Lesson 30: The Sword of the Spirit, part 4

Ephesians 6:17
…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

One very basic, foundational fact of interpreting the Bible is that God did not give us salvation in order to have a good life here on earth – He provided salvation so we could have eternal life with Him. Read these verses with me as examples:
Psalm 37:25 - I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or His children begging for bread.
This does not mean we can be at home enjoying our pastimes and pleasures and expect God to provide food for our families – 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

Romans 8:1 - -There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
This does not mean that we will never be condemned by people here on earth – see John 6:33 and 15:18-19.

Psalm 27:1-3 - The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
This does not mean we will never be persecuted or even killed here on earth – Romans 8:36.

Our Christian life is not a playground, it is a battlefield. The Bible is an armory full of heavenly weapons, a laboratory full of unfailing medicines, a mine of limitless wealth. It is a guidebook for every road, a chart for every sea, and a balm for every wound. It is our only effective attack-weapon in our spiritual battle, but its effectiveness is dependent on our trust in it – for only as we trust it, will it prove to be our successful defense.


The "sword of the Spirit" is the saying of God applied to a specific situation in your life. That is the great weapon placed in the hands of the believer. Perhaps you have had some experience with this. Sometimes, when you are reading a passage of Scripture, the words seem to suddenly come alive, take on flesh and bones, and leap off the page at you.

Therefore, effectively using the sword takes practice. The great example of this was Jesus combating the temptation of Satan in the wilderness. Proper use of Scripture in spiritual warfare enables the Christian to stand fast "against the wiles of the devil".

God's spoken word is powerful. As Hebrews 11:3 states, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” The picture of the Word as a sword also implies its power. The sword was not used in battle to tap your enemy on the shoulder or to hold it up to threaten him. It was used to kill him! While we cannot kill Satan, God's Word is powerful to defeat him and to put to death the temptations that he puts in front of us.