The Importance of God's Word: The Sword of the Spirit

by David Chadwick Last week, we looked at all but one part of the full armor of God. Today, and throughout this entire week, we will look at the final needed piece in the full armor of God. It’s time to pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. It is the only offensive weapon given to us to fight against the enemy’s wiles. With every other piece of armor, we are to operate defensively by guarding ourselves with the truths and reality of salvation of Jesus Christ. We are to bind truth to us with the belt of truth, discerning good from evil and knowing truth from error. We are to cover our hearts with the breastplate of righteousness. The shield of faith is full body coverage, intended to call our entire self to live in alignment with the atmosphere of heaven, which is faith. The shoes of the gospel of peace to give us peace in all circumstances. But there’s one more piece: the sword of the Spirit which is God’s Word. The Bible. Scripture. Why do we followers of Jesus believe the bible to be true? Inerrant? Authoritative? Let’s begin with this reality. Think about it. God’s Word was written over 1500 years ago in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), on three different continents, by 35 different authors with one central message: Jesus came into this world to die for our sins. The entire bible points to this one reality! How could such amazing unity have happened unless the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible? That’s what the bible says about itself. Look at 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It is the Bible’s self-attestation that its words are God-breathed. For centuries, it has been the world’s best-selling book and I think it will continue to be so. Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God – Jesus said so in Matthew 4:1-4. This week, we will look more specifically at wielding the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, so that we can have victory over the enemy and all of his godless forces.