Bringing Thoughts Into Captivity Part 2

III. As the apostle to the Gentiles, Paul particularly was warring evangelistically against the long- standing idolatry which defined the nations, a deceptive bondage to lies. 1CO 12:1-2; GAL 4:8-10. A. The casting down of their imaginations of deity was critical to his mission. What they thought about the invisible God was invented and irrational, leading them to ridiculous  conclusions. ACT 14:8-18; 17:24-29. 1. They looked to the creation, to nature to formulate their thoughts about deities. ROM 1:24-25. 2. But the creation is under the bondage of corruption and cannot accurately proclaim God: it is a broken book that provides inaccurate and incomplete answers that then facilitate vain imaginations. ROM 8:20-21. 3. Their customs were therefore accordingly vain, ugly and deadly. DEU 12:30-31; JER 10:1-4. 4. It is this very thing that God chiefly forbade Israel to do, for the consequences of it not only distorted the Godhead but also how men should live. EXO 20:1-4; DEU 4:16-19. 5. Whatever man holds as his supreme authority becomes his director. Therefore if his perception of the supreme authority is faulty, the directions of that supreme authority must also be faulty and compliance with those directions fraught with vain consequences. 6. As such, it is manifest that man must have an accurate perception of God. 7. NOTE: Perception (the apprehension of the mind) of something may be accurate or inaccurate but either way becomes the basis of thought and action. A faulty perception can be as powerful as a correct perception but it can be dangerous. B. A distorted perception of God misrepresents Him and His order for man, and this is a major source of bondage: bondage to a lie, which is bondage to Satan. JOH 8:44. 1. We may deceive ourselves into thinking that God is as us and thinks like us and in this case our efforts to follow God are actually little more than following our own natural instincts which are corrupted by sin. EPH 2:1; ROM 7:18. a. In so doing we are little different from the idolater who is in bondage to his own deception. ISA 44:13, 20. b. Whereas man is made in the image of God (GEN 1:26; 1CO 11:7; JAM 3:9), man has no right to assume that God is just like him and that He thinks like him. PSA 50:16-21; ISA 55:8. 2. Depending on our ignorance, gullibility or reaction to circumstances, Satan may con us into perceiving God as being a tyrant, a pushover, unfair, unapproachable, unknowable, disinterested, etc. a. Satan will try to wrest Scripture or distract us from Scripture so as to distort our perceptions of God. PSA 77; LAM 3:1-26. b. This should remind us of how important it is to learn of Jesus Christ by Whom God is made known to us. JOH 1:18; 1JO 5:20. c. This should also remind us how important it is to increase our knowledge in the Scriptures which expressly testify of Christ. JOH 5:39; 2PE 3:18. d. The more we understand of Jesus Christ by searching His testimony (REV 19:10), the better will be our perception of God. C. Much theological error (which produces improper conclusions) is the false worship of the notorious god, Shirley/Surely. This is wrong-thinking about God fleshed out in creed and conduct. 1. “Surely God doesn’t care about my apparel or hair-length.” 2. “Surely God honors all forms of religion.” 3. “Surely God would approve of invented festivals and customs to honor Him.” 4. “Surely God isn’t taking notice of my secret sins that nobody else sees.” 5. “Surely God is approving of me because I have been successful in material life.” 6. “Surely God begat an Eternal Son in His deity.” 7. “Surely God didn’t mean that humans are sexually binary.” 8. “Surely God still condones polygamous marriage.” 9. “Surely God cannot save sinners without sinners’ cooperation.” 10. “Surely God loves all mankind without exception.” 11. Over against this nonsense, “Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it” (JOB 35:13). D. God made man in His own image but sinful man makes a god in his own image, and also has the tendency of raising children after his own image instead of the image of Christ (as God intends for His people). ROM 8:29. E. In bringing our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2CO 10:5), we are not bringing our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of only a man like Moses. 1. This captivity is unto God manifest in the flesh. 1TI 3:16. 2. In rendering obedience to Christ, we are rendering obedience to God Himself. 3. Of all men, Jesus Christ showed us that the path to fulness is full obedience to God the Father. THIS mind is to be in us. PHIL 2:5-8. 4. We can have complete assurance that submission to Jesus Christ is the best and only way to please God Who invested Him with all power in heaven and earth and with all judgment. JOH 14:6; MAT 28:18; ACT 17:30-31.