In the first part of Ephesians 6:17 Paul goes on to say, “Receive the helmet of salvation.” This is for covering our mind against the negative thoughts directed at us by the evil one. Such a helmet, such a covering, is God’s salvation. Satan injects threats, worries, anxieties, and other weakening thoughts into our mind. God’s salvation is the covering that we take up against all these. Such a salvation is the saving Christ whom 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 then salvation. If we have truth in our living, we will have righteousness as our covering. Righteousness issues in peace, and peace gives us the ground to have faith. Then faith brings in salvation.
In Ephesians 6:17 Paul also speaks of “the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God.” Among the six items of God’s armor, the sword of the Spirit is the only one for attacking the enemy. With the sword we cut the enemy to pieces. However, we do not take up the sword first. Rather, we must first put on the girdle, the breastplate, and the shoes, and then take up the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. When we are entirely protected and have salvation as our portion, we may receive the sword of the Spirit.
The antecedent of the word which in verse 17 is Spirit, not sword. This indicates that the Spirit is the word of God. Both the Spirit and the word are Christ (2 Cor. 3:17; Rev. 19:13). Christ as the Spirit and the word furnishes us with a sword as an offensive weapon to defeat and slay the enemy.
The Word is the Bible. But if this Word is only the printed letters, it is neither the Spirit nor the sword. The Greek word for word in Ephesians 6:17 is rhema, the instant word spoken at any moment by the Spirit in any situation. When the logos, the constant word in the Bible, becomes the rhema, the instant word, this rhema will be the Spirit. This rhema, which becomes the Spirit, is the sword that cuts the enemy to pieces. For example, we may read a particular verse again and again, only to have it remain the logos, a word in letters. Such a word cannot kill anything, but one day the Spirit speaks this verse to us, and it becomes the rhema to us, the present, instant, living speaking of the Spirit. At that time this rhema becomes the Spirit. For this reason, in John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Here also the Greek text for words is rhema. The instant, present word is the Spirit; this kind of word is the sword. Therefore, the sword, the Spirit, and the word are one.
In our Christian experience the Word and the Spirit should 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. However, we should not take the Bible without the Spirit. We must have both the Word and the Spirit.
Christ is both the Spirit and the Word. He is not the Spirit without being the Word nor the Word without being the Spirit. Because He is both the Word and the Spirit, He created us with a mind to understand and a spirit to receive. When we come to the Bible, we should exercise both our mind and our spirit. We exercise our mind by reading and our spirit by praying. Since we need both to read and to pray, we should pray-read the Word. Through pray-reading our spirit becomes strong and ready to kill the enemy. We should not only exercise our spirit to receive the Spirit but also exercise our mind to consider the Word. The more our spirit is strengthened by pray-reading the Word, the more eager we become to use the sword of the Spirit to slay the enemy. In our speaking we should have a sword with which to cut the enemy to pieces.
With the whole armor of God we have truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. Finally, we have the rhema, the Spirit, the sword; this is our offensive weapon for attacking the enemy. When we have the whole armor of God, including the sword, we are not only protected but also prepared to wrestle against the enemy. By having truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation, we are equipped, qualified, strengthened, and empowered to use the sword in spiritual warfare. Then the enemy is subject to the cutting of our sword, and he is slaughtered by us.