Bringing Thoughts Into Captivity

I. Preamble. A. Wrong thinking distorts perception of God, man and man’s environment. B. Wrong thinking impairs personal development. C. Wrong thinking impairs relationships with God and man. D. Wrong thinking produces conduct and conclusions based on unproven assumptions. E. Wrong thinking produces wrong emotions which facilitate more wrong thinking. F. Wrong thinking produces confusion and chaos. G. Right thinking produces order, soundne...

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 nat...

IV. The government of our thoughts is what determines our actions and character, good or bad. PRO 23:6-7; ROM 12:3. A. The pursued thought (in contrast to the passing thought) of foolishness is sin. PRO 24:9; MAT 5:28. B. It behooves us to guard against allowing temptation to take root in our thoughts. JAM 1:14-15. C. Mind that evil thoughts proceed from the heart, not the brain. There is a moral dimension to thought beyond the cognit...

H. Gird up the loins of your mind against the false treasures that mislead us and dethrone God from His rightful dominion over our hearts, souls, minds and strength. MAR 12:30. 1. One’s attention and affection will necessarily be directed according to what he values most, so choose wisely. MAT 6:20-21. 2. Think not that you can “have it all” without forfeiting what is best. MAR 8:36. 3. The unlawful things like the lusts of the flesh must be mortified or ...

VIII. As noted earlier, perception can be as powerful to direct our thoughts as reality. Faulty perceptions of God and one’s own “strengths” are common self-deceptions that need to be cast down or brought into captivity. A. Some examples of self-deception are: 1. Thinking that overindulgence of food or drink is a trivial matter or that you are immune to the deceptive power of alcohol. PRO 20:1; 23:20-21; LUK 21:34. 2. Thinking...

X. Another vain imagination that must be cast down is “All roads lead to God.” A. The assumption here is that all religions are valid and merely diverse expressions of the god-man in everyone seeking God: the “upward reach” of mankind. B. This deception basically must concede that child-sacrificing heathen religions are approaches to the true God on par with Biblical faith. But see 1CO 10:20-21. 1. This deception would have to assume that worship of...