What Is The Sword Of The Spirit?

Last updated on: August 27, 2015 at 2:26 pm by Jack Wellman

What Is The Sword Of The Spirit? 2015-08-27T14:26:05-05:00 Jack Wellman

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What exactly is the Sword of the Spirit? Is it something that all Christians have access too? How can we know we have it?

The Sword Cuts

The Bible says “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). The fact is, when I study to prepare messages for the church, this “two-edged sword” cuts me too. Remember that it’s a two-edged sword, cutting the listener and the one speaking it but it cuts in order to heal. The Word dives deep into the human heart and discerns what the thoughts, intents, and motives are. Nothing else is able to turn a stony heart into a heart of flesh and one that is softened for God’s purposes to serve others, to pray for our enemies, to love those who hate us, and to bless those who despitefully use us (Matt 5). That’s not humanly possible but it is possible with God’s Spirit and the Spirit binds the Word to the heart and makes it accomplish what God wills it to.

The Amor of God

The armor of God is described in Ephesians 6:16-18 but the “sword of the Spirit” is the only offensive weapon there is. Why do believers need the armor and the sword? It’s because our enemy is invisible as “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). The protective or defensive equipment is intended to defend us from the “flaming darts” sent from the evil one and his minions (Eph 6:16). Even in modern warfare, a soldier has to be prepared for sniper attacks and be ready for assaults from an unseen enemy so they must wear protective gear at all times. The armor is essential and includes such vital pieces as “the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes for your feet as the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation” (Eph 6:14-17) but if there’s close hand-to-hand combat, the believer will need an offensive weapon and that’s where the sword of the Spirit comes in.

The Sword of the Spirit

What is this “sword of the Spirit” mentioned in Ephesians six? Why is it necessary to have an offensive weapon? Isn’t a good defense all we need? Listen to what Isaiah wrote “He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away” (Isaiah 49:2). When God references the word “sword,” it often refers to an authority as with Romans 13:4 where Paul writes about the governing authorities having the authority of God: “But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Jesus’ words are referred to as a sharp two-edged sword like when He rebukes the church at Pergamum “The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword” (Rev 2:12) where He tells them to “repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth” (Rev 2:16). This means that whatever Jesus’ words are is like a sword.

Jesus as the Word

Jesus is described as the Word of God as the Word was with God and the Word was (and is) God (John 1:1, 14) and His word is like a two-edged sword that comes with His authority and His judgment. This is the image in Revelation where He comes to finally judge the unrepentant world where it says “And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty” (19:14-15). After “the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet” (Rev 19:20a) “These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh” (Rev 19:20b-21). Clearly the sword’s intent is to carry out judgment and is an offensive weapon and so the “sword of the Spirit” is the Word of God and since the Word of God is inspired by the Spirit of God (2nd Tim 3:16), the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God taken to an enemy by the Spirit of God since the Spirit of God is the Author of Scripture and the Author of the Word. That is a most potent offensive weapon; more powerful than any human could ever muster.

Conclusion

Don’t wait to repent and believe in Christ because if you reject believing in Jesus, you’ve got the wrath of the sword headed your way at Christ’s appearing (John 3:36b). There is yet time for you to turn from your sins and forsake them (called repentance) and turn to the Savior and trust in Him. If you do then you’ll be spared from God’s coming wrath on a God-rejecting world.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

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