Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is
another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul
said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “. . . I take
every project prisoner to make it obey Christ . . . .” So much Christian
work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being
by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will
of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the
impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can
do nothing of Himself . . . ” (John 5:19).
Then compare this with what we do— we take “every thought” or project
that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of
imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.
Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and
the saints who are “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity”
are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they
lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true
determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination
to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is
inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing
every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work
for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not
been made spiritual through determined discipline.
We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to
Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and
accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the
devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to
“be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind. . . .” (Romans 12:2).
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