Sword of Truth
“Be alert and of sober mind; your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith because you know that the family of believers worldwide is undergoing the same kind of suffering. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 5:8-11
In Genesis, God told Adam that he was free to eat from any tree in the garden of Eden, yet he was to refrain from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, telling him that eating from this tree leads to death. The serpent goes to the woman after her creation, leading her to question the truth, saying to her, “Did God say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). If you don’t know what God said or the truth, your heart will be deceived, and you will act out your deception through disobedience. Know the word of God well, know it thoroughly, and remind yourself of the truth often, so when the attacks of the enemy come when you feel doubt or are on the path of deception, you can take offense, fighting back with the sharpest of swords. Surely, there is a victory for the believer who knows that the word of God is true and wields it accordingly.
When something doesn’t go your way, the temptation to retaliate is powerful, yet our God and His call for His people to live set apart from the ways of the world must be stronger. Our best and most effective weapon against the enemy's attacks is the Truth, the Word of God, because there is ultimately nothing that can stand against or defeat Him. If we fight from our strength, our time in battle won’t last long before we’re taken out, or our attempts won’t be nearly as effective as they could be. There is no battle if we fight without our Heavenly Father, for apart from Him, we can do nothing. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He met each deceiving remark of Satan with a recitation of scripture; when the Enemy comes for us, may we respond in the same confidence, speaking just as Jesus did, “For it is written …” (Matthew 4:1-11).
The sword of truth, the final piece of armor mentioned in Ephesians 6, happens to be the only offensive weapon out of the six we are to put on daily. Although we may be tempted to fight the good fight by our own cunning words or abrasive actions, the Apostle Paul tells us that the only sword we are to sling is the truth found in the Bible. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the “word of God is alive and active” and that it is “sharper than any double-edged sword” and penetrates so deeply it divides “soul and spirit, joints and marrow.” can you name a better weapon? No other weapon has the same ability to convict, combat, and correct. So why do we convince ourselves to pick up other tools to fight back, knowing they are faulty? Numbing ourselves to the reality of the spiritual war we are currently in can no longer be an option. We have everything we need when we fight with the truth and are clothed in the armor of our God, who has never lost a battle.
