The Sword of the Spirit

I would like to take a few moments here to clarify what the word of God truly is. We are told in Eph. 6:17 to take to ourselves “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” I’ve heard a number of people actually call their Bible their ‘sword,’ believing that the scriptures are the word of God. But let’s just look at a couple of things from that scripture, as well as some other key elements found in the same passage. In reality the grammatical composition of the sentence shows us that it is “the Spirit” that is being called the “word of God,” not “the sword.” Secondly when we look at a couple of other alike statements made in this passage of scripture, we can see also that it is “the Spirit” that is being referred to as "the sword.“ In vs. 14 we are told to put on "the breastplate of righteousness.” In this statement, righteousness is the breastplate, not something used by the breastplate. In vs. 16 we are told to take “the shield of faith.” Again, faith is the shield, not something that the shield uses. And again in vs. 17 we are admonished to put on “the helmet of salvation,” which is more perfectly stated in I Thess. 5:8 to be “the hope of salvation.” And again we see that the hope of salvation is the helmet, not something welded by the helmet. And as tempting as it may seem, the sword in vs. 17 is not something welded by the Spirit, but rather the Spirit is the sword. So it’s not only grammatically correct to recognize that “the word of God” in vs. 17 is the Spirit; but it is also in keeping with the entire context of that passage of scripture to do so. So then the only accurate conclusion is that the Spirit of God is the word of God. But let’s look at that a little closer for some more plain and simple scriptural confirmation of that point.

First of all I would like to point out that the word of God is what God says. It is his voice, meaning that which comes out of his mouth, as the following scriptures show forth (Prov. 2:6; Prov. 8:1,4,6-8). Jesus confirmed this truth in Rev. chapters 2 and 3 where he repeatedly said, “He that hath and ear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth…” The Spirit IS the voice of God, and in order to know his word, we must be able to hear what God’s Spirit is saying to us. The scriptures are certainly true, and inspired by God; but it is the scriptures that show us that God’s word is that which comes out of his mouth, and something we must be able to hear. We see repeatedly in the prophets where they stated, “the word of the Lord came unto me, saying…” The word of the Lord must still come to us in order for us to have it. This is why the old testament and new testament scriptures both tell us that new testament believers can and must be taught by the Spirit of God (Isa. 54:13; Jn. 14:26; Jn. 16:13; I Jn. 2:27). In regard to God’s word coming to the old testament prophets, Jeremiah prophesied of the new covenant, saying, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD" (Jer. 31:34). And how will they "all know the Lord?” “And all of thy children shall be taught of the Lord" (Isa. 54:13). In other words the word of God will come to everyone who has received the holy Ghost, if they remain open and honest with God, and seek him diligently; unlike the old testament when God’s word only came to prophets, priests, judges and such. It goes without saying that some are more gifted in the word of the Lord coming to them for the sake of the ministry, but the only people who can receive what God’s true ministers are saying, are those who are being taught and led by the Spirit themselves. Friend, it’s for sure that we all need to be somewhere in that number. God bless.