The Sword of the Spirit

 Sword is not a word we normally associate with the Spirit, but the writer of Ephesians spoke of the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It was listed as a part of the armor of God.

The writer exhorted his readers to stand firm in the face of a hostile world. They had once followed the ways of the world (Ephesians 2:1-2) but now, as the followers of Jesus, they were living as the children of God (Ephesians 5:1), following God’s way of self-giving love (Ephesians 5:2), living out of a servant spirit (Ephesians 5:21). They were putting off their old self that followed the self-indulgent ways of the world and were putting on a new self that reflected the likeness of Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24). Now, they had to stand firm against the world.

The world in which they lived — and in which we live! — was hostile to the ways of God. The author of Ephesians attributed this hostility to spiritual forces of evil aligned against God and the ways of God. He spoke of “the course of this world” as “following the ruler of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:1-2). Consequently, we humans live out of a spirit of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). He spoke of “the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10) and of “cosmic powers of this present darkness” and of “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).  

Because the Ephesians 6 text speaks of the devil along with cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12), some interpreters use this text to speak of spiritual warfare. They understand our struggle as the followers of Jesus to be a struggle with Satan. But I understand our challenge to be a hostile world that embodies the ways of evil rather than following the ways of God (Ephesians 2:1-2). I understand our struggle to be with our default human nature – what is often called our sin nature (Romans 7:14-25). This nature is at odds with the nature of God. We are self-focused and self-serving. God is self-emptying and self-giving. We are ego-driven, living out of a what’s-in-it-for-me spirit. God lives out of a servant spirit. We use power over, down against others for our own advantage. God uses power to serve, addressing the needs of the other and nurturing them into emotional-relational-spiritual maturity. We live out of merit-based thinking, relating to others based on what we think they deserve. God relates out of grace. We harbor hurts and hold grudges. God forgives … freely, unconditionally, lavishly. We divide people into us-them groups, viewing the other as less than us. God embraces all as beloved children. God never gives up on or abandons anyone … including us! When our default, self-serving, power-over nature - the spirit of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2) - gets embodied in and institutionalized in the structures and systems of the world, then the world is hostile to the ways of God.

As for Satan and cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil: Satan was defeated in Jesus’s death and resurrection. His power has been broken. “The one who is in you (the Spirit) is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Focusing on so-called “spiritual warfare” distracts us from learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught.

In order to stand firm in their new calling, the Ephesians needed to put on the full armor of God, including the sword of the Spirit.

Every piece of the armor of God was designed to defend us from the attacks of this hostile world … except the sword of the Spirit. It is the only offensive weapon in the armor. The armor of God — truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation — empowers us to stand firm in the face of a world at odds with the ways of God. It allows us to deflect those things that come at us, seeking to weaken us and defeat us, squeezing us back into its mold. But the sword of the Spirit is the one piece of the armor that we use to fight back. And that sword is “the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Many people today use the phrase “the word of God” in reference to the Bible, but the biblical writer was not referring to the Bible. The word of God is what God says through his Son and through the Spirit. It is the spiritual truth the Spirit teaches us (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Spiritual truth is the way we counter the false thinking and self-destructive ways of the world.

Spiritual truth — the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23) — is what the Spirit uses to transform our hearts and minds. It is also the means by which the world will be transformed and a new heavens and earth created.