Tag: sword of the Spirit

Double-edged Sword

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Hebrews 4:12 NASB

Reading scripture regularly is so important to the Christian life. Many followers of Jesus believe they can live the Christian life without immersing themselves in the word of God. But this leaves us open to deception and the ever-changing whims of cultural preference. We need the word of God in our life, regularly bringing us back to the truth.

The word of God is living. It is alive. It moves and breathes when we read it. This is why we can read it a thousand times and never get to the end of its power and wisdom. Like the dry bones in Ezekiel 37, when the Holy Spirit breathes on the word of God, it comes alive to us. Without the Spirit, without ears to hear, you can read and study scripture your whole life and it will only be an ancient text to criticize, writings from a bygone era, as dead as dry bones in a desert valley. Without the Spirit, the Bible is just a book to dissect and reject.

The word of God is active. The word used here in the Greek means “at work.” The root word is where we get the English word “energize.” The word of God speaks to our hearts and begins to expose us. It highlights the good and brings conviction where there is sin. The word of God is at work renewing our mind, changing the way we think and changing how we see the nature of God.

The word of God is a sword that pierces us deeply. It pierces us all the way down to that place where soul and spirit meet inside of us. It pierces our bodies all the way down to where the joints meet, down to our bones. It reaches down to our hearts and into our thoughts, exposing the unhealthy things that exist there.

And with the word of God, it’s a double-edged sword. There are always two sides to the cutting. It declares the good news that salvation is available. Yet, it also demands that we admit we need saving. Those are the two edges of God’s word. It declares that we can be healed, if only we’d admit we need healing.

To those humble enough to admit their need, the sword is a surgical scalpel removing the cancerous tumor of sin. To those offended by the notion that they need saving or that they need healing, the sword cuts painfully into their pride. To the tax-collectors, sinners and prostitutes, this sword meant hope, life, healing and salvation. To the Pharisees, this sword was a constant irritation, a constant cutting against their pride and posture of superiority.

This is the beauty of the Bible. We don’t like people judging us, but we need help exposing our blind sides. There are things about us that need addressed; they need lovingly corrected, so that we can be made aware and be set free from our selfishness and sin. And so we come to the word of God, and it graciously exposes our hidden thoughts and the intensions of our heart. It judges us as we stand naked and exposed before God.

And in this place we don’t receive harsh condemnation, but instead loving correction, full of grace and truth. When we allow the word of God to pierce our lives, we are transformed by love. His kindness leads us to repentance. Like a Father doing surgery on His sons and daughters, we leave our time in the word of God changed, different, encouraged, embolden, loved, forgiven, and hopeful.

Father, thank you for your word! We are grateful for it!

Excalibur

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:17

The sword can be used for defense but is mostly an offensive weapon. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. But the Greek word used here for “word” is rhema. Logos is the more common Greek word for “word.” Logos refers to God’s word in its entirety. That is why Jesus is called the Logos of God (John 1:1-4). The whole Bible is the logos of God (Hebrews 4:12). Rhema refers to the spoken-word and is a subcategory of logos.

This is really important to understand because Ephesians 6 says that it is the rhema of God that is the sword of the Spirit. Have you ever been reading the Bible (the logos of God) and suddenly the Holy Spirit highlights a passage that seems to speak directly to you in that moment? That’s an example of when the logos became rhema. The Holy Spirit spoke that word directly to your heart.

Or, have you ever been listening to a sermon on a passage of scripture (logos) that you’ve read a thousand times, yet for some reason the Lord speaks through that sermon in a powerful way? That’s an example of when the logos became rhema. The rhema word of God is like a weaponized version of the logos.

It’s not enough just to quote Scripture and think we’re wielding the sword of the Spirit. Satan quoted Scripture as he was tempting Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4:6). Demons know Scripture better than most Christians; they know it well enough to distort it, manipulate it, and trivialize it. 1 Timothy 4:1 says, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”

I saw this a lot in seminary and still see it in my friends who espouse ever more progressive theologies. The authority of Scripture gets eroded with every new interpretation that is introduced. And that’s the point of deception. The point isn’t to get people to avoid Scripture. The point is to get them to misuse one part of Scripture in order to reject the clear teachings of the rest of Scripture. The point is to get this next generation to manipulate Scripture to fit the lifestyle they are comfortable with.

The sword of the Spirit is when the Holy Spirit takes the logos and lights it on fire so that it becomes the weaponized rhema of God. Scripture that is being manipulated to fit the cultural agenda will always sound reasonable and yet have no power to it. That’s one way to tell if it is truly the rhema of God. Rhema always carries with it the power of the Holy Spirit to convict and transform.

The Sadducees were asking Jesus a question trying to manipulate the Scriptures to fit their worldview, and Jesus responds with his own question, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?”(Mark 12:24).

The apostle Paul gives Timothy a list of how corrupted people will be in the last days, and, included in that list of characteristics, he writes, “treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power”(2 Timothy 3:4-5). When people use Scripture to have a form of godliness but deny its power, it’s not the sword of the Spirit; it’s not the rhema of God. Rhema comes with power because it is spoken by the Holy Spirit through a person.

In order for us to speak the rhema of God we must actually know and believe the logos of God. If I don’t trust Scripture to be true, then I’ll never speak the rhema with power and authority. One of the secrets to the success of Billy Graham was that he had the audacity to believe the Bible. Because he did, when he spoke the gospel, the logos became rhema and hundreds of thousands of people were saved.

It is why right now around the world churches that affirm the Bible and the Holy Spirit are booming and the progressive denominations that have dissected the Bible are shrinking rapidly. They’ve undermined the logos and completely lost the rhema. They are completely unarmed, swordless as the enemy attacks them.