Ephesians 6:17 - A Specific Word for a Specific Battle

Understandthis clearly: Satan did not quote God’s Word completely. And he did not quoteit correctly or in its proper context. My friend, Satan is not afraid when youquote Scripture—especially if you do not understand it. He is not intimidatedwhen you use verses out of context, perhaps just to make yourself feel betterabout what you are doing. Overthe years, as a pastor, I have seen many people do exactly that when they wereconfronted with some sin in their life. They would say, “It must be okay,because the Bible says….” I’ll never forget in my early days as a pastor I wasasked to meet with a family late one night and talk to the wife who wascommitting adultery. When we lovingly confronted her, she actually said, “Godsaid in the Bible that you’re supposed to love everybody. I love my husband,and I love this other person too.” Wow! You almost can’t imagine how cansomeone quote Scripture out of context like that and come up with such aconclusion? But it literally happened. That is why we must learn to use theWord of God carefully, rightly, and accurately. Thatis also why Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show yourselfapproved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” That is veryimportant. Again, Paul says in Ephesians 6:17, “the sword of the Spirit, whichis the Word of God.” Make sure you rightly know it and correctly apply it! Thereis something else very powerful in this verse. When Paul speaks of “the swordof the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” he is referring to a specific wordfor a specific battle. This is an important point to understand.InEphesians 6:17, Paul does not use the Greek word logos, which oftenrefers to the Word of God in general. Instead, he uses the word rhema,which refers to a specific saying, a particular word spoken for a particularsituation. Why is that important? Because when Satan attacks you, you do notjust need general Bible knowledge. You need specific truth for specific lies. Forexample, when Satan says, “God doesn’t love you,” you can answer with Romans5:8: “But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yetsinners, Christ died for us.” Or you might answer with 1 John 4:9–10: “Inthis the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His onlybegotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love,not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be thepropitiation for our sins.” Quote that Scripture back when the devil saysGod does not love you. WhenSatan says, “You’ve gone too far,” answer with 1 John 1:9: “If we confessour sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us fromall unrighteousness.” When Satan says, “You’re not really saved,” answerwith John 10:28, where Jesus said, “I give unto them eternal life, and theyshall never perish.”Yoursalvation is not based on what you do. It is based on what Jesus has alreadydone for you. Onepassage that I memorized as a brand-new Christian, when Satan attacked me withthat very lie, was Romans 8:35–39. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Who shallseparate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, orpersecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for theslaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him wholoved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels norprincipalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor heightnor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from thelove of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Myfriend, make sure you use a specific Word to answer a specific attack ofSatan. When you do, you are taking up the sword of the Spirit exactly as Godintended—and He will protect you in that moment.