Pulled down, cast down, and brought into captivity—this is The command of the Word of God to those whose minds house a stronghold against the Word. [2 Corinthians 10:4-6] When overthrowing religious strongholds, we need to know:
- What is a religious stronghold?
- How do we know if we have one in our minds?
- What do we do if one is identified?
Strongholds Explained
Let’s start with what a stronghold is—according to the Strong’s Concordance, it means
- a castle, stronghold, fortress, fastness
- anything on which one relies
- of the arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavours to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent
Imagine a fortified structure with tall towers and rock-solid defenses. In this structure are armored soldiers with access to heavy artillery, ammo, and all types of defenses to oppose an intruding enemy. It serves as a safe place to those hiding in it. However, it is dangerous to those trying to invade the structure. It has defense systems set up to prevent unwanted attacks.
Spiritual Strongholds
Spiritually, our minds can be viewed as territories, and in these territories, a stronghold can exist.
What kind of stronghold?
We can have strongholds that safehouse the Word of God, or we can have strongholds like it refers to in 2 Corinthians 10:4. This scripture references strongholds that oppose and exalt themselves against the knowledge of God (His Word).
This means our minds can harbor fortresses (think back to our illustration) for the lies of the enemy. It’s like an Embassy for the devil, except this is an ambassador we don’t want in our minds. This is an area that is hostile to God’s Word, but a safe house for the devil’s lies. Because it shelters the enemy, it can be easily hidden until opposition that threatens his territory comes.
Opposition to Overcoming Religious Strongholds
What opposition would that be? The truth of God’s Word. God’s Word is a seed. Moreover, it is a seed of life that brings goodwill and pleasure into our lives. God’s Word is the ultimate truth. In his book, Biblical Healing, T. L. Osbourne said it like this:
“The Life of God in the seed of His Word produces its healing wonders in the people.”
Imagine that for a second. The Word of God is a seed of the life of God. It contains His promises and His will for us. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,
Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action),
17 So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. AMPC
If it is the life of God, then it has the power to breathe life into us and make us ‘complete’ and ‘thoroughly equipped.’ This is exactly the type of seed the devil wants to abort and keep from producing. Thus, if given the opportunity, he builds strongholds in our minds that attack the Word (seed) of God—the life of God.
Religion vs Religion
Strongholds come in many forms but, we’re going to unfold a specific type of stronghold: religious strongholds. It’s important to note when we use the word “religion” here, we’re not referring to the umbrella term. In other words, not one of the major religions of the world. When we talk about religion here, we will be referring to the man-made system of beliefs that oppose the Word of God and place importance on oneself.
Spirit of Religion
Religion exalts man and what man can do rather than focusing on God, and relying on what He has done. It has an appearance of wisdom but is rooted in false humility. It tries to provide for itself and fails to trust in the provision of God. Its nature is contrary to the contents and nature of faith.
Religion dismisses the power of God and only regards the power of Man—it only concerns man: what man has done, what man can do, and what man will do. It is rooted in pride. Pride puts itself at the center of one’s own moral and spiritual life—which is the very heart of religion. It is a self-prescribed medication for salvation. It opposes the very true essence of salvation, which we receive through faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Recommended Reading: Spirit of Religion by C. Peter Wagner
Fortress of Religion
Religious strongholds house an opinion that cunningly causes someone to reject putting their trust in Jesus’ finished work and causes them to only view themselves. A few examples could look like the following:
- Not feeling like you can go to God (in prayer or worship) after you’ve sinned.
- Believing God will remove His blessings and promises after you’ve messed up.
- Believing God doesn’t heal today because someone around you didn’t receive healing.
- Believing you shouldn’t be prosperous.
- Believing you must perform and strive to receive salvation.
- Believing God will do it for others but not you.
And the list goes on. It’s an argument or reasoning built in our minds that contradicts the Word and denies God’s power in our lives. It considers man rather than God. It has built a fortress to oppose and attack God’s provision for us, whether that is in the form of a promise, blessing, or a covenant truth.
It’s a crutch for unbelief. This is why the mind shackled by religion has a hard time seeing the Word in its true meaning. Because every time the Word comes to be sown, it is aggressively attacked by that stronghold.
Identifying Those Fortresses
How do we identify those strongholds since they are hiding in safety and comfort?
- Check to see where your faith does not align with God’s Word and if what you believe puts importance on you/man rather than God.
- Go to God in prayer and ask Him to reveal any hidden strongholds.
- Spend time in His Word, finding what His Word promises you.
Weapons of Warfare
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 says,
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 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, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” [NKJV, Emphasis added]
We do not fight spiritual battles with physical weapons; instead, we use spiritual weapons. The weapons of a believer are the Word of God, the Blood of Jesus, and the Name of Jesus. When you became born-again, you gained authority to trample over the enemy.
When you fight against Satan’s lies, you attack him with those three weapons: the Word, the Blood, and the Name. He cannot win against those three things because he has no power to withstand them.
Overthrowing Religious Strongholds
Romans 12:2 says,
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” [NKJV, emphasis added]
Renewing, in the original Greek text, means ‘a renewal, renovation, or complete change for the better.’ If we take this one step further and look at the English definitions, we get:
- Renewal: an instance of resuming an activity or state after an interruption; the rebuilding of a large area (as of a city) by a public authority
- Renewed: to make like new: restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection
- Renovation: to restore to a former better state (as by cleaning, repairing, or rebuilding); to restore to life, vigor, or activity: revive
This builds a beautiful picture that applies to overthrowing religious strongholds. According to these definitions, the Bible wants you to make your mind like new; it wants you to restore it to a place of freshness and perfection.
It calls you to resume your mind to a perfect state after being interrupted and to restore it to a former, better state. ‘Restore’, ‘resume’, and ‘former’ would all suggest that there is a previous state we should return. What state would that be? I believe it’s in the Garden of Eden—back to the beginning—before sin entered the world and there was perfect fellowship between God and man.
The Mindset of the Garden
When we renew our minds to the Word, we tear down those fortresses (strongholds) that once occupied the territory of our minds. We rebuild that area by the Authority of God’s word.
What do we rebuild to?
The Mindset of the Garden BEFORE the Fall of Man. Before sin entered the world, there was perfect fellowship between God and man. Meaning that Adam and Eve were at perfect peace with God. They did not worry about their standing with Him. They did not stress over how they were going to be cared for because they were under His covering.
Genesis 2:25 says,
“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” [NKJV]
This tells me their minds were at perfect peace with God, and they had faith in Him. They did not fret over their relationship with Him, because they only knew righteousness.
Jesus Redeemed Us
This illustrates how we should be now—trusting that Jesus is enough. We remove ourselves from the center of our salvation and the center of our covenant with Jesus and put Him back at the center in His rightful place. He is our covering now; we don’t agonize over our relationship with Him.
Jesus covered every gap, and we have the freedom and boldness to be in His presence now. He is our righteousness. It wasn’t until sin entered into the world that Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves when they were in His presence. They began to try and work to do what they had previously trusted God to do. The mindset of the Garden, prior to sin, is what we restore our minds to after we demolish strongholds.
Recap
Strongholds act as sanctuaries for the devil’s deception. They are hostile to God’s Word and prevent the Seed of the Word from being planted.
Religious strongholds are fortified belief systems that reject what Jesus has done and provided for us in His death and resurrection. It places man at the center of one’s spiritual life and beliefs. It becomes a filtration system for all other ideas, even the Word.
We should tear down those strongholds with the Word, the Blood, and the Name of Jesus. We must renew our minds through the Word of God. This will place HIm in the center of our lives, and He will know that He upholds His covenant to us.
