Divine power to destroy strongholds

2Co 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  (5)  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

What is a stronghold? What did Paul mean when he had a scribe pen these words? The Greek word translated as stronghold here is OCHUROMA and it means fortress or something held tight. It is a metaphor for holding onto ideas and not letting go. Paul says that he was given divine spiritual power to tear down ideas that were held too tightly; ideas that were false. The entire letter of 2 Corinthians is written to combat against false apostles that were building up strongholds. If you look at verse five you find that the strongholds were arguments and opinions that had raised above the knowledge of God and was not in obedience to the message of Christ.

What are the strongholds of today? What lofty opinions and arguments go against the knowledge of God? What lofty opinions and arguments are disobedient to the teaching of Christ. One of the main ones that comes to mind is bilio-idolatry. This is a difficult stronghold to attack. People get their back up in a hurry when one charges biblio-idolatry, but the truth is that evangelical Christianity for the most part holds the bible in higher esteem than God or Christ. So, what else can it be? When one elevates something above God, it is idolatry.

I have spent a lot of key strokes demonstrating that Jesus and his first century followers who wrote the New Testament redefined the phrase word of God to mean Jesus and the gospel. Let me emphasize this next sentence. It was to overcome biblio-idolatry. Jesus was God in the flesh and the Jews put scripture above him. Just look at this exchange by the Pharisees. John 7:47-49  The Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived?  (48)  Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?  (49)  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." There you have it. The Pharisees claimed that Jesus could not be the Son of God, the Messiah based upon their interpretation of scripture. This is the ultimate form of biblio-idolatry. So why does one think that theologians today have the proper understanding of scripture? I have shown that they do not even have a biblically correct nomenclature. When they insist on calling the scripture the word of God, something that Jesus and his followers taught against, they show that they are not properly interpreting the scripture.

Biblio-idolatry is responsible for all of the schizophrenic beliefs that evangelicals insist upon. The entire view of faith and works is wrongly understood because of biblio-idolatry. What was the one main teaching of Jesus? It was the over-arching theme of love being obedience; love for God and love for one another. It was the way in which one could fulfill the law. One cannot properly and realistically love from a position of fear. Biblio-idolatry does nothing but entrench a fear of God in believers. Let me emphasize this next sentence. No one can honestly love God from a place of fear. When they say they do they merely lie.

Yes, God’s law gives a proper picture of what it means to love. Yes, it can be instructive. However, it cannot be instructive when it is emphasized from a biblio-idolatry point of view. That is why the New Covenant is based upon better promises. The better promises is that God will forgive iniquity and will not remember it any more. I would love to have a dialog with you on this one.