Armed And Dangerous. -Spiritual Warfare Pt.1

Armed And Dangerous. -Spiritual Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:1-6NLT

False apostles are people who masquerade as Christian leaders, they work to get other people to follow them, and then lead them astray.

A true apostle is one who is “sent” by God as an ambassador of Jesus Christ with a divine message.

A false apostle is a pretender who does not truly represent Jesus Christ, and whose message tilts toward self, or flamboyant me. -“Hey, Look at me!”

In, 2 Corinthians chapters 10 and 11, the Apostle Paul addresses the problem of false apostles invading the Corinthian church.“Having now finished his directions and advice relative to the collection for the poor, the apostle Paul resumes his argument relative to the false apostle, who had gained considerable influence by representing apostle Paul as despicable in his person, his ministry, and his influence.” (Clarke).

These false apostles stated, Paul’s words were strong in letter, but weak in person; therefore refuse to listen to him.

2 Corinthians 10:1-6NLT “Now I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ—though I realize you think I am timid in person and bold only when I write from far away. 2 Well, I am begging you now so that when I come I won’t have to be bold with those who think we act from human motives. 3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 6 And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.

Paul contrasts his selfless service with their smooth speech mixed with a heavy dose of lethal legalism. Jesus plus...

Paul called them impostors,“super-apostles,” (making fun of them), they were pretenders, with smooth speech, pretending to be true servants of Jesus, but they did not know the Lord.

Again verse 1&2, Paul writes, “I want to be kind to you, but if need be, I will boldly confront you face to face.”

They were deceivers, preying on gullible Christians in Corinth to profit themselves and boost their ego. They convinced many Corinthians Saints, to go back and add to grace. -Thus they frustrated Grace.

In return, many in the Corinthian church were frustrated, because of these false apostles. Remember the words of Paul in:

Ephesians 2:8TPT For by grace you have been saved by faith. Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ!

Paul criticizes the church that they “even put up with anyone who enslaves, exploits, or takes advantage of you.”

The Apostle Paul compares these impostors to satan himself, who also “masquerades as an angel of light”

2 Corinthians 11:14NLT  But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Paul addresses these false apostles head-on with these two bold letters from, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and chapter 11.

However, I stress as the apostle Paul stressed, that if he needs to confront with boldness these physical opponents, he will.

Again Paul writes, we are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 2 Corinthians 10:1-2AMP Now I, Paul, urge you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ—I who am meek [so they say] when with you face to face, but bold [outspoken and fearless] toward you when absent! 2 I ask that when I do come I will not be driven to the boldness that I intend to show toward those few who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh [like men without the Spirit].

There are several power facts within these 6 verses.

1. We walk in the Spirit.

-We have become spiritual beings. You’re not flesh that happens to have a spirit, You’re spirit that happens to have decaying flesh. P.H

Romans 8: 14-16TPT The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. 15 And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!” 16 For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!”

Some might suppose we war in the flesh, but no, we war in the spirit realm. We war by faith. We war with complete knowledge that our Lord, King and Savior has already won the war! P.H