“And take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God . . ..” (Ephesians 6:17)

The hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers,” has as its chorus:

Onward, Christian soldiers!
Marching as to war,
With the word of Jesus
Going on before.

As Christians, we are soldiers at war (II Timothy 2:3-4). We often hear about three battlefronts:

Satan: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

The World: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (I John 5:4)

Our Nature: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Our Enemy, Our Weapon

The actual battle is not against external enemies but against our carnal nature. This nature, when unchecked, provides fertile ground where Satan’s attacks and the world’s temptations can take root. As we lose battles with our nature, we risk sacrificing our spiritual growth, hindering our connection with God, and falling prey to sin.

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.” This quotation appeared in Walt Kelly’s Pogo, a comic strip that ran in daily newspapers from 1948 to 1973. Regardless of the adversary, this quote serves as an obvious reminder of who the real enemy is in our spiritual battles—our nature and the heart and mind that drive it that must be transformed into the New Man with the spiritual mind and heart of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24; Philippians 2:5).

As we face our everyday battles, II Corinthians 10:3-5 instructs us where to begin:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Notice Paul says to bring every thought into captivity. How do we do that? As the hymn notes, we carry the Word of Jesus before us as we march into battle. Ephesians 6:17 describes this Word as, “. . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” The Word of God is our spiritual sword to take into our every battle.

How do we use this sword? Notice Christ’s example of using His sword to defeat Satan:

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”. . . [Satan] said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”. . . And [the Devil] said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Matthew 4:3-4, 6-7, 9-10)

For every thrust of Satan, Christ had the perfect counterstrike from the Word of God. His spiritual sword contained a ready supply of skillful parries and thrusts, and among them He found the perfect one to fend off each of the adversary’s attacks.

Unfortunately, for many people, the Bible has become a relic of the past, gathering dust on shelves rather than inspiring their daily lives. Even for many who read it, it does not impact their daily choices. But a true Christian soldier follows his Savior’s example (I Peter 2:21), using the Bible as the active weapon of spiritual warfare. It contains a comprehensive collection of offensive and defensive approaches we can use regularly, powerfully, and courageously in the fight against our carnal minds and hearts.

Bringing Thoughts Captive

Human nature, if left to itself, is defenseless from attacks by Satan and this world. So, how do we bring every intent and thought that springs from our nature to the obedience of Christ? What is the process we must use to win our battles and eventually, the war? We can better prepare our spiritual weaponry for our daily challenges by drawing insights from Christ’s example.

A central point to notice about Christ’s response to Satan is that it was immediate. With His mind filled with the words of God, He responded at once from that source rather than his human nature.

With this in mind, notice John Ritenbaugh’s question in his comments on John 8:44 from his April 18, 2009, sermon:

So, it comes down to this question: What are we doing to pack our minds with truth? If we do not have truth—God’s truth—what are we left to think with? We will be like Satan, where Jesus said he thinks from his own resources. Our resources, brethren, are in the world, except to that extent we are packing our mind with the truth of God so that it becomes the mechanics, the words, the things that we work with to make decisions and to carrying them out.

How can we mere mortals pack our minds with God’s words and imitate Christ? Memorizing Scripture offers a powerful tool. At a moment’s notice, it enables us to call up the needed verse to thwart any attack, just as Christ did.

God tells us in Deuteronomy 6:6 that His words “shall be in your heart.” He repeats this in 11:18, adding that we should “lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul.” The Contemporary English Version renders these verses:

» Memorize his laws. (Deuteronomy 6:6)

» Memorize these laws and think about them. Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and your foreheads to help you obey them. (Deuteronomy 11:18)

Why do these verses command us to have these words in our hearts and souls, to memorize them? Peter answers why in John 6:68: These are “the words of eternal life.” James also gives us the why, but he adds the how:

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21)

Those words we indelibly implant, which memorizing does, can save our souls by helping us win our battles. As Christian soldiers, we need to consider the role our sword, in the form of our memorized verses, play in our battles.

The Battlefield

Revelation 21:7 promises, “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” Instead of “overcomes,” the English Standard Version uses the word “conquers”: “The one who conquers will have this heritage.” As Christian warriors, we must conquer or overcome our greatest enemy, our carnal human nature.

Notice Matthew 5:27-28:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

In his article, “The Tenth Commandment (1998),” appearing in the January 1998 Forerunner magazine, John Ritenbaugh comments:

Nowhere is the inward aim of Christ’s teaching so evident as in this comment. A change must first take place in the thoughts if conduct is going to be changed. The real problem with sin resides inside the mind.

Within our minds and hearts lies the battlefield of every Christian warrior. Every day, we confront a barrage of negative thoughts: doubts, fears, temptations, and more. We must take captive the thoughts of our nature and replace them with the mind of God.

God has given us the weapon for this battle—the sword of the Spirit, His words. With His implanted words, we can immediately unsheathe that sword to protect against any attack, whether from external threats or the challenges of our untamed mind.

A Personal Example

To illustrate how we can use the sword, the Word of God, to win our battles, I will share a personal example. The Sabbath morning before this past Thanksgiving, I was reading a transcript of John Ritenbaugh’s November 14, 1992, sermon. “The Sin of Self-Deception.” Among his comments on how we deceive ourselves and evade the truth, this one caught my attention:

[W]e hide ourselves behind a multitude of justifications. We do it out on the highway by exceeding the speed limit. We say, “Well, everyone else is doing it.” But God’s Word says we are to be subject to every ordinance of man.

His statement caught my attention because I was scheduled to drive from Orlando back home to Louisiana for the holiday. If history were any indicator, I would do a lot of speeding.

That was on my mind when, later for services, James Beaubelle’s sermonette was about self-control. After the message, I thought, “Okay, God, I got the message.”

Later, I found the verse John Ritenbaugh alluded to, I Peter 2:13, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” I memorized it to keep it at the forefront of my mind during the trip.

Notice that this verse says every ordinance of man, plainly indicating that we are to comply with every ordinance, law, and statute that does not violate God’s law (Acts 5:29). We are to be law-abiding citizens not only of God’s government but also man’s, as His appointed authorities (Romans 13:1-2). For the Lord’s sake, in consideration of Him, we do it as an act of obedience and reverence for His ultimate authority. It acknowledges His sovereignty and order in the world—that He oversees everything, including how fast I drive.

How did this newly acquired sword change how the trip went? Usually, my only thought would be how quickly I could drive the 670 miles. Mindlessly, I would follow the dictates of my evil heart (Jeremiah 18:12) with my thoughts as the only input (Isaiah 65:2). Is that not how we often sin? We just automatically go with the flow, thinking our thoughts instead of having a brain packed with Christ’s mind.

But I had memorized God’s instructions this time, implanting His thoughts. I was reprogramming my mind to bring into captivity my thoughts about speeding, including any justifications I might typically use, to the obedience of God (II Corinthians 10:5). For at least this one issue, I was no longer a slave to sin, submitting to the tyranny of my nature (Romans 6:16).

Why the Sword Works

Carefully consider why unsheathing the sword works to save our soul (James 1:21). As a first step to understanding why it works, notice another comment by John Ritenbaugh in his August 1996 Forerunner article, “Preparing to Rule!”:

What kind of decisions do we make in the everyday things of life? The choices required to live God’s way are really very simple. Basically, they are a matter of saying, “Yes” or “No” to God’s law. It does not have to be complicated for God to judge where we stand. He did not give Adam and Eve some long, complex mathematical, engineering, or political test. It was a simple test of obedience involving one of the most basic areas of life—food. You can eat this but not that. . . . Christ needs to know if we will live His way now, before He entrusts us with the power of office in His Kingdom.

It is chilling to realize that the simple act of speeding, and what it tells God about my attitude toward His government, could make me unfit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 16:10). The choices are not always easy, but they are straightforward, “yes-or-no” choices when we wield the sword.

Before wielding the sword, I put up no resistance to my nature’s pulls and its enslavement to sin. But by wielding the sword, I now had the freedom to choose God’s way and decide not to be enslaved. Part of the power of unsheathing the sword is that it clarifies what we must do to show God and ourselves how committed we are to our calling. Will we, like Christ, live by every Word of God (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4)? Wielding the sword forces us to choose so we know, and God knows, where we stand.

But there is more to wielding the sword. Consider the process. To use the sword, I had to:

1. identify the battleground,

2. unsheathe the sword to find and apply the godly response,

3. memorize the verse, making it sharp and ready to use, and then

4. decide to wield it in faith and courage.

This kind of effort helps demonstrate to God how committed we are to Him, His way of life, and how much we aspire to be in a Kingdom governed by His every word.

But note that even if we have the sword, we must choose to deploy it, that is, bring it to mind. Some shirk from that battle, even if they have the weapon. Why? Fear—fear of what it will cost them to slay the self. It will be a life-and-death struggle where only one survives. The old man will not willingly be conquered and killed.

Courage

It takes courage to fight those battles, to unsheathe the sword.

God commands His Christian soldiers to have courage because He is with us (Joshua 1:9). God laments in Psalm 81:13-14 that if we would only listen to Him and walk in His ways, He would subdue our enemies. In the end, it is His power that wins the battle (I Corinthians 15:57). But first, He requires that we choose to do battle, armed with our sword, having the faith that, as we call on Him (Psalm 50:15), He will help us as He promises in Isaiah 41:10:

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

But there are easy battles—the ones we never have to fight. Notice these verses:

» In all thy ways think on him, and he will direct thy steps. (Proverbs 3:6, Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)

» Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me. (Psalm 119:133)

As we memorize verses, we replace our thoughts with Christ’s. By packing our minds with those memorized verses, they can be the first thing that comes to mind when making decisions. We then have His thoughts available, on the tip of our tongue, to direct our steps in the right direction (Proverbs 3:6). With Christ-guided decisions, there is less sin (Psalm 119:133). Avoiding sin avoids creating problems and battles that we eventually would have to fight.

In the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, the merchant is Jesus Christ, and we are the pearl. Jesus is the only One who has what it takes to buy this pearl. He gave all He had to buy it (Matthew 13:46) so He could be with us for eternity. Christ gave His life. Will we sacrifice the life of our old man? Will we learn how to use the sword and keep it sharp to take into every battle so we can conquer our carnal self and live with Him for eternity?

We know the enemy. We have identified the battlefield. We know where our weapon is. Part Two will examine strategies and tactics to prepare our sword so we can win every battle.