Paul's dealings with the Corinthian Church over the years could be summarized as challenging and corrective. Paul established the Church in Corinth with the help of Aquila and his wife Priscilla over a year-and-a-half period in the early 50's A.D. (Acts 18:2-3). Over the next 5-6 years, Paul wrote at least 4 letters to the Church at Corinth, two of which survive today as 1 and 2 Corinthians, which are the 2nd and 4th letters, chronologically (1 Cor. 5:9; 2 Cor 2:4, 9). Corinth was a port city (located on an isthmus between the Aegean and Ionian seas), with many people passing through on a regular basis, including entertainers, rhetoricians, travelers, and the like. In this context, sexual immorality and false apostles crept into the Corinthian Church. According to Paul, these two issues were the main reasons he wrote so many letters to the Corinthian Church (1 Cor. 5:9-10; 2 Cor. 7:8-9; 11:12-13; 12:21).
According to the false apostles, or "super-apostles" (as Paul liked to call them), Paul was not a true apostle sent from God, salvation was not by grace through faith in Christ alone, and Paul was "weak, and his speech of no account" (2 Cor. 10:10). In response, Paul argued, "If someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the one we proclaimed...or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you will put up with it readily enough" (11:4). In other words, they would reap what they sowed—the dissatisfaction and emptiness of false teachings and promises. Nevertheless, Paul compassionately expressed his concern that the Corinthians' "thoughts w[ould] be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ" (11:3).
No wonder Paul is concerned for the Corinthians to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. If they don't watch over their minds, they will end up following false apostles instead of Christ! So, Paul intensely instructs the Corinthians to destroy wrong thinking. At the same time, they are to make their mind captive to all that Christ Himself taught. Undoubtedly, this internal discipline of one's mind will generate a more complete obedience of Christ all the way out to one's own life and actions.
Therefore, may we all search and destroy wrong thinking in our minds. May we make our minds captive to all that Christ taught us. May our obedience to Him be more and more complete as our lives and actions glorify Christ each day from the inside out!
