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2 Corinthians 10:3–5 NASB95

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

The weapons Paul used were the proclaimed Word of God and prayer (Eph. 6:17–18), weapons with divine power. (BKC)

“To live in the flesh” means that he possesses no supernatural powers but is a frail clay vessel that is wasting away and given over to death (4:7–10, 16; 6:4–5). (NAC)

For Paul, life in the sphere of the flesh requires a fight with spiritual weapons against spiritual foes (Rom 13:12, 13; 1 Cor 9:7; 2 Cor 6:7; Eph 6:11–17; 1 Thess 5:8; and 1 Tim 1:18; 2 Tim 2:3–4). The enemy consists of arguments, obstacles to the knowledge of God, thoughts, and disobedience.(NAC)

“To wage war according to the flesh” (NIV, “to wage war as the world does”) means that one relies on flimsy human resources that are void of any divine power and that one is likely to resort to shameful, underhanded means to gain the desired victory. Paul’s methods are not fleshly methods. He does not rely on cunning or deception to insure that he will win. His power is God’s power, which means that he fights according to God’s rules of engagement. He has an arsenal of powerful, divine weapons at his disposal. In what follows, Paul appeals to the three stages of the campaign in ancient siege warfare (strateuometha with three dependent participles): destroying defensive fortifications, taking captives, and punishing resistance when the city is finally brought to submission. He may walk weakly, but he fights strongly. (NAC)

Divinely powerful spiritual weapons enable him to lay siege to his opponents, but he does not specify what spiritual siege craft he has in mind. He has referred previously to the power of God working through him with weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left (6:7). From references elsewhere in the Corinthian correspondence, we can assume that he has in view the truth of the gospel, epitomized in the word of the cross (1 Cor 1:18, 23–24; 2:5; 2 Cor 6:7; see Rom 1:16), and the knowledge of God (2:14; 4:6). Other spiritual weapons referred to in the New Testament such as prayer, divine wisdom, and holy conduct may also be assumed to be part of his arsenal (NAC)

While Paul does not elaborate on the weapons at his disposal, he does emphasize their effect...

Everyone in the ancient world knew, however, that the advantage was always on the side of the attacker with his siege engines and not with the fortified city. No matter how well defended cities might be, they would eventually fall to the resourceful and determined general. How much more is this the case on the spiritual level when “the city” is up against God’s weaponry. Human bulwarks and parapets, no matter how high and lifted up, can never withstand God’s power. (NAC)

Their thoughts need to come under the Lordship of Christ and to be liberated from the captivity of Satan. (NAC)

worldly weapons are abandoned and total reliance is placed on the spiritual weaponry, which is divinely potent (see note) for demolishing apparently impregnable fortresses where evil is entrenched and from which the gospel is attacked (EBC)

* The battlefields of history are strewn with the wreckage of courageous, but ill-equipped, soldiers. At the famous battle of the Little Big Horn, George Armstrong Custer recklessly led his men against a much larger force of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. In the ensuing battle his regiment was destroyed, and he and all 210 men under his immediate command killed. When the Nazi blitzkrieg rolled into Poland, a brigade of Polish cavalry gallantly, but foolishly, charged a formation of German tanks. The troopers’ lances and swords were no match for the panzers’ cannons and machine guns, and they were all slaughtered. MacArthur

Strateuomai (war) means “to engage in battle,” or “to serve as a soldier.” All believers are soldiers in the spiritual war against the kingdom of darkness; there are no exemptions or deferrals. They fight for the truth of Scripture, the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the salvation of sinners, and the virtue of the saints. In Ephesians 6:12 Paul defined the battle as a “struggle … not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” These demonic powers are behind the evil world system. MacArthur

A spiritual war, however, cannot be successfully fought with fleshly weapons. Therefore, the weapons in Paul’s arsenal were not those of human ingenuity, human ideology, or human methodology. Human reason, wisdom, plans, strategies, organizations, skill, eloquence, marketing, religious showmanship, philosophical or psychological speculation, ritualism, pragmatism, or mysticism are all ineffective weapons against the forces of the kingdom of darkness, the “powers … world forces of this darkness … [and] spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). They cannot rescue sinners from the “domain of darkness” (Col. 1:13) or transform believers into Christ’s likeness. Such weapons gain only superficial, temporary, and deceptive victories at best. MacArthur

To successfully fight the spiritual war requires weapons from the heavenly arsenal. Only those divinely powerful weapons are suited for the destruction of the enemies’ fortresses. That term would convey to the New Testament reader the thought of a formidable stronghold. Corinth, like most major cities in Greece, had an acropolis. Located on a mountain near the city, the acropolis was a fortified place into which the inhabitants could retreat when attacked. Ochurōma (fortresses) was also used in extrabiblical Greek to refer to a prison. People under siege in a fortress were imprisoned there by the attacking forces. The word was also used to refer to a tomb. MacArthur

he had on his side the full armor of God (compare Eph. 6:13), which could knock down the Devil’s strongholds, refute arrogant arguments, and change rebellious hearts. In defeating Satan, one cannot simply fight fire with fire; one must use blood—the blood of Christ (see Rev. 12:11)! Willmington’s Bible handbook

“Arguments” (NIV, NRSV, TEV) or “speculations” (NASB) is a technical term for rhetorical or philosophical reasonings; the prisoners of war in this extended metaphor are human thoughts. The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament

doesn’t fight as the world fights (10:3). Instead, he uses weapons that have divine power to demolish spiritual strongholds, destroy arguments raised against the knowledge of God, and take thoughts captive to Christ (10:4–5). The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook

The warfare of Christians relates to the following points. (1.) It is a warfare with the corrupt desires and sensual propensities of the heart; with eternal corruption and depravity, with the remaining unsubdued propensities of a fallen nature. (2.) With the powers of darkness; the mighty spirits of evil that seek to destroy us; see Eph. 6:11–17. (3.) With sin in all forms; with idolatry, sensuality, corruption, intemperance, profaneness, wherever they may exist...He is a soldier enlisted under the banner of the Redeemer to oppose and resist all forms of evil. But his warfare is not conducted on worldly principles...The Christian looks for his conquests only by the force and power of truth, and by the agency of the Spirit of God.Barnes, A. (1884–1885). Notes on the New Testament: II Corinthians & Galatians.

Paul equated the Christian life to a war. This war isn’t against “flesh and blood, but against the … authorities of the unseen world” (Ephesians 6:12). The Christian life is a spiritual battle against spiritual forces aligned against Christ. Fighting this spiritual battle with weapons of the world—with physical strength, worldly strategies, and material wealth—would be foolish. A spiritual battle requires spiritual weapons that can only come from God. Life Application New Testament Commentary

According to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, God’s mighty weapons are faith, truth, righteousness, the gospel message, and the word of God. The Holy Spirit equips Christians for the struggle, providing the weapons they need (see 6:6; Ephesians 6:10–20). Worldly weapons—wealth, fame, and political might—may wield some power on this earth, but they are useless in spiritual battles. The Devil’s strongholds included every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God and rebellious ideas. The world of ideas is the real battleground for God and the Devil. Many complex theories and philosophies try to block people from knowing the truth about God and worshiping him. These false philosophies that divert glory from God and hide the truth are the Devil’s strongholds. Life Application New Testament Commentary

The word warfare in 2 Corinthians 10:4 means "campaign." Paul was not simply fighting a little skirmish in Corinth; the attack of the enemy there was part of a large satanic campaign. The powers of hell are still trying to destroy the work of God (Matt. 16:18), and it is important that we not yield any ground to the enemy, not even one church! Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series)

There are walls of resistance in the minds of people, and these walls (like the walls of Jericho) must be pulled down. What are these "mental walls"? Reasonings that are opposed to the truth of God's Word. Pride of intelligence that exalts itself. Paul was not attacking intelligence, but intellectualism, the high-minded attitude that makes people think they know more than they really do (Rom. 12:16). Paul had faced this "wisdom of men" when he founded the church (1 Cor. 1:18ff), and it had surfaced again with the coming of the Judaizers. Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series)

Once the walls in the mind have been torn down, the door to the heart can be opened.