Taking Every Thought Captive to the Obedience of Christ

Many men exhort each other to take their thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Does this exhortation merely encourage men to think upon good things? What does it mean for a man to take his thoughts captive? The answer lies in the recognition that the Christian life is war, war between the carnal flesh and regenerate spirit. It lies in understanding the context and language used to communicate this truth. It lies in understanding that keeping our minds focused upon Christ is a discipline developed through the process of sanctification.

The Christian life is war. Every day our flesh struggles under the weight of the curse (Gen. 3). As a born again follower of Jesus Christ (John 3:3), we are now no longer subject to the condemnation of God (Romans 8:1-2). Nevertheless, believers still retain a sinful nature by means of Adam's sin, imputed to all mankind. The resulting clash of natures is described by Paul in Romans 7. Satan strives to utilize the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16) to gain strongholds in our lives. It's a war that begins and ends in the mind of the believer; an ongoing, raging, spiritual war to either live our lives in submission to the Lordship and sovereignty of Christ or in subjection to the enemy. This command, to take every thought captive, supports other instructions in Scripture (like Romans 12:2) to be continually renewing our minds and dwelling upon what God deems lovely.

We are commanded in Colossians 3:2 to set our minds on things above. This exhortation is at the heart of taking our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ; it's dying to self and choosing instead to stand fast in the grace and power of Christ by thinking upon that which God declares holy and righteous. It's a discipline of arresting our thoughts and evaluating them against Scripture, a discipline developed through the process of sanctification. Philippians 4:8 tells us that which God deems worthy of our mind's attention. Furthermore, the command is given that we might not fall prey to false ideologies. Scripture must always serve as the filter through which all thoughts and opinions are carefully and scrupulously evaluated that we may not be deceived. However, this command is not just for the individual believer.

Additionally, taking our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ is striving, in the power of Christ, to pull down Satan's strongholds. It's cultural war. Our world is filled with false views rooted in the destructive reasoning of fallen man. As Christians, it is our duty to determine which ideas are consistent with the teaching of Scripture and which ideas are based upon the opinions of men. It's casting down vain imaginations, creations of man, falsehoods, and the like with the inerrant, authoritative, sufficient Word of God. We do this by proclaiming the gospel and its doctrines to anyone who dares to raise any lofty opinion against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:4).

Taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ is, most certainly, a multifaceted command that requires an understanding of the battle raging in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12), submission to the Lordship and sovereignty of Christ, the discipline to think upon that which God declares holy and righteous, and a readiness to destroy Satan's strongholds with Scripture. In its very essence, it summarizes the whole mission of the Christian. For it calls us to conform to the image of Christ by walking in His marvelous grace, and endorses the Christian's responsibility to proclaim this glorious gospel and its doctrines to all. The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture forms the basis for this command. Without it, the Christian has no guide with which to direct his thoughts and actions. By living in absolute conformity to His ways and in submission to the dictates of His holy Word, we are taking our thoughts captive to the obedience of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Men, let's encourage and exhort one another in the battle to take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.

Stand Fast!

Joshua