2Cor 10:2-4 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 2. That I may not be bold . I entreat you so to act that I may not have occasion to exercise the severity which I fear I shall be compelled to use against those who accuse me of being governed wholly by worldly motives and policy. That I may not be compelled to be bold and decisive in my measures by your improper conduct. Which think of us , Marg., reckon . They suppose this; or, they accuse me of it. By the word "us," here, Paul means himself, though it is possible also that he speaks in the name of his fellow-apostles and labourers who were associated with him, and the objections may have referred to all who acted with him. As if we walked . As if we lived or acted. The word "walk," in the Scriptures, is often used to denote the course or manner of life. ; . According to the flesh . . As if we were governed by the weak and corrupt principles of human nature. As if we had no higher motive than carnal and worldly policy. As if we were seeking our own advantage, and not the welfare of the world. The charge was, probably, that he was not governed by high and holy principles, but by the principles of mere worldly policy; that he was guided by personal interests, and by worldly views--by ambition, or the love of dominion, wealth, or popularity, and that he was destitute of every supernatural endowment, and every evidence of a Divine commission. (c) "I think to be bold" (2) "think of us" "reckon"

2 Corinthians 10:2-4

Verse 2. That I may not be bold. I entreat you so to act that I may not have occasion to exercise the severity which I fear I shall be compelled to use against those who accuse me of being governed wholly by worldly motives and policy. That I may not be compelled to be bold and decisive in my measures by your improper conduct.

Which think of us, Marg., reckon. They suppose this; or, they accuse me of it. By the word "us," here, Paul means himself, though it is possible also that he speaks in the name of his fellow-apostles and labourers who were associated with him, and the objections may have referred to all who acted with him.

As if we walked. As if we lived or acted. The word "walk," in the Scriptures, is often used to denote the course or manner of life. Rom 4:12; 2Cor 5:7.

According to the flesh. 2Cor 1:17. As if we were governed by the weak and corrupt principles of human nature. As if we had no higher motive than carnal and worldly policy. As if we were seeking our own advantage, and not the welfare of the world. The charge was, probably, that he was not governed by high and holy principles, but by the principles of mere worldly policy; that he was guided by personal interests, and by worldly views--by ambition, or the love of dominion, wealth, or popularity, and that he was destitute of every supernatural endowment, and every evidence of a Divine commission.

(c) "I think to be bold" 2Cor 13:2,10 (2) "think of us" "reckon" Verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh. Though we are mortal, like other men; though we dwell, like them, in mortal bodies, and necessarily must devote some care to our temporal wants; and though, being in the flesh, we are conscious of imperfections and frailties like others. The sense is, that he did not claim exemption from the common wants and frailties of nature. The best of men are subject to these wants and frailties; the best of men are liable to err.

We do not war after the flesh. The warfare in which he was engaged was with sin, idolatry, and all forms of evil. He means that in conducting this he was not actuated by worldly views or policy, or by such ambitious and interested aims as controlled the men of this world. This refers primarily to the warfare in which Paul was himself engaged as an apostle; and the idea is, that he went forth as a soldier under the great Captain of his salvation, to fight his battles, and to make conquests for him. A similar allusion occurs in 2Ti 2:3,4. It is true, however, that not only all ministers, but all Christians, are engaged in a warfare; and it is equally true that they do not maintain their conflict "after the flesh," or on the principles which govern the men of this, world. The warfare of Christians relates to the following points:

(1.) it is a warfare with the corrupt desires and sensual propensities of the heart; with internal corruption and depravity; with the remaining unsubdued propensities of a fallen nature.

(2.) With the powers of darkness--the mighty spirits of evil that seek to destroy us. See Eph 6:11-17.

(3.) With sin in all forms; with idolatry, sensuality, corruption, intemperance, profaneness, wherever they may exist. The Christian is opposed to all these; and it is the aim and purpose of his life, as far as he may be able, to resist and subdue them. He is a soldier, enlisted under the banner of the Redeemer, to oppose and resist all forms of evil. But his warfare is not conducted on worldly principles. Mohammed propagated his religion with the sword; and the men of this world seek for victory by arms and violence. The Christian looks for his conquests only by the force and power of truth, and by the agency of the Spirit of God.

(a) "after the flesh" Rom 8:13 Verse 4. For the weapons of our warfare. The means by which we hope to achieve our victory.

Are not careful. Not those of the flesh. Not such as the men of the world use. They are not such as are employed by conquerors; nor are they such as men in general rely on to advance their cause. We do not depend on eloquence, or talent, or learning, or wealth, or beauty, or any of the external aids on which the men of this world rely. They are not such as derive advantage from any power inherent in themselves. Their strength is derived from God alone.

But mighty through God. Marg., "to" They are rendered mighty or powerful by the agency of God. They depend on him for their efficacy. Paul has not here specified the weapons on which he relied; but he had before specified them, 2Cor 6:6,7, so that there was no danger of mistake. The weapons were such as were furnished by truth and righteousness, and these were rendered mighty by the attending agency of God. The sense is, that God is the Author of the doctrines which we preach, and that he attends them with the agency of his Spirit, and accompanies them to the hearts of men. It is important for all ministers to feel that their weapons are mighty ONLY through God. Conquerors and earthly warriors go into battle depending on the might of their own arm, and on the wisdom and skill which plans the battle. The Christian goes on his warfare, feeling that however well adapted the truths which he holds are to accomplish great purposes, and however wisely his plans are formed, yet that the efficacy of all depends on the agency of God. He has no hope of victory but in God. And if God does not attend him, he is sure of inevitable defeat.

To the pulling down of strong holds. The word here rendered "strongholds" (οχυρωμα) means, properly, a fastness, fortress, or strong fortification. It is here beautifully used to denote the various obstacles resembling a fortress which exist, and which are designed and adapted to oppose the truth and the triumph of the Christian's cause. All those obstacles are strongly fortified. The sins of his heart are fortified by long indulgence, and by the hold which they have on his soul. The wickedness of the world which he opposes is strongly fortified by the fact that it has seized on strong human passions; that one point strengthens another; that great numbers are united. The idolatry of the world was strongly fortified by prejudice, and long establishment, and the protection of laws, and the power of the priesthood; and the opinions of the world are entrenched behind false philosophy and the power of subtle argumentation. The whole world is fortified against Christianity; and the nations of the earth have been engaged in little else than in raising and strengthening such strongholds for the space of six thousand years. The Christian religion goes forth against all the combined and concentrated powers of resistance of the whole world; and the warfare is to be waged against every strongly fortified place of error and of sin. These strong fortifications of error and of sin are to be battered down and laid in ruins by our spiritual weapons.

(b) "weapons of our warfare" Eph 6:13, 1Thes 5:8 (c) "are not carnal" 1Timm 1:18 (1) "mighty" or "to" (d) "through God" 2co 13:3,4 (e) "strong holds" Jer 1:10