Scripture
3We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 6And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Observation
Notice that Paul is speaking about carnal and worldly thinking to Christians, not the world. Of course those who don’t know Christ will be driven by manipulative arguments and persuasive speech that plays off of their carnal cravings and desire to justify their destructive actions. Yet, Paul is seeing this very thing in the hearts and minds of those who say they belong to Christ! He’s calling Christians to take captive every thought- lust, greed, anger, jealousy, pride, etc in obedience to Christ. How? Through repentance of sin we are able to avoid the punishment that comes for those who choose the false argument of cheap grace.
Application
Today we celebrate the life and death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was a pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident living in Germany at the time of the World War 2. He spoke out against Hitler and his regime and at 39 years old, was executed in Flossenburg, Germany on this day in 1945. Even while being imprisoned for his faith he used spiritual weapons of truth to tear down the false arguments of “cheap grace” in his book, “The Cost of Discipleship: “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate…Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” The 21st Century American Church has in many ways reduced the power of The Gospel to a “cheap grace” that requires nothing and promises everything. This is a cultural Christianity, not a true apprenticeship to Christ. We aren’t doing anyone any favors by letting these false arguments obscure the truth of surrender we are called to. Costly Grace teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness or worldly passions where the world says “yes”. Costly Grace teaches us to find our strongest Yes in Christ so that it becomes easy to say no to that which would separate us from Him. If taking our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ sounds constraining then we are finally returning to authentic grace. The constraints of The Cross sets us free Is it grace to take a fish constrained to the water and throw it on land to be free? Is it grace to tell a man to go ahead and jump off a cliff because they don’t like the constraints or limits of gravity? Grace doesn’t get rid of the line in the middle of the road it trains you to see it. You wouldn’t want a driver on the road that didn’t get training. It’s grace that trains and doesn’t just send us out on the road to die. Grace doesn’t constrain us to prevent freedom but to actually provide it. Grace constrains us to keep us from collisions. Freedom of grace is that even when we do get in an accident we aren’t banned from the road but are trained on how to avoid the collision. Grace is the middle line on the road of life and where would we be without it? This idea that a loving God will let us drive anywhere we want is not the costly grace of the Cross but a cheap grace that changes nothing.
Prayer
Lord, I’m finding my strongest Yes in you and taking every vain thought and imagination captive that pretends I can do this without You. Show me every place where I have justified compromise and sin. When You bring conviction may I quickly respond in repentance instead of justifying the sin. Thank you for the example of Bonhoeffer today that reminds me there is no such thing as half-way or part-time Christianity. I’m all in and my life belongs to You!
