Casting Down Imaginations
Casting Down Imaginations
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
What does it mean to cast down imaginations?
First of all, cast down here means to throw down, to pull down, to demolish, to destroy. You are not supposed to play games with your imaginations. You are not supposed to gently lay them down. No, you are supposed to use force until they are destroyed.
What are imaginations in this verse?
The word “thoughts” is a fair translation. From above you can see that the NIV translates that word as “arguments”. Some commentaries1 say that this word means reasonings or opinions, or the “the carnal reasonings of the minds of natural men against God”2 .
What are the high things that we are to cast down?
High things are, “every exalted opinion respecting the dignity and purity of human nature; all the pride of the human heart and of the understanding ”3, or “every proud thought of the heart, every great swelling word of vanity, every big look, even all the lofty looks and haughtiness of men, with every airy flight, and high towering imagination, reasoning, and argument advanced against the Gospel of Christ”4.
What else are we to do with these high and lofty thoughts?
Take them captive, that is, make them a prisoner. Don’t let them loose. Don’t ignore them and hope they will go away.
What is one way we can know if our thoughts are in obedience to Christ?
We can check them against Philippians 4:8!
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8 KJV
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 NIV
Join the conversation. Share your ideas or questions in the comment form below.
Other blog posts around this same topic you may like:
(c) 2014 Cheryl Cope
Cheryl Cope on Google+
![Digiprove seal](https://www.cherylcope.com/wp-content/plugins/digiproveblog/dp_seal_trans_16x16.png)
- for example Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible available at biblehub.com [
]
- Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible available at www.biblehub.com [
]
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible from www.biblehub.com [
]
- Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible from www.biblehub.com [
]
Excellent thoughts. One of the biggest challenges of raising my five teens and tweens is teaching them how to take their thoughts captive. Just because we have a thought or a feeling doesn’t make it truth. What God says is truth, no matter how we feel or believe. The only way to overcome is to take every thought captive and allow God to transform our hearts and minds.
I think it can be a challenge to all of us no matter what our age. Thanks for commenting!
This weeks has been stressful for me. Instead of trusting God, I found myself imagining the worse. Thanks for the reminder of what to do when that happens.
It’s so easy to fall into lack of trust. I think I must do that at some point every day! Thanks for commenting.
Cheryl,
Good thoughts. Things have not been running smoothly in my life lately. I need all of the positive Scriptures thrown at me right now. Thanks for the positive post.
Glad you liked it. We all need to watch our thoughts all the time whether we are “up” or “down”. It never ends, unfortunately.
I love that you brought this around to Philippians 4:8 too. Taking every thought captive and not just “wishing” the thoughts away is very, very important. Blessings, Amy
Yes, I believe God wants us to take action, not merely stuff or ignore things hoping they will go away. Thanks for your intelligent comments.
Oh, so very challenging to do at times while running the motherhood race, but such an important reminder. Thank you for sharing and reminding this busy mama to take every thought captive.
Blessings,
Trish
It is difficult for all of us, but not impossible…and oh so important to do!