Ephesians 6:16 continues, “With all these, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.” We need truth to gird our loins, righteousness to cover our conscience, peace as the standing for our feet, and faith to shield our entire being. If we live by God as truth, we have righteousness (Eph. 4:24), and righteousness issues in peace (Heb. 12:11; Isa. 32:17). With all these we can easily have faith as a shield against the flaming darts of the evil one. Christ is the Author and Perfecter of such faith (Heb. 12:2).
The shield of faith is not something that we put on; it is something that we take up in order to protect ourselves against the attacks of the enemy. Faith comes after truth, righteousness, and peace. If we have truth in our living, righteousness as our covering, and peace as our standing, we shall spontaneously have faith. This faith is a safeguard against the fiery darts, the attacks, of the enemy.
In Ephesians 6:17 Paul says, “Receive the helmet of salvation.” This is for covering our mind, our mentality, against the negative thoughts directed at us by the evil one. Such a helmet, such a covering, is God’s salvation. Satan injects into our mind threats, worries, anxieties, and other weakening thoughts. God’s salvation is the covering we take up against all these. Such a salvation is the saving Christ we experience in our daily life (John 16:33).
Satan’s darts come to us through our mind. Therefore, just as our conscience needs the breastplate of righteousness and our will needs the shield of faith, so our mind needs the helmet of salvation. We need truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. Righteousness issues in peace, and peace gives us the ground to have faith. Then faith brings in salvation.
In verse 17 Paul also tells us to receive “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” The sword is the one item of the armor that is used for attacking the enemy. After we put on the girdle, the breastplate, and the shoes, and we take up the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation, we are entirely protected, and we may then receive the sword of the Spirit.
In verse 17 the antecedent of the word “which” is Spirit, not sword. This indicates that the Spirit is the word of God, both of which are Christ (2 Cor. 3:17; Rev. 19:13). Paul speaks of “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” Is the sword here the sword of the Spirit or the sword of the word? The Spirit is the sword itself, not the one who uses the sword. The word of God is also a sword. The sword is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the Word. Here we have three that are one: the sword, the Spirit, and the Word. In our Christian experience the Word and the Spirit must always be one. Without taking the Word, we cannot have the Spirit. In our experience we receive the Spirit mostly through the Word. As we contact the Word in a living way, it becomes the Spirit to us. Christ is both the Spirit and the Word. He is not the Spirit without being the Word, nor the Word without being the Spirit.
As we engage in spiritual warfare against the enemy, our only weapon is the Spirit-Word, which is the sword. We do not use cunning craftiness; we wield the sword of the Spirit. Our loins are girded with truth, and our conscience is covered by Christ as our righteousness. Then we have peace as our firm foundation, for we are standing on the peace accomplished by Christ on the cross. Furthermore, we are protected by the shield of faith and guarded by the helmet of salvation. Then we have the Spirit-Word as the sword that slays the enemy. This is to fight the spiritual warfare with Christ as the whole armor of God.
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