2 Corinthians 10:1-6

¹ Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. ² But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ 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, ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Commentary
Vs. 1 "Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you."

The Apostle Paul now addresses himself to the Corinthians as Paul, their friend, the man through whom the Gospel first came to them, who as an Apostle of Christ leadership and lifestyle was rooted in the meekness and gentleness of Christ (see Matt. 11:28-30). Now Paul's doing so was to contrast himself with those who were claiming to be apostles, who had gotten a foothold amongst the Corinthians during his time away, and who were actively seeking to draw people away after themselves (consider Acts 20:29-30). And so in contrast to these false brethren and "apostles" who were actively demeaning the Apostle Paul and his person to undermine him and promote themselves, one of the many proofs of Paul's apostleship from Christ to them was that (unlike their dominnering and demanding nature) Paul was lowly amongst them; which to some of the more carnal amongst them only appeared as "weakness" to them. Yet in reality this always takes great discipline and strength of character, something that mere strength of person or personality does not. And so "lowly" here describes not a man of "weakness", but a man of great authority and power (consider Matt. 21:5). Now though Paul was lowly amongst them all, yet he was also bold towards them all. That is bold when he spoke of the Corinthians to other believers. For Paul wasn't pursuing and promoting himself and his own interests through his ministry to them, but theirs. 

Vs. 2 "But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh."


The Apostle Paul did not want to be firm with the Corinthians, he knew he was and Apostle called by Christ, and yet if they continued on a course of disobedience he would (see 2 Cor 4:1). And so here the Apostle Paul is appealing to them so that he would not have to be bold (gr. θαρρέω indicates courage and conviction) towards them, as he was going to be bold towards those who were judging his person, as if Paul was living and walking according to the flesh. Yet the Apostle Paul was not living carnally, nor was he using carnal judgments in his assesements of others, they were. For the Apostle Paul's dectractors attacked him on every carnal front so as to undermine him in their sight. Going so far as to demean his person for his lowily bodily presence, or his speech (2 Cor 10:11) or his lack of formal training, or his low societal standing, or his lack of wealth, or sleep, or poor attire, or that Paul made his living as a laborer and not a professional, all which they again used to demean and undermine his person, and all which the Apostle Paul had already rebuked and exposed as false assesments of anyone being called and qualified by Christ for His service, not theirs (see 1 Cor 1:26-31). For as the Scripture clearly declares the flesh reveals nothing about a person, either their Spiritual standing with God, or their Spirit giftedness, or even their character. Indeed judging someone by their flesh is utterly contrary to how God sees, judges, and ultimately chooses us (see 1 Samuel 16:7). For all such judgments are only rooted in the "pride of life" and not in the Spirit of God, who gives us life and the discernment to know the difference (see John 6:63; 1 Cor 2:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17 etc.). 

Vs. 3 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh."

Even though we are born-again by the Spirit of God, and we are fully alive, united with God in Christ, we still we walk in the flesh; that is we still live in mortal bodies, we still live in a physical realm, where spiritual forces of wickedness in high places are at war with us. Therefore we do not war according to the flesh, as though by the weak and temporal flesh (and all that the flesh represents in this world, and to those of this world) that we can overcome them, as the Scripture declares: "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts (Zech. 4:6). And so unlike those who are caranilty minded (see Rom 8:5-9), whose minds are set according to the flesh (and thus whose judgments are rooted in the same) we do not do so. For we do not war according to the flesh. 

Vs. 4-6 ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ 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, ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Therefore the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (vs. 4). Our weapons then are not those of the flesh, that is the means and ways of the flesh, but those which God gives us and equips us with through His Word so that we might be able to do His Will (2 Tim 3:16-17). All which begins with our putting on our personal armor before our going out into the battle which is in this world (see Ephesians 6:10-20). For we have been sent into this world to preach, teach, and to live out the Gospel in every corner of the earth. And thus we have been sent into a world that is not only ignorant of it (Isaiah 26:9) but sadly utterly hostile towards the Lord and us (John 15:18-25). Therefore the Word of God is our sword, our mighty weapon, by which we cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Heb 4:12-13 Therefore it is by the Word of God that we rebuke, correct, and instruct one and all in true righteousness, Godliness and declare God's saving grace which is given us all who believe through Christ alone (Acts 4:12; Titus 3:4-7). Since it is by the Word of God that the Spirit of God convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment on the one hand (John 16:8-10), while sanctifying all of us who believe in Christ on other (John 17:17-19). And so casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, also entails our bringing every thought into the captivity to the obedience of Christ, because every assault on a Christian always begins in the mind. And so the Apostle Paul wants the Corinthians obedience first, so that once they had distinighuished themselves from his dectrators he might be able to punish those who are wilfully disobedient and incoragable amongst them. For when the Corinthians seperate and distinguish themselves from those are disobedient among them, then the Apostle Paul will deal with them.

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Word Studies 
Vs. 6 punish, ἐκδικέω: to punish, on the basis of what is rightly deserved—‘to punish, to cause to suffer, punishment.’ Louw Nida 38:8

Additional Resources Consulted 
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 489). New York: United Bible Societies.