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Pulling Down Strongholds

Second Corinthians 10:3-4 is a powerful scripture on spiritual warfare. There is a lot going on in these two verses. This will help us understand spiritual battle.

The context here is that the enemy was working in the Corinthian church through false teachers, who believed they were apostles. These guys had letters of recommendation and were being used as a tool of the devil to derail the church.

2Cor 10:3-4 (KJV) – For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: [4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.)

These are the words of a faithful shepherd who sees his sheep under attack by wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are appearing as Christians, but they are teaching some very destructive heresies.

How do we respond when we see a loved one or a whole community of believers threatened by error, by a false idea which may take over a congregation, or even a whole nation?

This is very relevant, with the issues that are being promoted in our schools and places where the devil has attacked our government, and every place of influence where Christianity should be the standard. Instead lawlessness is the standard.

Christians are asking, “How can we oppose this? How do we fight this stuff?”

Let’s look at some of the words in this scripture, and see what we can discover:

Walk in the flesh, almost everything we do, we do in the flesh. We eat, drink, sleep, and work while stuck in our flesh bodies. We spend a lot of time thinking about how we look and feel. We are so bound up in the flesh that it is difficult to become spiritually minded.

Weapons: Paul has a list of our spiritual weapons in Ephesians 6:13-18. You can find a detailed study of this on the website. But basically the list of armor is; the Word of God, His Spirit, and His faith. When we pray and declare God’s Word — it shakes the gates of Hell.

Warfare: Comes from the Greek word stratos and is where we get the word strategy. This lets us know that spiritual warfare is not some accidental unplanned event. The devil has schemes and strategies in place before he makes an attack. So, we too must have a battle plan. The Holy Spirit has the key to every battle that we face. He wants us to win!

You can have all your armor in place, but without a strategy you will fail. We must listen to and obey the Holy Spirit for a successful fight. Don’t look to the flesh for the battle plan, it will fail. Your natural talent and intelligence will fail in spiritual combat! The battle is in the spiritual realm. You must give your attention to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God for your strategy. And don’t be shocked if the Holy Spirit gives you a plan that doesn’t seem to make sense at first. Realize that He operates in the spiritual realm, and He knows all—and you know only in part.

Pulling down: means to demolish, cast down, and destroy.

Strongholds: is from an ancient Greek word describing a stronghold, fortification, or fortress. This word was later used in New Testament times to describe a prison.

Paul is talking about a castle that keeps you from breaking in, or a jail that keeps you from breaking out. Strongholds are so reinforced that they can only be destroyed (or pulled down) by the power of God and the strategies of the Holy Spirit.

Lies that the devil has reinforced deep in the mind, and in the belief system, that they exert power over certain areas of a person’s life. When a person has a stronghold in his mind, he has thick invisible walls, like a fortress or prison preventing him from hearing the truth, or preventing him from sharing the truth.

In the natural, it is impossible to break through the invisible barriers that surround an area of the mind. And without spiritual warfare, the person remains a prisoner to those lies. Strongholds keep people from realizing that Jesus has already set him free from the enemy.

These spiritual barriers are invisible, but they are not mystical to a Spirit-filled Christian. Strongholds are not silent — they are arrogant obstacles! They constantly blab everything about themselves through words and actions. The devil can’t keep his mouth shut! But it takes Spirit to hear spirit.

Tell-tale signs of a stronghold are often pride, or high-mindedness, an attitude of self-reliance, “I already know that…” or “I don’t need to listen to that message, I’ve heard….”

It takes the power of Holy Spirit strategies to pull down that fortress so that the gospel can save, heal, and deliver.

Another type of stronghold is a low self-esteam or a low self-image or guilt, “I wish I could share the gospel” or “I’m afraid…” This way of thinking has you in a prison and it must be pulled down by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

A stronghold in the mind is the devil’s most effective way of stopping the Word of God from flowing in or out. And without operating in the Spirit, a Christian is imprisoned and does not have the power to speak the Word of God effectively.

Oftentimes, the stronghold is a habit of saying wrong things. Another stronghold is some traditional teaching that has built up and reinforced your way of thinking. Strongholds are made of thoughts and words that have continually entered the mind over a long time. Whatever you watch, read, or hear is going to effect what you think, believe, and say.

An unbeliever may say that Christians are “brainwashed.” My reply to that is they had better be brainwashed, washed in the blood of Jesus and renewed in the way they think. Proverbs 23:7 tells us, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” It is a spiritual law at work.

Here is 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (NET)

[3] For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, [4] for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments [5] and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ. [6] We are also ready to punish every act of disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

Declare this by faith:

I live in a flesh body, but I am not at war with flesh. My weapons of warfare are not physical, but on a spiritual level, powerful and capable through God to pull down and demolish any strong point or argument against my faith.

God bless you my friend,

— Dwight Hammond