There is a frequently quoted verse from scripture: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of GOD, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
— 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

However it is important to know the context behind this commonly stated verse:

• The Apostle Paul wrote it in a letter to the Corinthians.

• The Corinthians were believers of Christ who came from extreme dysfunction: sexual immorality, violence, crime, perversion, chaos, rebellion was the common culture in Corinth and the believers left everything behind that was "acceptable" and "normal" in Corinthian society to follow Jesus.

• Paul not only led them to Christ — he mentored, discipled, fathered and taught them everything necessary to live a decent, holy, healthy, excellent and honorable life.

• The Corinthian believers were looked down by leaders and believers in other regions for their lack of education and intellectual accomplishments.

• The Corinthian church was the poorest among all the churches, but was the most generous, loving and faithful in supporting Paul financially among all the churches.

• False teachers, false apostles and false prophets used to frequently target the Apostle Paul and falsely accuse him to discredit what GOD was doing through him.

• Insecure leaders and kingdom apostles in other regions also targeted Paul and the Corinthians out of sheer jealousy.

• The Apostle Paul treated the Corinthian believers as his children - he loved and rebuked them, scolded, corrected and disciplined them and boldly confronted every kind of dysfunction in that culture as well as the Corinthian church.

• Some of the most beautiful, moving, heart touching words on "love" in history came from Paul's letters as a spiritual father and apostle that were addressed to his Corinthian children and to the Corinthian church and leaders.

• Paul had to defend his ministry several times because slander, false accusations, lies and gossip were weapons used against him by his enemies and insecure rivals.

• Paul wrote and co-authored a total of 14 books of the 27 books of the New Testament. The jealousy and hate of his rivals did not stop him from accomplishing his GOD given assignment.

• I encourage you to read the books of 1st and 2nd Corinthians with the above context in mind.

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Paul Defends His Authority

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. 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. We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use GOD’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing GOD. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.
2 Corinthians 10:1‭-‬6 NLT

Tearing Down Barriers

And now a personal but most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but firm spirit of Christ. I hear that I’m being painted as cringing and wishy-washy when I’m with you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please don’t force me to take a hard line when I’m present with you. Don’t think that I’ll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those who say I’m an unprincipled opportunist. Then they’ll have to eat their words. The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful GOD-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of GOD, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
MSG

Paul Defends his Work for Christ

Do you think I am a coward when I am with you and brave when I am far away? Well, I ask you to listen, because Christ Himself was humble and gentle. Some people have said we act like the people of this world. So when I arrive, I expect I will have to be firm and forceful in what I say to them. Please don't make me treat you that way. We live in this world, but we don't act like its people or fight our battles with the weapons of this world. Instead, we use GOD's power that can destroy fortresses. We destroy arguments and every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing GOD. We capture people's thoughts and make them obey Christ. And when you completely obey Him, we will punish anyone who refuses to obey.
CEV

Paul Defends His Ministry

I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you—I who am said to be meek and mild when I am with you, but harsh with you when I am away. By the gentleness and kindness of Christ I beg you not to force me to be harsh when I come; for I am sure I can deal harshly with those who say that we act from worldly motives. It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but GOD's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of GOD; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ. And after you have proved your complete loyalty, we will be ready to punish any act of disloyalty.
GNT


Now it is I myself, Sha’ul, making an appeal to you with the meekness and forbearance that come from the Messiah, I who am considered timid when face-to-face with you but intimidating from a distance. But I beg you not to force me to be intimidating when I am with you, as I expect to be toward some who regard us as living in a worldly way. For although we do live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way; because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have GOD’s power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of GOD; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah. And when you have become completely obedient, then we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience.
CJB

Paul's Apostolic Authority

Now I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ — I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent. I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving in an unspiritual way. For though we live in the body, we do not wage war in an unspiritual way, since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through GOD for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of GOD, taking every thought captive to obey Christ. And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience has been confirmed.
HCSB

The Spiritual War

Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 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, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of GOD, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
NKJV

Paul's Defense Of His Ministry

Now, please listen, for I need to address an issue. I’m making this personal appeal to you by the gentleness and self-forgetfulness of Christ. I am the one who is “humble and timid” when face-to-face with you but “bold and outspoken” when a safe distance away. Now I plead with you that when I come, don’t force me to take a hard line with you (which I’m willing to do) by daring to confront those who mistakenly believe that we are living by the standards of the world, not by the Spirit’s wisdom and power. For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide. We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes GOD and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of GOD. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One. Since we are armed with such dynamic weaponry, we stand ready to punish any trace of rebellion, as soon as you choose complete obedience.
TPT

Paul Defends His Ministry

I, Paul, am begging you with the gentleness and the kindness of Christ. Some say that I am bold when I am writing you from a distance, but not when I am there with you. They think our motives for what we do are like those of the world. I plan to be very bold against those people when I come. I hope I will not need to use that same boldness with you. We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from GOD and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of GOD. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. We are ready to punish anyone there who does not obey, but first we want you to be fully obedient.
ERV

Paul Defends His Ministry

I, Paul, am begging you with the gentleness and the kindness of Christ. Some people say that I am easy on you when I am with you and bold when I am away. They think we live in a worldly way, and I plan to be very bold with them when I come. I beg you that when I come I will not need to use that same boldness with you. We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from GOD that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of GOD. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. We are ready to punish anyone there who does not obey, but first we want you to obey fully.
NCV

Paul Describes Himself

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! 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]. For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of GOD, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when your own obedience [as a church] is complete.
AMP

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