The sixth and final piece of the Christian’s armor is the sword – a sword made and furnished to us by the greatest of all Artisans! The sword has long been esteemed as a necessary part of a soldier’s vocation. While all the rest of the Christian’s armor is made up of defensive parts, the sword is a weapon that is both defensive and offensive.
On the one hand, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is a defensive weapon, in how it keeps the Christian from being stripped from all other graces. Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction (Ps 119:92). Christ had only to say, “It is written,” in answer to Satan’s temptations, to put his enemy to flight (Mt 4:4, 7, 10). It was David’s prayer in Psalm 17:4, by the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer. The sword is unique in that it defends the whole person from an enemy’s attack; not specific to any particular part of the body, (like the other pieces of armor), the sword can be wielded to hold back the enemy as a whole.
The Word of God, our sword, is also an offensive weapon, with it we can route our enemy! This gives light to verses such as James 4:7, resist the devil and he will flee from you. There is something given us by God that drives the enemy backward, causing him to retreat – it is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God! |
