The weapons of our warfare are not carnal meaning

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. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

An important truth to remember is that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God.” The word carnal is the antithesis of spiritual and refers to that which is merely human. Apart from the power of God, all of our energies combined are to no avail against the power of darkness.

Mighty in God

Since we are in a spiritual battle, we need spiritual weapons. That is exactly what God has supplied us with—“weapons … mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” Weapons mighty in God! The word mighty can be translated “dynamically powerful.” God has supplied us with more than we need for victory. We just have to tap into that which is already available to us.

Our God-Given Weapons

What are the “weapons” God has given us? They are simply prayer, the Word of God, and worship. We must be thoroughly immersed in these if we are going to successfully fight the “good fight of faith.”

 Ephesians 6:14-18

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

2 Corinthians 10:4 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓]

2 Corinthians 10:4, ESV: For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

2 Corinthians 10:4, KJV: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

2 Corinthians 10:4, NASB: for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

2 Corinthians 10:4, NLT: We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

2 Corinthians 10:4, CSB: since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV [3] For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: [4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds 😉 [5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Ephesians 6:17 KJV And take the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God:

There is a war that is going on in the spiritual realm, this war is not against flesh and blood and therefore cannot be fought with carnal weapons. According to the Scriptures, the war is between the spirit and the flesh.

Galatians 5:17 KJV ‘For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’

Now as for every war, there is always a battle ground and because this is not a physical war, the battle ground is not a physical location such as Gaza or Afghanistan: the battle ground is the mind. There is a constant war going on in the mind and what determines what one does at the end of the day depends on who prevails, either the spirit or the flesh. If you yield to the spirit, you end up doing the dictates of the spirit. In the same way, if you yield to the flesh, you will equally end up doing the dictates of the flesh. In simple terms, if your mind is constantly being fed and dominated by the things of the flesh: meaning things happening around you, what you see, feel and touch with your five senses, then your life will be ruled by these things and you will be living from the external. On the contrary, if your mind is ruled by the things of the spirit according to the Word of God, then you will be living from the internal and that will form your character and who you eventually become. Our text Scripture above, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, lays so much emphasis on the weapon of our warfare.

What is a weapon? Anything used to defend and attack to get desired result. The Scripture highlights two important characteristics of our weapons: one is that they are not carnal – meaning that they are not made with hands, they are spiritual, invisible weapons and when applied, they make visible impact. A second characteristic is that they are mighty through God. The weapons come from God and lead to God and He accompanies them with His mighty power. This simply means that whenever these weapons are in use, the might of God is at work and who can stand the might of God? In this write up, I will enumerate few of these weapons but will elaborate more in later editions.

The name of Jesus:

This works like a grenade. You apply it to a specific situation and bang! It explodes and destroys the works of the devil Philippians 2:9-10, Mark 16:17, Luke 9:1, Luke 10:17 and Acts 3:1.

The Word of God:

it works like a missile. It works both in short and long range. It is quick and powerful and not limited by distance or space. Once it is launched, it never returns until its mission is accomplished. Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 6:17, Isaiah 55:10 and Mark 11:23.

The blood of Jesus:

it works like a chemical weapon and I call it (WMD) Weapon of Mass Destruction- Exodus 12:29 and Revelation 12:11. The text Scripture also tells us four major impacts of the use of these our weapons. They have the ability to pull down stronghold, cast down imaginations, cast down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and can bring to captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Let us study this impacts one after the other.

Pulling down Strongholds: A stronghold, according to the Scriptures, is a fortified and secured hiding place. A place of security and protection from the enemy or from assailants. In Judges 6:2, the children of Israel hid themselves in strongholds away from the Medianites, David in 1 Samuel 22:4 hid himself in strongholds away from Saul. One cannot but ask the question, ‘Why will Paul write that we need weapons of God to pull down strongholds if they are meant to be a place of security? The point is that a secured stronghold can turn around to become a prison if care is not taken. An ideology or principle held strongly to which should protect one from a particular way of living can become a stronghold that prevents one from fully exploring and actualizing one’s potential. Literarily, strongholds in the New Testament context are philosophies, ideologies, principles, traditions, norms and arguments that over the years have become entrenched in one’s belief and having a strong hold on how one behaves and perceives things in general. It becomes a negative stronghold when such beliefs or ideologies begin to conflict with the knowledge of God and make such an individual subservient to such ideology rather than to God.

Therefore, at this juncture, such strongholds need to be pulled down or destroyed so that the one who has been held captive by what he has erected for himself can be set free from captivity. Now, because the stronghold was originally created by him which has now become a prison, he will need someone who is greater to help pull this down, hence the need for the weapon that is mighty through God.

Casting down imaginations: The expression – ‘casting down’ is the same word in Greek for pulling down. The weapons of God have the ability to pull down images that have become a nation in one’s mind and to destroy a nation, you need to cast down the walls. When we allow the mind to feast on negative thoughts, they begin to form images in the mind and one can be so engulfed with these images that they begin to affect one’s language and one would begin to verbalize the images in the mind.

This consequently, affects the way one will act. As the Scripture says in Proverbs 23:7, ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’ A wrong image in the mind is a stronghold and a negative one for that matter. If allowed to stay, it can incapacitate one’s potential and can become a snare which places a limit over one’s life.

Negative thoughts cannot be pulled down with positive thoughts. You need something more powerful than thoughts and that is the Word of God which is quick and powerful. The Word is a weapon that can pull down every negative thought. This exactly was what Jesus did when the devil bombarded Him with negative thoughts. He responded with a corresponding counter Word: ‘It is written’ Matthew 4:4. So, whenever the enemy sends you a negative feed in your mind, don’t dwell on it, just open your mouth and speak the Word. I tell you, the thought will vanish just as it came.

For Further Study:

Philippians 2:9-10, Revelation 12:11

Questions for Reflection:

• Do you know your thoughts form the real you?
• How strong are the weapons of a believer?
• Do God-empowered Words fail?

Personal Declaration:

I receive the grace to stand on the Word of God against the wiles of the enemy. I cannot be defeated. I take on the thoughts of God.

What does the weapons of our warfare mean?

What are the weapons in 2 Corinthians 10 4?

What does carnal mean in the Bible?

What are the carnal things?