The Spirit's Sword?

Joe R. Price

The sword of the Spirit (the word of God, Eph. 6:17) simultaneously saves and divides:  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matt. 10:34).  The very nature of the gospel is at once unifying and dividing:  It reconciles man to God “by grace, through faith” as it separates the saved from those who reject the truth and remain lost in sin (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 5:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:7-10).  An example of this “sword” at work is seen in Antioch in Pisidia when Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel there (Acts 13:44-52).  While the Jews of that city blasphemed and opposed the truth of the gospel, the Gentiles believed and were saved.  Thus, while souls were united with Christ in baptism, others were hardened in their sin (Rom. 6:3-7; Acts 7:54).  Likewise, we are not dismayed or disheartened when some reject and oppose the gospel.  The sword of the Spirit makes it clear who is on the Lord’s side. 

Christians are engaged in a great spiritual warfare, and the enemy takes no prisoners:  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12; cf. Rev. 12:17).  We must put on the whole armor of God and wield the sword of the Spirit to be protected by the power of God against sin (Eph. 6:10-17).  When a Christian does not have the fortitude of faith to oppose sin and error in his own life and anywhere else he/she confronts it, the sword of the Spirit remains in its sheath – the enemy will not slain.  Our weapons of our warfare are “mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,” but we must use them in faith if we are to have victory in Christ (2 Cor. 10:3-5).  When brethren grow “tired” of the spiritual battles before them they exhibit a weakness the enemy will surely exploit: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small” (Prov. 24:10).  With the strength of our faith in God and His word, let us use the sword of the Spirit to steadfastly resist the devil (1 Pet. 5:8-9).

The sword of the Spirit extracts sin from one’s heart and life:  “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12; cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17).   

May we be willing to use the Spirit’s sword in our own life to remove sin, defend ourselves from sin and defeat the forces of error.

"Except Through Me"
Steven J. Wallace

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6).

1)        No one can approach God except through Jesus.

Jesus is the only way to the Father. There is no other way but His way. This passage should tell us “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). That being the case we should appreciate that neither Mary, the Pope, Buddha, nor any other man can serve as mediator. Men might wish for someone other, but “no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

2)        No one can comprehend God except through Jesus.

Jesus plainly taught that to know and see Jesus is to know and see the Father; “If you had known Me, you would have know My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him” (Jn. 14:7).  Jesus later explained that this is true because the Father dwells in Him, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (Jn. 14:10). Unitarians make a contextual blunder by asserting that Jesus is the Father and the Father is the Son. Such is not what Jesus taught. Rather, since Jesus came here to carry out the Father’s will in word and deed, anyone who saw Jesus’ works saw the Father’s; anyone who heard Jesus’ message heard the Father’s. In this sense the Father dwelled in Jesus. When Jesus stood before them doing the Father’s will, it was as if the Father Himself were before them. This is the same way that Jesus dwells in us and we in Him. He later said, “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (Jn. 14:20).  The Father’s person was no more in Christ than Jesus’ person is in us or our person is in Him. We dwell in Him and He in us through His will, but His person resides in heaven (cf. Acts 7:56).

3)        No one can fellowship God except through Jesus’ commandments.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (Jn. 14:21). Notice that without keeping our Lord’s commandments we cannot love Jesus; we cannot be loved by the Father or the Son; we cannot know Him.  Earlier Jesus stated, “. . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3). One named Nicodemus asked “How can a man be born when he is old?” (v. 4), to which Jesus answered, “. . . unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (v. 5). No one can go to heaven unless they are born again. Similarly Jesus commissioned the apostles to, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:15). Are you heaven bound? Do you love Jesus? Have you obeyed the Lord’s commandments?

Steven J. Wallace (Evangelist)
Church of Christ
1312 E. Edison Ave
Sunnyside, WA 98944