Faith Is The Victory (Spiritual Warfare, Part 2) Series

Dr. Clark H. Pinnock has stated that “the Spirit is central to [the Church] because he is the source of fellowship among humans in history and the bond of love between Father and Son in eternity” (Clark H. Pinnock, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit [Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996], 117).

Without the Holy Spirit we could not know true fellowship and communion within the church and with God because “the Holy Spirit is now [in the 21st century] the primary manifestation of [God] among us” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], 634).

We cannot see God the Father whose presence is mostly exhibited in heaven. And God the Son is now seated in heaven beside God the Father. So it is the Holy Spirit who is God’s expression of his presence with us.

There are four aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work which bring us evidence of God’s presence and blessings:

1. Empowerment--When the Holy Spirit empowers us he gives us life and power for service.

2. Purification-- The Holy Spirit purifies by an initial cleansing in new Christians and then enables the growth of holiness in our lives.

3. Revelation-- Revelation comes about by the Holy Spirit speaking to the prophets and apostles:

a. Giving evidence of the presence of God,

b. Guiding the people of God,

c. Providing a Godlike character of the conviction of sin, of love, of joy, and of wisdom.

d. Giving God’s people the assurance that God is with us

e. Teaching and enabling us to understand the teaching.

4. Unification-- When the Holy Spirit unifies he brings believers together in fellowship and provides us with spiritual gifts that bring us together as we depend upon one another.

The sword of the Spirit, then, is the Word of God. The Greek word Paul uses in verse 17 to explain what the sword of the Spirit is rhema. The Greek term that is used in reference to Jesus Christ as the Word of God is logos. So, Paul is not saying here that Jesus is the sword of the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit “is the individual Scripture which the Spirit brings home to the heart of a person” (Elliott, Study of NT, vol. 2, 176).

The Word of God-- the Bible-- is our offensive weapon “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” And it’s not just a dusty Bible on a shelf. It is the written word proclaimed that is the powerful weapon. This “means the use of the right word from the Scripture at the exact time in the place it is needed” (Elliott, Study of NT, vol. 2, 176). It is the preaching and teaching of Scripture which slaughters the forces of darkness. That is why Satan attempts to discredit Biblical preaching and teaching and to hinder the proclamation of the gospel.

The truth recorded in the Bible is strong enough and sharp enough to cut through the tactics and deceptions of Satan. The great Bible expositor John Gill wrote that “the word of God is compared to a ‘sword,’ for its two edges, the law and Gospel; the one convicts of sin, and cuts to the heart for it, and the other cuts down all the goodliness of man; and the Scriptures in general are a sharp sword, in convincing of sin, reproving for it, and threatening with wrath and ruin, in refuting error and heresy, and repelling Satan’s temptations.”