The sword of the Spirit

When we consider the Armor of God in Ephesians chapter six, we see our only offensive weapon is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. We usually imagine a medieval longsword, but the Roman soldier's sword would have been no more than 18 inches long. Tony Evans said this shows us that spiritual warfare is up close and personal. It is in your face.

We can think of this sword as a defensive weapon. Jesus instructed his disciples to sell their cloak and buy a sword, if they did not already possess one, Luke 22:36. Everyone has a right to self-defense. It is foolish to think that you will be successful in warfare without a weapon. We have enemies both foreign and domestic who would take our lives and property if they were able. For people to be free, we must have the ability to defend ourselves.

I am praying for the people in Afghanistan who have been left defenseless. At the time of this writing, there are an estimated 10,000 Americans (Biden's officials say they do not know how many) who have been abandoned with no rescue plans. Men, women, boys, and girls are in the hands of Jihadists. There are reports of the Taliban going from door to door removing firearms from the citizens of Afghanistan and telling them they do not need weapons. They are evil and cannot be trusted.

It will be another sad day for America if the Second Amendment is ever stolen from us. High profile politicians and media elites hire bodyguards and private security who carry guns. We cannot depend on our government to protect us; it is up to us to defend ourselves.

When it comes to spiritual warfare, our weapon is the word of God. In Matthew 4, we read about how the devil attempted to tempt Jesus to sin by twisting Scripture. Jesus defended himself with the word of God. He quoted from the Torah as he successfully resisted his adversary.

The word of God is also an offensive weapon. It must be handled carefully. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, "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." As we examine the Scripture, the Bible examines us in the process.

It is important to take Scripture in context and not to twist verses or passages to distort their original meaning. People do this to use the Bible to excuse their actions. For example, some misused the Bible to condone slavery, but those who abolished slavery were motivated by Scripture. We know weapons can be dangerous without proper training and can cause accidental injury or death.

I am thankful that we live in a time where we can "open carry" a Bible with us daily. Many of us have the YouVersion Bible App on our smart phones. This enables us to have multiple translations of the Bible at our fingertips. With such easy access to Scripture, you would expect more biblical understanding. However, easy access is no guarantee of knowledge. Christians who fail to read the Bible are like defenseless sheep when it comes to spiritual warfare.

Put on the whole armor of God. We put on the belt of truth by believing in Jesus, John 14:6. The breastplate of righteousness is Christ's righteousness applied to us, Philippians 3:9. The shoes of the gospel of peace are worn by those who stand firm in their Christian beliefs. The shield of faith is saving faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as payment for our sin debt. The helmet of salvation is the mindset that assures us of our position in Christ and helps with our attitude toward others. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is our weapon for spiritual warfare.

Paul concludes his teaching about spiritual warfare with an appeal to prayer. As we consider what is happening in the world today, pray that God will protect and deliver us from evil. Proverbs 29:2.