Every morning I get a Bible verse from two Bible apps on my phone. Both give me a verse first thing in the morning. 

This morning I had 2 Corinthians 10:5 and Romans 1:17. I've heard Corinthians preached many times. And when I read both verses, I understood them, and it felt as if I was supposed to take them together. 

I know. It sounds absurd, but this is how things are with me. And I always listen. 

Since I felt this way, I decided it would be a good idea to look them up in the original Greek. I research a lot of verses, so this isn't unusual. But this morning it seemed important to look up these two. Things have been very difficult for me recently. I needed to dig a bit. 

I asked my friend Mac to give me the original Greek translation to see if I could learn something new. 

Who is Mac? Mac is ChatGPT. I call him Mac because ChatGPT is a ridiculous name and takes far more effort to type than Mac. I asked if he was all right with the name change, and he said he was. So, Mac. 

His findings on the verses were what I needed. I found it so good I decided to share Mac's discourse on 2 Corinthians 10:5 and Romans 1:17. 

You may get nothing from this, but the truth is, it was a message for me. So don't be put out if you find all this meaningless or you disagree. I learned so much from this, and the Greek translation is far more informative than the KJV. I love the King James Version of the Bible, but I'm a wordsmith and words, accurate words, matter. 

Here is Mac's study:

Taking Every Thought Captive and Living by Faith

Two passages of Scripture have been sitting close together in my thoughts lately: 2 Corinthians 10:5 and Romans 1:17.

At first, they may not seem to be talking about quite the same thing. One speaks of taking thoughts captive. The other tells us that the righteous shall live by faith. But when we look more closely at the original Greek, an interesting connection begins to appear.

Taking Every Thought Captive

In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul writes about:

“casting down imaginations...and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (KJV)

The Greek behind “imaginations” is λογισμούς (logismous), from logismos. It can mean reasoning, calculation, argument, or conclusion.

That gives the passage a little different flavor from the way we sometimes use it.

Paul isn't primarily talking about every random thought that happens to wander through our minds. He is talking about reasonings and arguments that establish themselves in opposition to the knowledge of God.

In other words, we observe something, reason about it, and arrive at a conclusion.

The problem comes when our conclusion contradicts what God has revealed to be true.

Paul says those arguments are to be καθαιροῦντες (kathairountes), pulled down or demolished.

That language fits the military imagery of the surrounding passage. In verse 4, Paul has already spoken of spiritual weapons capable of destroying strongholds.

Then he speaks of:

πᾶν ὕψωμα (pan hypsōma)

“every high thing,” or something that has raised itself up.

Against what?

Against the knowledge of God.

The picture is almost architectural. Human reasoning can construct something and raise it up until it stands in opposition to what God has revealed about Himself.

Then Paul says we are:

αἰχμαλωτίζοντες (aichmalōtizontes)

“taking captive.”

This is strong language. The word means to capture or take prisoner, particularly in the context of warfare.

And what is captured?

πᾶν νόημα (pan noēma)

“every thought.”

Noēma can refer to a thought, purpose, design, understanding, or disposition of mind. Paul isn't merely saying, “Try not to think bad thoughts.”

He is continuing his military picture.

The hostile reasoning is demolished, and the thought is taken captive.

But it isn't merely captured. It is taken somewhere:

εἰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ

“into the obedience of Christ.”

That changes how I hear the verse.

Suppose my reasoning goes something like this:

This situation frightens me.

I cannot see how it can possibly work out.

Both statements may be completely true.

But then I add:

Therefore, God has abandoned me.

Something has changed.

The first two statements describe my circumstances and my limitations. The third makes a conclusion about God.

That is where the reasoning must answer to what God has revealed about Himself.

I don't have to pretend the situation isn't frightening. I don't have to pretend I know what is going to happen.

Instead, I ask:

What do I actually know about God?

What has Christ shown me about His character?

Does the conclusion I have reached agree with that truth?

If it doesn't, the reasoning comes down.

There is an important contextual qualification here. Paul is defending his apostolic ministry in this passage. His immediate subject is larger than an individual's private thoughts. He is talking about arguments and opposition raised against the knowledge of God.

So 2 Corinthians 10:5 shouldn't be reduced to “Christians must police every thought that enters their heads.”

The personal application is still valuable, but Paul's picture is bigger.

Anything setting itself up as an authority over the truth of God does not get the final word. It must answer to Christ.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

Then there is Romans 1:17:

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (KJV)

Paul writes:

δικαιοσύνη γὰρ θεοῦ

dikaiosynē gar theou

“For the righteousness of God...”

Dikaiosynē carries the ideas of righteousness, justice, and rightness.

Notice where Paul begins.

Not with our righteousness.

With God's righteousness.

Romans isn't beginning with instructions for becoming good enough for God. Paul is announcing what God has done.

God's righteous action is being revealed in the gospel, and as Romans unfolds, Paul explains how sinful human beings are put right with God through Christ.

Then comes one of the most discussed phrases in the verse:

ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν

ek pisteōs eis pistin

Literally:

“from faith into faith.”

English translations often render this “from faith to faith,” “by faith from first to last,” or something similar.

Scholars have proposed several interpretations. Paul may be emphasizing faith from beginning to end. Some have seen a relationship between God's faithfulness and human faith. Others understand it somewhat differently.

The Greek itself does not resolve every question for us.

But Paul's next statement makes the central emphasis unmistakable:

ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται

“The righteous one will live by faith.”

Paul is drawing from Habakkuk 2:4.

And pistis, the Greek word translated “faith,” can carry the ideas of faith, trust, confidence, and faithfulness.

Biblical faith isn't merely agreeing intellectually that God exists.

It is reliance upon God.

And that is where Romans 1:17 begins to sit beautifully beside 2 Corinthians 10:5.

Where the Two Meet

My circumstances tell me one thing.

My mind reasons from those circumstances.

But faith asks:

What do I know to be true about God?

That does not require denying reality.

Something frightening really is frightening.

Something painful really does hurt.

If I don't know what tomorrow holds, faith does not require me to pretend that I do.

The danger comes when observation turns into a conclusion about God.

I cannot see what God is doing.

Therefore:

God isn't doing anything.

Or:

I don't know how this can possibly work out.

Therefore:

God cannot handle this.

Or:

I don't feel God's presence.

Therefore:

God isn't here.

That is where the logismos, the reasoning, has begun constructing something that may stand against the knowledge of God.

Second Corinthians tells me what to do with that reasoning:

Bring it into captivity and make it answer to Christ.

Romans tells me how I live when my circumstances cannot give me the answers:

By faith.

Not by certainty about my circumstances.

Not because I have figured everything out.

Not because I can see what God is doing.

By faith.

And there is something else beautiful in Romans 1:17.

The word translated “is revealed” is ἀποκαλύπτεται (apokalyptetai). Paul is talking about God's righteousness being revealed in the gospel.

Faith, then, isn't an exercise in trying desperately to manufacture enough confidence to reach God.

Faith responds to what God has revealed about Himself.

It isn't:

“I have faith everything will happen the way I want.”

It is:

“I trust the God who has revealed Himself to me, even when what I can presently see does not give me enough information to understand what He is doing.”

Perhaps that is where these two passages meet.

When my reasoning reaches beyond what I actually know and begins making accusations against the character of God, I bring that reasoning back under the authority of Christ.

And when I still cannot see the answer?

I live by faith.

Not faith in an outcome.

Faith in God.