wage this war using fleshly weapons (II Corinthians 10:3). If there is even a hint of the flesh in his weaponry, he should not expect any enemy strongholds to fall.
God has promised a way of escape from every temptation (I Corinthians 10:13). And He has equipped every genuinely born-again believer with mighty spiritual weapons for the pulling down of these enemy strongholds (II Corinthians 10:4). That these weapons are “not carnal, but mighty in God” suggests that the pulldown might even be accomplished relatively quickly.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (II Corinthians 10:3-4).
If I am using God’s mighty weapons correctly, I should not be surprised by a dramatic drop in both the number and strength of enemy attacks. Nor should I be surprised that, without help from an accountability partner/group, I am now able to walk away from attacks of the flesh that had previously gotten the better of me. If I am a born-again child of God, and if I am relying solely on the Holy Spirit, and His power to deliver from lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16), then I have every reason to believe that these strongholds can be pulled down, and likely in much less time than it took me to erect them.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
A GAME-CHANGING BOOK HAS ARRIVED
In A Way of Escape, readers learn how to access God’s mighty spiritual weapons. They learn how to pull down enemy strongholds by stepping up the degree to which they are “walking in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). They learn how to build a library of Spirit-anointed, flesh-diffusing apps. Apps that are uniquely fitted to them, and their unique Spirit-filling triggers (Ephesians 5:18b-19).
The still-struggling now have another option. The still-struggling now have fresh hope for discovering that long-sought-after way of escape from temptation and resulting sin (I Corinthians 10:13). A way that—because it is wholly Spirit-powered—does not require enlisting the aid of an accountability partner or group. Truly, a game-changer!
THANK YOU, HOLY SPIRIT!
