Taking the Sword of the Spirit. Part 1

“Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Ephesians 6:11-17

In order to be effective and victorious in spiritual warfare there are five major postures for the believer to assume, for it is important to know that this battle is an active one and not passive like most Christians assume it to be. The postures are as follows:

⇨ Verse 11 to stand against; which means to stand in front of and oppose
⇨ Verse 12 to wrestle; means to engage actively on a one-on-one battle
⇨ Verse 13 to withstand; indicates resistance, it also means to be firm and unmovable in encountering oppositions
⇨ Verse 13 to stand; means to be found standing after an active battle
⇨ Verse 14 stand therefore; means to take your stand for the next battle

We have to understand what the sword of the Spirit is. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, a most important and effective weaponry in the believer's arsenal. In order to withstand the onslaught of the enemy, it is imperative to understand the assailant and his modus operandi, for the scripture declare “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices”. 2 Corinthians 2:11

The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Erroneously maintaining that the sword of the Spirit is the sword of the Holy Spirit has resulted in our inability to wage war successfully against the enemy of souls. Considering the above text brings clarification to the subject with the understanding that when Apostle Paul enumerated the whole amour of God, his reference was to man and not to the Holy Spirit.

His use of phrases like you, ye, your or we, also indicates that it is our responsibility to appropriate the whole armor of God including the sword of the Spirit which is God's Word. Apparently, we have assumed that the sword of the Spirit to denote the sword of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, the result of this erroneous concept has made us to be spectators rather than participators, as a result waiting on the Holy Spirit to use the sword of the spirit that is available for our use. We often neglect the sword of our spirit as we fight the fight of faith consequently allowing the assailant to get away with his assault on us, our families, finances, Ministries, businesses and any other aspect of our lives that he can access.